The city of Genk (Belgium) will be among the first to establish an energy community in which residents, associations, and companies can buy and sell locally generated renewable electricity. Genk calls the initiative “a Belgian first for a public authority,” but municipalities including Ganshoren and Ixelles have already launched similar initiatives.
For the Genk project, the Dutch EnergySwap – not an energy supplier itself, but rather an intermediary (agent) between sellers and buyers of self-generated electricity – was commissioned to develop the energy platform, enabling residents, with or without solar panels, to exchange locally generated energy.
Buyers and sellers will benefit
The principle is simple. The platform will allow solar panel owners with a surplus of renewable energy to sell it to someone who needs extra energy at that moment. Instead of selling that surplus to their supplier at the usual injection tariff, it can be matched with another Genk resident or company using electricity at that moment. Digital meters measure both sides in 15-minute intervals.
The seller will receive more than the standard injection tariff, while the buyer will pay less for the energy component than they would through their normal supplier. So, both parties will benefit. EnergySwap will handle matching, invoicing, and payments. Participants will keep their existing electricity supplier, which provides power when local electricity is insufficient.
One important limitation
There is one important limitation, though. Solar electricity must be produced and consumed within the same quarter-hour. A sunny afternoon cannot simply be stored virtually and used at midnight. Unmatched production is still injected into the grid and settled through the producer’s normal contract.
And that is the point where electric cars can be interesting. A Genk resident without solar panels could plug in while neighbors’ panels are producing strongly, and become an attractive buyer. The panel owner will get more from the surplus, while the EV driver buys part of the charging energy at a lower price.
The same logic applies to company car parks, schools, and municipal buildings, where large electricity consumers are active during daylight hours. Under Flemish rules, several solar producers can simultaneously sell to a single large consumer.
The gain will mainly come from replacing part of the supplier’s energy price with a lower local price. Grid tariffs, taxes, and levies, however, remain due, and some electricity suppliers charge an administrative fee for customers participating in energy sharing or peer-to-peer trading.
For households with their own solar panels, direct self-consumption remains more attractive. Charging your own EV from your own roof avoids more components of the electricity bill than selling that power and buying electricity back later.
Energy transition
However, with the initiative, Genk aims to take a significant step forward in its energy transition. The city hopes that the residents of Genk will invest even more in solar panels. Associations and schools can also have solar panels installed through an energy cooperative, without bearing the investment cost themselves.
In addition, locally generated energy reduces the need to import energy from outside sources. This helps lower CO₂ emissions and makes Genk less dependent on foreign energy markets and price fluctuations. Residents, associations, and businesses wishing to participate will soon be able to sign up via a website.
Three-year support
Genk will support the energy community for up to three years. The challenge will be not merely to sign up solar owners, but to find enough users who want electricity when the sun is shining. EVs could prove to be one of the best tools for doing exactly that. After those three years, the energy community should be able to operate independently and potentially expand beyond Genk.
“With this project, we are consciously opting for a system where local energy also yields local benefits. We want to bring residents, associations, and businesses together around a positive solution. In doing so, we are turning the energy transition into not just a climate story, but also a story of cooperation and local added value,” concludes Genk Mayor Wim Dries (CD&V).
