Consumer (Co-)Ownership in Renewables in Germany

Yildiz, Özgür; Gotchev, Boris; Holstenkamp, Lars; Müller, Jakob; Radtke, Jörg; Welle, Laura

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-93518-8_13

Cited by 10 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Citizen participation is one of the key drivers of the energy transition, especially in Germany. This has resulted in the financial participation of citizens in the energy sector; there are around 1700 community energy projects in Germany, of which around 900 are energy cooperatives (e.g., [19][20][21]). Numerous studies from other countries have analyzed community energy systems, highlighting the dynamic growth of this social and organizational innovation in the energy sector.…”

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does Energy Community Membership Change Sustainable Attitudes and Behavioral Patterns? Empirical Evidence from Community Wind Energy in Germany

2022

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Community energy is seen as a helping hand for local, decentralized energy transition. Besides the main goal of supporting the community-friendly and socially acceptable development of renewable energies, the hope is also that a pro-environmental influence on sustainability behavior will be triggered when joining a community energy project. An analysis of a survey among 16 community energy projects in Germany, with 565 completed questionnaires, shows that a certain part of the members pays more attention to their energy behavior and develop a more positive attitude towards a decentralized energy transition and citizen participation after joining the community energy project. Therefore, we can empirically support that climate protection projects, such as community energy, influence pro-environmental attitudes and behavior, but this does not apply equally to all population groups. Members with higher income and stronger interest in returns are less likely to change their behavior. Based on these findings, we recommend the development of community energy policies that are more responsive to differences in social structure and address both privileged and underprivileged groups in a sophisticated way using specific offers and modes of involvement within the associations.

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Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does Energy Community Membership Change Sustainable Attitudes and Behavioral Patterns? Empirical Evidence from Community Wind Energy in Germany

2022

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“…For example, state ownership of electricity generation remains pervasive in the Czech Republic [22]; existing energy generators remain dominant in France, Italy, the Netherlands, the UK (at the time an EU member), and Switzerland [23][24][25][26][27]. In contrast, smaller market participants have emerged in Denmark and Germany [28,29] as more liberal policies have emerged. In Germany in particular, to accelerate the adoption of renewable energy, government-regulated feed-in prices and access have provided financial security and assisted with long-term planning of MGs, supported by a longstanding political consensus across the major parties.…”

Section: Value Streamsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This has significant real-world implications for the communities seeking to achieve electricity self-sufficiency and environmental benefits through community MGs, service providers and other private or public actors. [29] reminds us of the importance of the social aspect of acceptance and governance to the successful implementation of MGs.…”

Section: Community Microgridsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Australian Renewable-Energy Microgrids: a Humble Past, a Turbulent Present, a Propitious Future

Wright¹,

Frost²,

Wong³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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AAs the global energy market undergoes a wholesale transformation accelerated by the need to decarbonise, a rapid transition to renewable energy and the mass deployment of distributed energy resources, autonomous energy networks or microgrids are emerging as an attractive mechanism for the delivery of electricity to end users. Yet in Australia, at least, relatively little is known about key aspects of microgrids that are fundamental to their successful deployment, not least the more commercial and economic elements rather than the purely technical. Drawing on the extant global literature on microgrids, this paper explores the most important of these aspects including business models, ownership and investment. Identifying the ambiguity, inconsistency and uncertainty evident in many of the feasibility studies currently in train across Australia, this paper highlights specific areas for future research that need to be addressed if the full potential of microgrids is to be realised in the context of a global energy transition both domestically and internationally.

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“…Further, density restrictions apply. For urban centres, the density amounts to at least 1500 inhabitants per km 2 . In urban clusters a density of at least 300 inhabitants per km 2 is required.…”

Section: Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Initially, consumer ownership consisted mainly of individual self-supply concepts, e.g., through solar panels on rooftops, but lately, newer models aiming at realizing collaborative consumer ownership models have been gradually entering the market. Hence, aside from individual ownership, (co-)ownership forms such as bearer bonds, subordinated loans (e.g., in combination with cooperative shares), and joint collective investments differing with regard to the participants' motivation, the business's organisational form, and legal structure are known in the energy sector [2]. Proponents of the phenomenon of (co-)ownership in the energy sector ask for regulatory support of these participation schemes claiming among others that aspects related to the energy sector's sustainable transition such as concern for the environment among citizens, education of citizens on energy-related topics, increased acceptance of renewable energy (RE) infrastructures, increase of self-consumption, improved grid stability, and regional economic development are promoted (e.g., [3][4][5]).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Empirical Approach to Differences in Flexible Electricity Consumption Behaviour of Urban and Rural Populations—Lessons Learned in Germany

2021

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This article analyses two major trends of the 21st century. Firstly, the transition from fossil fuel-based energy production to renewable energy sources. Secondly, the inexorable urbanisation which can be witnessed all over the globe. The most promising renewable energy production technologies for the near future, i.e., wind and solar energy, are volatile by nature which makes matching supply and demand essential for a successful transition. Therefore, the aspects that determine the willingness of consumers to flexibilise their demand has gained growing attention. Initial research shows that different settings for (co-)ownership in terms of available prosumption options and used production technologies have a varying impact on demand flexibility. However, existing research has analysed flexibility drivers solely for the general population as an aggregate without any distinction regarding spatial, economic, or social factors. In this article, the authors go one step further and analyse whether those drivers for flexible consumption behaviour differ in rural or urban areas acknowledging differences in day-to-day life in both cases. This study is based on 2074 completed questionnaires from German consumers which were analysed using propensity score matching. The results show that people from rural and urban areas do not significantly differ in their willingness to be demand flexible in general. However, (co-)owners of RE installations from rural areas are generally significantly more demand flexible than (co-)owners of RE installations from urban areas. Further, when looking at different RE technologies, the results show that (co-)owners of solar installations are significantly more demand flexible if they are from rural areas. Lastly, when looking at usage options, people who solely consume produced electricity are more demand flexible if they are from rural areas as well.

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Consumer (Co-)Ownership in Renewables in Germany

Cited by 10 publications

References 24 publications

Does Energy Community Membership Change Sustainable Attitudes and Behavioral Patterns? Empirical Evidence from Community Wind Energy in Germany

Does Energy Community Membership Change Sustainable Attitudes and Behavioral Patterns? Empirical Evidence from Community Wind Energy in Germany

Australian Renewable-Energy Microgrids: a Humble Past, a Turbulent Present, a Propitious Future

An Empirical Approach to Differences in Flexible Electricity Consumption Behaviour of Urban and Rural Populations—Lessons Learned in Germany

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