Four European regions have launched a new cooperation platform for wood energy — the Wood Energy Regions Network (WERN) — at an event in Brussels on 9 September 2026. The founding regions are Bavaria (Germany), Styria (Austria), Castilla-La Mancha and Castilla y León (Spain).

Wood energy means producing heat and electricity from wood or woody biomass. WERN is a network of regional governments that have come together to share experience on this topic. According to Bioenergy Europe, the initiative is described as a forum for exchanging knowledge on renewable heat and power, energy resilience, sustainable forest management and the rural economy.

The launch took place at the Representation of the Free State of Bavaria to the European Union. Regional representatives — Tobias Gotthardt (Bavaria), Simone Schmiedtbauer (Styria), José Almodóvar Aráez (Castilla-La Mancha) and Jorge Llorente Cachorro (Castilla y León) — shared a common message, as reported by Bioenergy Europe: there is no single model for Europe, and local resources should lead to locally adapted solutions.

Tobias Gotthardt, as quoted by Bioenergy Europe, described wood energy as “indispensable” for Bavaria’s heat and energy transition, adding that it is decentralised and resilient, and that it creates value within regions. Jorge Llorente Cachorro, also as quoted by Bioenergy Europe, described forest biomass as “a renewable, local, storable and manageable resource”, pointing to its role in forest management, rural development and wildfire prevention.

The regions bring different profiles to the network. Bioenergy Europe reports that in Bavaria wood heats around two million homes, or almost a quarter of households; in Styria forests cover 62% of the territory and wood provides 22% of the region’s energy needs; and in Castilla y León, which has around five million hectares of forest, roughly a third of Spain’s wood pellets are produced. The association also notes that, while bioenergy may look modest in the European mix as a whole, regional differences are large — in some regions it already meets up to one third of energy needs.

WERN is a network of regional governments and a cooperation initiative. It is not an EU regulatory programme.

Source: Bioenergy Europe, 10 September 2026 (bioenergyeurope.org).