IRELL – Integrated Regional Energy Living Labs

IRELL – Integrated Regional Energy Living Labs

CETPartnership Joint Call 2026 – CM2026-08 Integrated Regional Energy Systems

Europe has made significant progress in renewable energy, digitalisation and clean mobility. However, many regions still lack operational governance frameworks capable of coordinating cross-sector energy systems involving municipalities, citizens, energy communities, infrastructure operators and digital services. While numerous technologies and regional initiatives already exist, there is currently no widely adopted methodology enabling regions to orchestrate integrated clean energy transition under real-life conditions and to replicate successful solutions across Europe.

IRELL (Integrated Regional Energy Living Labs) addresses this challenge by developing and validating a Regional Energy Living Lab Framework that combines Living Lab methodologies, Regional Energy Intelligence, digital interoperability and collaborative governance. Rather than focusing on a single technology, the project will demonstrate how regional stakeholders can jointly design, implement and continuously improve integrated energy systems that connect renewable energy, buildings, sustainable mobility, local energy communities and regional planning.

The project follows a Need Owner-driven approach, where municipalities and regional stakeholders define concrete energy transition challenges that are co-created with research organisations, Living Labs, SMEs and technology providers. Demonstration activities will generate transferable methodologies, governance models and digital tools that can be replicated in other European regions.

The initial consortium brings together complementary expertise from Hungary, Sweden, France, Belgium, Spain, Greece and Romania, combining regional development, Living Labs, clean energy, digital innovation, citizen engagement and rural innovation.

IRELL aims to establish a long-term European ecosystem for integrated regional energy systems by creating scalable solutions that strengthen regional resilience, accelerate climate neutrality and improve the capacity of European regions to implement the clean energy transition collaboratively.

Partners Sought

We are currently looking for additional partners, including:

• Regional and local authorities (Need Owners)

• Energy agencies and distribution system operators

• Universities and research organisations

• Living Labs

• Digital technology providers

• Renewable energy companies

• SMEs and start-ups

• Citizen energy communities

• Public utilities

• Policy and governance experts