Community Energy

This volume addresses renewable energy communities, and in particular renewable energy cooperatives (REScoops), in the context of the revised EU Renewables Directive. It provides a comprehensive account of the history and development of the renewable energy community movement in over six different countries of continental Europe. It addresses their visions, strategy, organisation, agency, and more particularly the challenges they encounter. This is of particular importance to gain more understanding into how renewable energy communities fare in domestic energy markets where they are confronted with regime institutions, structures and incumbents’ agency that tend to favour maintaining of the status quo while blocking attempts to empower and institutionalise renewable energy communities as market entrants having a disruptive, radical green and localist agenda. This volume will be an invaluable reference for academics and practitioners with an interest in social innovation in sustainable transitions, the role of community energy in energy markets, their agency, as well as an outlook to the impact that the EU Renewables Directive may have to change national legislation and policy frameworks to create a level playing field that is essentially more fair and beneficial to renewable energy communities.

Community energy projects give their own answers to the challenges of energy system change: They are social innovations. By building new relations between local economies, communities and technical infrastructures, these projects not only change the energy system but also respective power structures. Drawing on case studies from Germany, Denmark and Scotland, this book shows the importance of community ties, and shared symbols for successful processes of transformation and develops recommendations for policy decision-makers.

Packed with useful information, this is an essential resource for anyone thinking of setting up and running a community energy project. 'Community energy' is often seen as simply groups of people setting up wind turbines or hydroelectric schemes, yet there's actually a lot more going on in the range of activities that community energy groups are involved in, and the impact these have. Community Energy provides an overview of the role of community renewable energy projects in the UK, examining the history of community renewable projects and the different types of project that have been successful and unsuccessful. An engaging and informative guide, it covers an introduction to renewable energy projects, information on why they matter and ways to get involved, and different scales and types of project. It also includes case studies and financial and legal tips on how to generate income from the project, as well as guidance on policy and planning permission. Community Energy is a handy resource for anyone thinking of embarking on a community renewables project as well being a useful source of information for people in the renewables industry and policy makers at all levels of government.

In this ground-breaking book, Jörg Radtke offers for the first time within research, a comprehensive insight into the range of organizational structures of community energy projects in Germany and their contribution to the Energiewende. Based on nationwide quantitative survey data and in-depth analyses of selected case studies of solar, wind and geothermal projects, Radtke documents the social structure and motivations of participating citizens. He examines new forms of material participation, community building and co-determination within the mostly volunteer-led community energy projects based on the civic engagement patterns of active “green citizens”. The author identifies a new form of individualistic participation and collective modes of action in line with new types of project-oriented participation between business, politics and civil society within sustainability transformation processes of the early 21st century.