Open this publication in new window or tab >>Show others...
2022 (English)In: eceee 2022 Summer Study proceedings, Stockholm: European Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ECEEE), 2022, p. 613-622, article id 5-150-22Conference paper, Published paper (Refereed)
Abstract [en]
Energy communities (ECs) is a concept which has been around for decades in various forms, but which has not been explicitly defined or regulated by policymakers until the introduction of the Clean Energy for all Europeans package in 2019. Since then, the EU provides a legal framework for ECs which will guide the creation and management of ECs within member states. From a policy perspective, an EC is regarded as a way to organize collective energy actions in an open and participatory way to provide benefits for members of local communities and opportunities for citizens to get engaged with the transformation of the energy system. In a broad sense, the aim is formulated in terms of enabling a transition towards a "clean and fair” energy system. The policy aspirations for ECs seem to be many and diverse, including technical, economic, social and organizational, referring to a set of different values such as effective use of resources, social equity, and ecological sustainability. In technical and economic terms, EC's are supposed to enable clusters of actors to collectively invest in technology for renewable energy systems and share coordination benefits of more diverse energy use patterns, energy storage solutions and production units. Socially, ECs are expected to increase the acceptance of and support for the transition towards a renewable energy system by involving and empowering citizens, thereby helping to address issues such as poverty, social equity and “energy segregation”. Moreover, within the EU policy discourse, ECs are conceived as policy instruments for implementing EU’s energy goals, as actors on energy markets and as a part of civil society and local communities at the same time.
Evidently, ECs are expected to produce a multitude of societal benefits, but the extent to which these policy aspirations are heard and translated into practice remains unclear. In this paper, we present a mapping of how the concept of ECs is understood and reported in the research literature, published from 2015 until 2021. The aim is to categorize and assess existing understandings of ECs, and to show which aspects have been considered when ECs have been discussed and practiced. More specifically, we pose the question of whether the policymakers’ social aspirations of ECs have been forgotten.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Stockholm: European Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ECEEE), 2022
Series
eceee Summer Study proceedings, ISSN 1653-7025, E-ISSN 2001-7960
Keywords
community energy systems, small-scale energy systems, transition management, energy equity, energy communities
National Category
Human Geography
Research subject
Political Science; Sociology; Engineering Science with specialization in Civil Engineering and Built Environment
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-486586 (URN)978-91-988270-0-2 (ISBN)978-91-988270-1-9 (ISBN)
Conference
eceee 2022 Summer study on energy efficiency: agents of change, 6-11 June, Hyères, France
Funder
Swedish Research Council Formas
2022-10-122022-10-122023-10-05Bibliographically approved