Renewable energy cooperatives as gatekeepers or facilitators? Recent developments in Germany and a multidisciplinary research agenda

Yildiz, Özgür; Rommel, Jens; Debor, Sarah; Holstenkamp, Lars; Mey, Franziska; Müller, Jakob; Radtke, Jörg; Rognli, Judith

doi:10.1016/j.erss.2014.12.001

Cited by 335 publications

(208 citation statements)

References 92 publications

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“…Renewable energies and other forms of local generation are suitable for co-operative in light of high initial costs and local availability. Currently, energy cooperatives in Germany are facing difficulties to develop new business models, leading to stagnation in their growth [103]. Innovative business models such as self-consumption and energy services can be enabled through the development of ICESs.…”

Section: Co-operativesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Energetic communities for community energy: A review of key issues and trends shaping integrated community energy systems

Koirala

Koliou

Friege

et al. 2016

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

605

330

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Energy systems across the globe are going through a radical transformation as a result of technological and institutional changes, depletion of fossil fuel resources, and climate change. At the local level, increasing distributed energy resources requires that the centralized energy systems be re-organized. In this paper, the concept of Integrated Community Energy Systems (ICESs) is presented as a modern development to re-organize local energy systems to integrate distributed energy resources and engage local communities. Local energy systems such as ICESs not only ensure self-provision of energy but also provide essential system services to the larger energy system. In this regard, a comparison of different energy system integration option is provided. We review the current energy trends and the associated technological, socio-economic, environmental and institutional issues shaping the development of ICESs. These systems can be applied to both developed and developing countries, however, their objectives, business models as well as composition differs. ICESs can be accepted by different actors such as local governments, communities, energy suppliers and system operators as an effective means to achieve sustainability and thereby will have significant roles in future energy systems.

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Section: Co-operativesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Energetic communities for community energy: A review of key issues and trends shaping integrated community energy systems

Koirala

Koliou

Friege

et al. 2016

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

605

330

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In Denmark, over 150,000 households contributed to wind power financing as members of wind power cooperatives in 2002, and more than 80% of the installed wind turbines were owned by wind power cooperatives and single owners (Bauwens et al, 2016). Similarly, 46% of the total installed RE capacity in Germany in 2012 was owned by individuals, farmers or CRE initiatives (trend:research Gmb and Leuphana Universität; Yildiz et al, 2015).…”

Section: The Roles Of Community-based Initiatives In Speeding Up the mentioning

confidence: 99%

Explaining the diversity of motivations behind community renewable energy

2016

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Community-based renewable energy initiatives may be important actors in the transition toward low-carbon energy systems. In turn, stimulating investments in renewable energy production at the community level requires a better understanding of investors' motives. This paper aims to study the heterogeneity of motivations that drive individuals to participate in community renewable energy projects and the underlying explanatory factors behind this, as well as the implications for their level of engagement in initiatives. Based on quantitative data from an original survey conducted with two renewable energy cooperatives in Flanders, the statistical analysis shows that cooperative members should not be considered as one homogeneous group. Several categories of members with different motives and levels of engagement can be distinguished. This heterogeneity is explained by contrasts in terms of institutional settings, spatial patterns and attitudes to the diffusion of institutional innovations. Regarding policy implications, the findings suggest that this heterogeneity should be taken into account in designing more effective supporting policies to stimulate investments at the community level.The activation of social norms is also shown to be a promising mechanism for triggering investment decisions, although the implications of its interplay with economic incentives should be further explored.

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“…Müller and Sagebiel, 2015). Moreover, the perspective of the citizen-consumer choosing a supplier on the market is an important complement to the perspective of the citizen-voter articulating his or her preferences at the voting booth (Yildiz et al, 2015). In this paper, we use data from a discrete choice experiment with German electricity consumers to test if WTP for renewable energy differs by supplier governance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quality uncertainty and the market for renewable energy: Evidence from German consumers

2016

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Consumers can choose from a wide range of electricity supply contracts, including green power options. Electricity produced from renewable energy involves information asymmetries. With a sample of more than 2,000 German electricity consumers, we tested the proposition of a "lemon market" for renewable energy in a discrete choice experiment.Specifically, we found that, compared to investor-owned firms, additional willingness-to-pay (WTP) for renewable energy is approximately double when offered by cooperatives or municipally-owned electricity utilities. Consumers who are experienced with switching suppliers have an additional WTP of one Eurocent per kilowatt hour for cooperatives and two Eurocents for public enterprises. The results demonstrate that organizational transformation in dynamically-changing electricity markets is not only driven by political initiatives but also by consumers' choices on the market. Public policy may reduce information asymmetries by promoting government labeling of green energy products.

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Renewable energy cooperatives as gatekeepers or facilitators? Recent developments in Germany and a multidisciplinary research agenda

Cited by 335 publications

References 92 publications

Energetic communities for community energy: A review of key issues and trends shaping integrated community energy systems

Energetic communities for community energy: A review of key issues and trends shaping integrated community energy systems

Explaining the diversity of motivations behind community renewable energy

Quality uncertainty and the market for renewable energy: Evidence from German consumers

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