Choosing EKOenergy means making a direct, tangible impact. Whether for yourself or your clients, you’re actively supporting renewable energy and advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goals in multiple ways.

The most tangible and easiest-to-measure effect is the impact resulting from your €0.10/MWh contribution to our Climate Fund. We use the Climate Fund contributions entirely to fund life-changing renewable energy projects in low- and middle-income countries. All projects are selected following strict criteria, and they all contribute to multiple Sustainable Development Goals. Examples include installing solar systems in off-grid schools and hospitals, introducing solar-powered pumping and refrigeration in rural communities, and providing solar-powered lights and fans to families in need.

If you like the projects we support and want to do more, please consider paying a higher contribution to our Climate Fund. Each year, we receive many more project proposals than we can fund, so additional support is welcome at any time. Occasional or long-term higher contributions to our Climate Fund enable us to fund more and larger renewable energy projects in communities that need it most. Don't hesitate to contact us with your questions and suggestions.

Besides supporting solar projects in disadvantaged communities, your choice of EKOenergy leads to many other results. Learn more about the impact of EKOenergy users worldwide by exploring our annual report: EKOenergy in 2024 - Another year of concrete, impactful achievements (PDF, 9 MB).

Choosing EKOenergy means using 100% sustainable energy while also supporting our efforts to promote renewables worldwide. For example, we contact companies in many countries and encourage them to follow your example!

This month, our team makes extra efforts to reach sustainability consultants and energy advisers. Both groups play a pivotal role in speeding up the energy transition and promoting sustainable solutions. They can encourage and support their clients to dump fossil fuels fast and can present and suggest ways to take additional steps, such as choosing EKOenergy.    

EKOenergy fits well in a portfolio of readily available, impactful climate solutions. The label is recommended by environmental NGOs, the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (Scope 2 Guidance), LEED, CDP, and numerous others. We are sure that many of the clients of sustainability consultants and energy advisers would be happy to learn more about our activities to deliver additional impact!

If you are a consultant yourself and want to hear more or need information materials, don’t hesitate to get in touch!

"Occasional reminder that there’s no “it’s too late, it's over” for anthropogenic climate change. Every molecule of CO₂ that doesn’t go into the atmosphere makes a difference. Preventing 0.1 degree of warming makes a difference. Every bit of climate resilience we build together makes a difference."
 

- Deb Chachra, on Bluesky

As a label for renewable megawatt-hours, EKOenergy can be applied to any sourcing method: green tariffs, PPAs (Power Purchase Agreements), unbundled EACs, on-site solar, and more. This allows EKOenergy users to choose the procurement methods that fit their needs at a specific location and to change the chosen method over time.

The sourcing strategy of the German multinational glass manufacturer SCHOTT illustrates this well. The company has been choosing EKOenergy-labelled electricity for many years and in all countries where it's active. It's a well-considered decision that fits the company's strategic environmental and social choices and is a key component of realising its commitments under the Science-Based Targets Initiative.

SCHOTT uses many different procurement methods to source EKOenergy. Last week, the company announced that it closed a new PPA with the German energy company ane.energy for the supply of real-time, EKOenergy-labelled solar power. Ane.energy will deliver about 14.5 GWh of EKOenergy annually to power SCHOTT's headquarters in Mainz and its production facilities in Grünenplan, Mitterteich, and Landshut. This deal is SCHOTT's 10th PPA for EKOenergy-labelled renewable energy in Germany. As the company is working towards replacing gas with renewable energy in its melting processes, ensuring a reliable supply at competitive prices is key.

Adding the EKOenergy label to renewable megawatt-hours sourced via PPAs,
- enables off-takers as SCHOTT to contribute to multiple Sustainable Development Goals,
- introduces an extra dimension of leadership by supporting off-grid solar projects in disadvantaged communities,
- supports us in our work to promote the energy transition worldwide, ensuring positive impacts well beyond the volumes covered by the PPA,
- facilitates communication about renewable energy,
- allows buyers to apply the same additional quality criteria regardless of the procurement method and across all countries where they are active,
- And much more!

 

- Y. Nagaraju, Solar-Powered Cold Storage System, a Sustainable Technological Solution, in LEISA India

Thanks to EKOenergy consumers worldwide, we can fund renewable energy projects in many countries. Here is some news from recently funded projects.

- We received a touching 10-minute video about a solar project we recently funded in Balochistan, Pakistan. Last June, we granted €48,971 from our Climate Fund to the nonprofit organisation Health and Rural Development (HARD) Balochistan to bring solar-powered lights and fans to +120 households, five schools, and seven rural health centres in hard-to-reach villages near Khuzdar, in Pakistan. HARD and their local partners also installed a solar-powered water pump to improve access to clean water and gave training about climate change, climate change adaptation, and maintenance of solar systems. All activities happened in close cooperation with the local communities.

The video we received shows many of the concrete results. You can check it out on our YouTube channel. English subtitles are available via the settings.

- VAADD, a Togolese NGO, received a €23,758 grant from EKOenergy's Climate Fund to install a multifunctional solar powerhouse in an off-grid Togolese village. Last week, we received the final report: The solar system, which has a capacity of 10.12 KWp and includes battery storage, is ready! It generates power for a cassava mill, lighting, and small electric devices.

- We also received news and photos from a solar project we fund in Colombia. Last year, we granted €28,000 to the local nonprofit organisation Ecoceanos to bring solar power to an off-grid indigenous village in the dry northeast of Colombia. The project will improve the quality of life of hundreds of people in many ways. For example, the solar system will power two water pumps and a water filter to ensure access to safe drinking water.

