Community Renewable Energy in the UK: A Short History

Berka, Anna

doi:10.1007/978-3-658-09416-4_59

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…Local energy projects delivered by community groups could potentially play a pivotal role in realising the transition to a low-carbon energy future. Community energy schemes offer an alternative to large-scale energy provision, with various forms of community energy already found across Europe, North America and elsewhere [1][2][3][4][5] . In the UK, the term "community energy" is generally associated with small civil society organisations and/or social enterprises running projects that encourage energy saving and efficiency, or that generate renewable electricity.…”

Section: Mainmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Business models and financial characteristics of community energy in the UK

et al. 2020

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Community energy projects take a decentralised and participatory approach to low-carbon energy. We present a quantitative analysis of business models, financing mechanisms and financial performance of UK community energy projects, based on a new survey. We find that business models depend on technology, project size, and fine-tuning of operations to local contexts. While larger projects rely more on loans, community shares are the most common and cheapest financial instrument in the sector. Community energy has pioneered low-cost citizen finance for renewables, but its future is threatened by reductions, and instability, in policy support. Over 90% of the projects in our sample make a financial surplus during our single-year snapshot, but this falls to just 20% if we remove income from price guarantee mechanisms, such as the Feed-in Tariff. Renewed support and/or business model innovations are therefore needed for the sector to realise its potential contribution to the low-carbon energy transition.

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Section: Mainmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The growth of the sector in the UK has been driven by a combination of the decreasing cost of renewable energy technologies and government policies (see Table 1) 1,4 . However, more recently government support for small scale renewables has been substantially scaled back 1,12 .…”

Section: Mainmentioning

confidence: 99%

Business models and financial characteristics of community energy in the UK

et al. 2020

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“…Grants provided the majority of support. Early grant programmes such as the Renewable Energy Support Programme (RSEP), launched in 1974, were intended to help develop and demonstrate a range of renewable energy technologies [32]. Specific support for solar PV emerged in the late 1990s with the SCOLAR Programme, through which £1m was provided for 100 small solar PV systems.…”

Section: Technological Progression and Policy Supportmentioning

confidence: 99%

Community energy business model evolution: A review of solar photovoltaic developments in England

Nolden

Barnes

Nicholls

2020

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

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The ongoing energy system transformation process is placing citizens and communities at the heart of future energy systems. To date, their participation has focused on the ownership and control of renewable energy installations facilitated by supportive national policies. Yet across many European countries, policies that have previously supported the deployment of small-scale renewable projects are being withdrawn. Social innovation and the evolution of business models are needed if citizen participation is to continue and succeed in this new policy landscape. At the same time, few business models stand still. This paper reviews the evolution of community energy business models in England to provide insights into the potential of community participation in the energy system post subsidies. Concentrating on community solar photovoltaic projects as the cornerstone technology, this review identifies and critique three archetypal business models as sequentially dominating English community renewable energy to date. Using insights from both Science and Technology Studies and Transaction Cost Economics, it explores the drivers and origin of these models as well as resulting community benefits. Looking forwards and by reviewing current activity, this paper identifies new intermediary actors as playing a key role in facilitating and brokering new, increasingly complicated and commercial community energy business models. We argue that this marks a significant break from the past and may, in time, offer more opportunities for community participation in energy system transformation. Moreover, it offers some communities the possibility of staying small and retaining their more radical potential.

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“…However, citizen ownership of onshore wind farms has been negligible in e.g. France [147], the UK [79] and Spain [148], i.e. where the institutional incentive system and other contextual factors have hindered the citizen ownership of onshore wind power.…”

Section: Reflections On Quantitative Figures and Onshore Wind Farm Ow...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Ownership Models for Renewable Smart Energy Systems: Insights from Denmark and Sweden regarding Onshore Wind Farms and District Heating Systems

Gorroño-Albizu

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In the context of the climate crisis and the Paris Agreement, the EU has set the target of reducing its carbon emissions by 55% compared to 1990 levels by 2030 and reaching carbon neutrality by 2050. The transformation of the energy system through the substitution of fossil fuels with energy demand reductions, variable renewable energy and other low-carbon fuels and technologies will be crucial to meeting those goals. However, the positive and negative consequences of different socio-technical paths are still not fully understood, and in particular, more knowledge is needed regarding the potential socio-political, market and local acceptance of these paths, as this is essential for a timely energy transition. This study contributes to this understanding by studying which ownership characteristics and models could best promote (a) the implementation of onshore wind farms and district heating systems in renewable smart energy systems and (b) the reduction of the related energy costs and prices.

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Community Renewable Energy in the UK: A Short History

Cited by 4 publications

References 57 publications

Business models and financial characteristics of community energy in the UK

Business models and financial characteristics of community energy in the UK

Community energy business model evolution: A review of solar photovoltaic developments in England

Ownership Models for Renewable Smart Energy Systems: Insights from Denmark and Sweden regarding Onshore Wind Farms and District Heating Systems

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