Energy community in Belgium: the complete guide

What is an energy community?

An energy community is a grouping of actors — businesses, public authorities, associations, co-owned buildings, sometimes private individuals — who together produce, share and consume renewable electricity generated locally, most often from solar. The concept comes from the 2018-2019 European directives (the "Clean Energy" package), which distinguish between the renewable energy community (REC) and the citizen energy community (CEC), both transposed into the law of Belgium's three Regions.

In practical terms, the surplus electricity produced by one or more producing buildings is sold directly to other consuming buildings connected to the public grid, without going through the classic commercial channel of a supplier. The price of this shared electricity is set between the members, generally below the market rate — which explains why both sides come out ahead: the producer gets better value for its surplus than through classic injection, and the consumer pays less for its electricity.

Not to be confused with self-sufficiency: members remain connected to the grid and keep their supplier for the remainder. The energy community complements the existing electricity system, it does not replace it.

How does energy sharing work?

The mechanism rests on four technical building blocks:

• Production — one or more producing members generate electricity (solar panels, most often, sometimes cogeneration).
• Metering — each member's smart meter (identified by its EAN code) measures production and consumption in 15-minute intervals. It is the distribution system operator (DSO) that provides this data.
• Allocation — an allocation key, fixed or dynamic, distributes the shared electricity among the consuming members quarter-hour by quarter-hour.
• Billing — each member receives two invoices: one for the shared electricity (at the price agreed within the community) and one from its usual supplier for the remainder.

Energy community and energy-sharing operation: two concepts to keep clearly apart

The energy community — REC (renewable energy community) or CEC (citizen energy community) — is a legal entity: most often a non-profit association (ASBL/vzw), sometimes a cooperative or another corporate form. It is this entity that carries the authorisations, the articles of association and the contractual framework for the sharing.

Within this legal entity, energy-sharing operations are created: concrete groupings of members — producers and consumers — who actually exchange electricity with one another, quarter-hour by quarter-hour. It is within the operation that the sharing takes place; the community is merely the structure that hosts it. A single energy community can thus house several energy-sharing operations with no direct link between them: the members of one operation only share with the members of their own operation.

Concrete examples: Energilia Brussels is an energy-sharing operation housed within the energy community CityWatt in Brussels; Energilia Wallonie is an operation housed within WalloWatt in Wallonia; and the multi-site sharing of Brasserie du Bocq is a dedicated operation, also housed within WalloWatt.

On this basis, several set-ups are open to an organisation:

• Joining an existing energy-sharing operation — the fast track, with no structure to create: this is the Energilia model, and joining takes from a few days to a few weeks.
• Creating your own operation within an existing community — for example a multi-site sharing scheme between your buildings and your close ecosystem, like Brasserie du Bocq: the operation is bespoke, but the legal structure already exists.
• Collective self-consumption — sharing within a single building or a co-owned property.
• Creating your own dedicated energy community — founding your own legal entity for a business park, a municipal territory or a property group. This is the dedicated community model.

One important Belgian rule separates these set-ups: a meter (EAN code) can only take part in one energy-sharing operation at a time. Choosing the right set-up from the outset is therefore a structural decision — which is precisely the purpose of the preliminary study RaYSun carries out.

What are the benefits for a business?

• A lower energy bill — 26 % savings on average among members supported by RaYSun, up to 50 % depending on the profile.
• Decoupling from the market — a local, stable and predictable price, negotiated between members, sheltered from the volatility of wholesale markets.
• Better value from assets — for producers, a solar surplus better remunerated than through grid injection: at Brasserie du Bocq, 68,6 % of the solar injection is consumed locally instead of being sold off at rock-bottom prices.
• Image & CSR — a concrete, local and measurable energy transition initiative, citable in a non-financial report.
• No investment for consumers — joining a community requires neither panels nor works: a smart meter is all it takes.

The legal framework in Belgium: Wallonia, Brussels, Flanders

Energy is a regional competence in Belgium: each Region has transposed the European directives with its own arrangements, its own regulator and its own network operators.

• In Wallonia — the Walloon decree governs energy communities (renewable and citizen) and sharing within a single building; the regulator is the CWaPE, and the DSOs are ORES and RESA for most of the territory, alongside more local operators (AIEG, AIESH, REW). Proximity rules apply depending on the type of community. → See our dedicated page: energy community in Wallonia.
• In Brussels — the 2022 Brussels ordinance organises sharing across the whole Region; the regulator is Brugel, the DSO Sibelga. A major distinctive feature: shared electricity there is exempt from the renewable energy levy (in the region of 26 €/MWh), which makes sharing particularly advantageous. → See our dedicated page: energy community in Brussels.
• In Flanders — "energiedelen" (energy sharing) is open to businesses and private individuals alike; the regulator is the VREG, the DSO Fluvius.

This section is for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. The framework evolves regularly; RaYSun keeps track of these developments and takes charge of the regulatory set-up on behalf of its members.

How much does it cost — and how much does it bring in?

For a consumer, joining an existing operation requires no investment at all: no panels, no works, no change of supplier. The gain comes from the gap between the price of the shared electricity and the price of classic supply, net of the operation's management fees.

For a producer, the calculation compares the buy-back rate for its surplus offered by a supplier (often low) with the selling price within the community: the difference constitutes additional revenue, with no extra investment if the panels already exist.

For creation, there are two scenarios — with very different costs. Creating an energy-sharing operation within an existing energy community is the lightest option. Creating a complete energy community — that is, a new legal entity plus its first energy-sharing operation — costs more. In both cases, these are one-off set-up fees ("one-shot"): technical file, simulations, administrative follow-up, contractual framework, legal documents, etc.

Then comes the recurring management (allocation, billing, relations with the DSO), handled by the community manager. At RaYSun, this remuneration is a fee proportional to the amount of energy actually exchanged, taken from the gap between the purchase price of the electricity from the producer and its selling price to the consumer — so the member, whether producer or consumer, never sees it go by: there is no separate management invoice. This model is designed to be transparent and motivating: the manager only earns if the energy flows, and earns all the more as the shared volumes grow — exactly what both the producer and the consumer want.

The RaYSun simulator provides a first free costed estimate, based on your actual consumption data.

Measured results, not promises

Most content about energy communities stops at the principles. Here is what real Belgian operations deliver, measured meter by meter on our monitoring platform:

• Brasserie du Bocq (Wallonia, multi-site) — 4 members; 167,3 MWh shared over the first 12 months; 68,6 % of the solar injection valued locally. Wallonia's first multi-site sharing scheme.
• Energilia Brussels (Brussels) — 54 members (hotels, shops, associations, producers); 2 355 MWh shared since late 2024; 26 % of members' needs covered; volume accelerating sharply (1 427 MWh in the first half of 2026 alone).

In total, the communities managed by RaYSun bring together 334 delivery points spread across 102 Belgian municipalities, in all three Regions. Business parks, multi-sites, territories, property: all our projects, with their volumes, are detailed here.

See all case studies → Discover our projects →

How to join or create an energy community?

Two paths, depending on your situation:

• Joining an existing operation — the fast track: no structure to create, savings from the first weeks. This is the Energilia model, active in Brussels and Wallonia.
• Creating a dedicated operation or community — for a business park, a territory, a multi-site or property group: either a dedicated energy-sharing operation within an existing energy community (the lightest path), or a complete energy community, new legal entity included. In both cases, RaYSun carries out the study on your actual consumption profiles, the legal and technical set-up, then the monthly management of the flows and the billing. → The dedicated models

In both cases, everything starts with a free assessment: your consumption data, a costed simulation, and a clear recommendation on the most suitable set-up.

Frequently asked questions