- The Congolese NGO Initiative Humanitaire pour le Développement (IHD) sent us news and photos from a solar project we are funding in South Kivu, DR Congo. Last June, we granted IHD €55,344 from our Climate Fund to install solar panels and battery storage at a rural hospital. The installation replaces an old, unreliable diesel generator, significantly reducing the hospital's costs. The staff and the patients use the electricity for powering small electric devices,  lighting, and refrigeration of vaccines and medicines.

- Check out our Bluesky feed for more updates, including news from projects in India, Peru and Nigeria.

 

- Video about a solar project we funded in Balochistan, Pakistan

For owners of on-site installations, EKOenergy is an easy way to promote renewable energy beyond their roof. By adding our nonprofit label to the kilowatt-hours they produce on-site, energy users support us in promoting the energy transition worldwide and contribute to funding renewable energy installations in low- and middle-income countries. EKOenergy users can also use our internationally recognised logo in their communication to raise awareness and highlight their climate commitments.

One of the companies using EKOenergy from their own on-site solar installation is Ecofrut, an Ecuadorean manufacturer that specialises in producing tropical snacks for the international market. We're happy to see our logo on their website now! We'd love to see it on their tasty products too! 

 

- A coalition of 100+ Mozambican and international civil society organisations, including EKOenergy, sent a letter to the 31 financial institutions involved in TotalEnergies' LNG project in Mozambique

On 25 March, Instituto Totum, the national issuer of I-RECs in Brazil, is organising the third edition of I-REC Day Brazil. We are proud and happy to be an official supporter of the event.

Brazil is among the earliest adopters of the I-REC Standard and one of the largest and fastest-growing I-REC Markets. I-REC Day Brazil is a unique networking event for companies and professionals from the electricity and biogas sectors and an excellent opportunity to get valuable insights into the latest developments in the renewable energy market.

Last year the event was sold out, so, book your ticket in time!

EKOenergy has been involved in the exciting developments in the Brazilian renewable electricity market for many years. After we decided to become active outside Europe in 2015, we met with like-minded organisations worldwide, such as Instituto Totum from Brazil. In 2016, we discussed the importance of standardisation with them and exchanged thoughts on how to get large international companies on board. Not much later, Instituto Totum became the official issuer of I-RECs in Brazil, and a European company with activities in Brazil became the first EKOenergy user in Brazil. A lot has happened since then, and we are sure much more will happen in the coming years. We are only at the beginning of an interesting and hopefully resultful endeavor!

Stay connected with EKOenergy on social media to receive relevant updates on the global climate crisis, renewable energy, and climate action. By occasionally reacting to our posts, you help us spread our message and ensure that our future posts will also appear in your feed.

Here are some of our recent posts on various social media channels:

- Climate change, fake news, polarisation, and extreme violence are battering our societies. The antidote to these plagues is not complaints and despair but concrete and positive action on the ground! Thanks a lot to all of you who are involved in one way or another. Together we can do more! (From our Bluesky)

- Last year, we donated €100,000 from our campaign budget to various initiatives and organisations promoting the deployment of solar energy in Ukraine. €50,000 was allocated to RePower Ukraine Charitable Foundation's work to bring solar power to hospitals around the country, and they used our grant to install a solar system at a hospital in Kharkiv. (From our LinkedIn)

- Our presentation "EKOenergy - What, how and why" is now also available in Czech! (From our Bluesky)

- Johannes Pättiniemi from EKOenergy's Secretariat is at the Finnish Renewable Energy Day, organised by Energiavirasto (Energy Authority). We look forward to a day full of interesting presentations and conversations! (From our LinkedIn)

- With some of the team, we watched today's launch of the European Electricity Review 2025, an annual report compiled by Ember. The European Electricity Review 2025 analyses full-year electricity generation and demand data for 2024 in all EU-27 countries to understand the region’s progress in transitioning from fossil fuels to clean electricity. (From our Instagram)

- Here we are again, in front of the parliament, and again it's far too warm for the time of the year! (From our Bluesky)

- It took the solar PV industry 68 years to reach 1 TW of installed capacity - from 1954-2022. It has taken only 2 years to reach the next TW (2022-2024). (From our Instagram)

- We are proud to be one of the 170+ members of IRENA's Coalition for Action. Together, we speed up the #energytransition. (From our Bluesky)

When fake news, nonsense, aggression, and hatred dominate the headlines and social media, it's important to stay calm and take action on what we can change.

A lot of hopeful things are happening, and they are happening thanks to the daily work of millions of doers. There are good reasons why populists and people with vested interests in the oil industry don't want the results to be seen, but that doesn't make them any less real.

Here are some:

- In five years of the European Green Deal, a surge in wind and solar generation is the main reason for declining fossil generation. Without wind and solar capacity added since 2019, the EU would have imported 92 billion cubic metres more of fossil gas and 55 million tonnes more of hard coal, costing €59 billion.

- China's oil consumption has entered a plateau period, and refined oil consumption has started a downward trend. Gas stations will gradually transform into electric charging points. In the next five years 20,000 gas stations will disappear in China.

- Last week, the court of session in Edinburgh sided with campaigners and climate experts in ruling that the original decisions to permit the Rosebank oil field and a second, smaller, gas field called Jackdaw were unlawful, as they had not taken into account the carbon emissions created by burning any oil and gas produced.

- Türkiye’s solar energy capacity doubled in two and a half years and reached 19.6 GW by the end of 2024, achieving the country's 2025 target one and a half years early in 2024.

- Given the crucial role that clean energy technology plays in China’s economy and exports, the country has a strong interest in making sure the global energy transition keeps accelerating. That will be seen in bilateral lending and diplomacy.

- And more!