Review of community renewable energy projects: the driving factors and their continuation in the upscaling process

Rahmani, Sita; Murayama, Takehiko; Nishikizawa, Shigeo

doi:10.1088/1755-1315/592/1/012033

Cited by 12 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Lastly, the willingness to participate in energy communities is affected by a lack of technical knowledge, coordination among umbrella organizations, and the need to navigate bureaucracy, grant applications, and technical standards. A centralized umbrella organization for energy communities could help to coordinate communication, provide resources, advocate for policy changes, and support the perseverance of members [12,24,25].…”

Section: Energy Communities In Swedenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Energy communities in Sweden: the case study of Sätra, Västerås

Yamout,

Krayem,

Wallin

2024

Preprint

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The urgent need to combat global warming has highlighted the significance of transitioning towards environmentally friendly energy sources. Acknowledged by the European Commission as a valuable approach for facilitating this transition, the energy community model offers promise to districts and cities seeking sustainable solutions. This paper focuses on the district of Sätra in Västerås, Sweden, and explores the potential of operating as an energy community. The study considers Sätra's economic, social, and technical circumstances, as well as Sweden's regulatory framework. The methodology consists mainly of interviews with specialists and urban actors, as well as reviewing the literature and relevant documents. The findings highlight various political, technical, social, and economic barriers that hinder the establishment of an energy community in Sätra, such as the absence of a clear definition for energy communities, intermittency of renewable energy sources, low awareness among residents and marginalization of some social groups, and insufficient funding for initiatives. To address these barriers, the study proposes several incentives and mitigation strategies. These include developing a comprehensive definition of "energy community", establishing an umbrella organization to coordinate efforts, raising awareness among stakeholders, and securing adequate funding. The valuable insights provided by the current study on the establishment of an energy community in Sätra and the proposed incentives and mitigation strategies serve as a basis for further exploration and implementation, paving the way for a sustainable and resilient energy future in the district and the country.

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Section: Energy Communities In Swedenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Energy communities in Sweden: the case study of Sätra, Västerås

Yamout,

Krayem,

Wallin

2024

Preprint

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“…The European Commission defines ECs as "collective actions of citizens coming together to participate in the energy system, taking ownership of their energy consumption" (European Commission, 2022). In research, the definition of ECs is unclear to this day, and an abundance of versions exist with minor differences in names, such as community energy (Bauwens and Devine-Wright, 2018;Brummer, 2018;Ehrtmann et al, 2021), community renewable energy (Mirzania et al, 2019;Rahmani et al, 2020), local renewable energy communities (Wagemans et al, 2019), or energy communities (Gjorgievski et al, 2021;Palm, 2021a;Papatsounis et al, 2022). The lack of one clear, universally accepted definition (Bauwens et al, 2022) (Palm, 2021b).…”

Section: Energy Communities-earlier Research and Analytical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…People with lower income have been especially underrepresented; to join an EC it is necessary to access financing and many people lack savings (Hanke and Lowitzsch, 2020). Financial resources are therefore often cited as a main barrier to participation (Bomberg and Mcewen, 2012;Koch and Christ, 2018;Koirala et al, 2018;Rahmani et al, 2020). ECs have also contributed to injustice since the organizational form has not suited people living in apartments or renting their homes.…”

Section: Energy Communities-earlier Research and Analytical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of thermal energy communities in Germany's heating transition

Hartmann

Palm

2023

Front. Sustain. Cities

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A rapid decarbonization of the energy sector is key for mitigating climate change and in this transformation a transition to renewable heating is essential. To date, most attention in both research and policy on decarbonization has been on electricity and transport systems, with less interest in the heating system. Half of the EU's final energy consumption is made up by the heating and cooling sector, making this an important sector for reducing fossil fuel consumption. This article addresses the lack of research on decarbonization of heating by answering the question, what barriers and drivers do Thermal Energy Communities (TECs) perceive when trying to enter the market and play a role in the decarbonization of heating in Germany? Eight TECs and four umbrella organizations in Germany have been interviewed about their experiences of initiating and running a TEC. The results show, amongst others, that the political support of municipalities is put forward as an essential driver and important factor for success. However, barriers for municipalities to get involved were often that they lacked expertise, capacity and financial resources. An important driver for TECs was the involvement of local experts and professionals who could support the volunteers often in charge of a TEC. The results show that TECs that included professionals had an advantage in building heating systems, as they could better address their complexity and high initial costs. Another prevalent result was the need for community engagement and citizen mobilization, which is a greater need in heating projects compared to those focusing on electricity, due to community heating systems requiring a substantial number of customers for profitability.

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“…People with lower income were especially underrepresented, which is due to the need to have access to finance to take part in an EC [26]. Financial resources are often mentioned as the main barrier for participation in an EC [27][28][29][30], and the implementation of the CEP in the Member States needs to consider how to reduce these barriers to make future ECs more inclusive.…”

Section: Background: Energy Communities In the Cepmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Sweden, the price of purchasing a share in an existing solar cooperative is EUR 85-1500. This is a barrier for low-income households, and financial resources are often identified as a main barrier to participation in an EC [27][28][29][30]. The situation for marginalized households is not dealt with by the Ei or in the responses by the consultancy bodies.…”

Section: Lack Of Alternative Visions and Barrier Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

The Transposition of Energy Communities into Swedish Regulations: Overview and Critique of Emerging Regulations

Palm

2021

Energies

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One organizational innovation introduced by the clean energy for all Europeans package (CEP) is that of the energy community (EC), including the renewable energy community (REC) and citizen energy community (CEC). The translation of related directives into national legislation is underway in Sweden, and the Swedish Energy Market Inspectorate (Ei) has proposed a new law on ECs, which has been sent for consultation. This article analyzes the Ei proposal and the responses from the 27 referral bodies commenting on the new EC regulations. Positive aspects of the proposal were that it would be a law on ECs and that it would be easy to start and run an EC. Critics were concerned that the law was too vague, the relationship between existing cooperatives and the new ECs was not clear, both CEC and REC are used instead of only using one term, there is a lack of suggestions on supportive measures for ECs, ECs will have less favorable conditions than other micro-producers of electricity, there is a lack of barrier analysis and visions of a future of ECs, and finally, that the situation for marginalized households was not dealt with in the proposal.

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Review of community renewable energy projects: the driving factors and their continuation in the upscaling process

Cited by 12 publications

References 30 publications

Energy communities in Sweden: the case study of Sätra, Västerås

Energy communities in Sweden: the case study of Sätra, Västerås

The role of thermal energy communities in Germany's heating transition

The Transposition of Energy Communities into Swedish Regulations: Overview and Critique of Emerging Regulations

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