CLUE will acquire knowledge on optimized design, planning, and operation of Local Energy Communities (LECs) and will develop ... a tool kit for planning and operation as key elements for successful replication and upscaling of LECs. Research and development will be executed on technologies with the focus on flexibilities and sector coupling for LEC energy systems, on services by developing business models and recommendations on the improved regulatory framework and on stakeholder involvement by partnering with developers and service providers and integrating consumer, prosumer, and organizer of LECs in a living-lab concept. CLUE is executed by leading European research institutes, industry, and local partners, working together in five demo sites in four countries. By implementing and testing different technological and market solutions and executing a cross-country analysis, CLUE is able to develop optimized LEC solutions in dependency on the country and site-specific framework conditions. This project has received funding in the framework of the joint programming initiative ERA-Net Smart Energy Systems’ focus initiative Integrated, Regional Energy Systems, with support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 775970. The content and views expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinion of the ERA-Net SES initiative. Any reference given does not necessarily imply the endorsement by ERA-Net SES. read more