Founding of SeaCoop cvso

On 15 April 2022, 33 Belgian citizen cooperatives founded SeaCoop cvso. SeaCoop is a cooperative social enterprise (coöperatieve vennootschap met sociaal oogmerk/cvso) that works around #citizenoffshorepower. Philippe Awouters and Fabrice Collignon, two of the initiators of SeaCoop, were clearly happy to be celebrating the start of direct citizen participation in offshore wind energy.

Below we summarise the goal of SeaCoop cvso:

• SeaCoop’s main objective is to promote the public interest through a positive social impact on people, the environment and society.
• It considers renewable energy sources in general, and wind energy in particular, as shared resources to which citizens should have equal rights of access.
• It therefore aims to involve citizens directly in the energy transition by giving them the opportunity to participate economically in the development and operation of large-scale renewable energy projects in general, and in the development and operation of offshore wind energy in the North Sea in particular.
• It aims to implement European energy and climate policy, which states that citizens deserve a central place in the energy transition, for example through co-ownership and control of renewable energy projects in their area.
• It aims to contribute to the development of citizen cooperatives in a social and solidarity-based economy.
• It aims to contribute to supplying citizens with sustainable energy at a price that is as stable and accessible as possible.
• It aims to contribute to rational energy consumption and energy saving.
• As a social enterprise, it promotes inclusivity. It strives to allow citizens/households living in energy poverty to also participate in renewable energy.
• It serves the citizen cooperatives for renewable energy that are members of one of the federations: REScoop Flanders or REScoop Wallonia.