Exploring Institutional and Socio-Economic Settings for the Development of Energy Communities in Europe

Energies

Barbara Curli¹  Gregory Winston Gilcrease¹  Alessandro Sciullo¹  Dario Padovan¹  Mario Perugini¹  Osman Arrobbio²  Jay Sterling Gregg³  Chiara Candelise⁴  Henny van der Windt⁵  Esther van der Waal⁵  Wit Hubert⁶  Lucia Polo-Alvarez⁷  Marek Muiste⁸  Nele Ivask⁸  Erika Meynaerts⁹  Sarah Delvaux⁹ 

[1] Department of Cultures, Politics and Society, University of Turin, 10153 Turin, Italy;Department of Humanities, Social Sciences and Cultural Industries, University of Parma, 43125 Parma, Italy;Department of Technology, Management and Economics, Technology Transitions and System Innovation Division, UNEP-DTU Partnership, UN City, Marmorvej 51, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark;GREEN Research Centre, Bocconi University, Via Röntgen 1, 20136 Milan, Italy;IREES, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 6, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands;Institute of Sociology, Jagiellonian University, 30-962 Krakow, Poland;TECNALIA-Parque Tecnológico de Bizkaia, Astondo Bidea, Edificio 700, 48160 Derio, Spain;Tartu Regional Energy Agency (TREA), 51009 Tartu, Estonia;VITO, Boeretang 200, 2400 Mol, Belgium;

关键词: energy communities;    renewable energy sources;    regulatory framework;    energy systems;    comparative analysis;    energy transition;   

DOI  :  10.3390/en15041597

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Energy communities (ECs), intended as collective action initiatives in the energy field involving citizens’ participation, have been gaining relevance for the past decades as an alternative way to organize the energy chain to challenge the incumbent system. With Europe’s recently adopted Clean Energy Package, ECs found a formal recognition by the European Union as potential actors of the transition of the energy system towards a wider and more decentralized use of renewable sources. Although the potential role of ECs in the transition is therefore hardly questionable, a thorough comprehension of the enabling factors that might foster their diffusion and scaling up is still lacking. Through a comparative analysis of the evolutionary trajectories in six EU countries regarding their energy systems, their regulatory frameworks and their historical evolution of ECs, namely through the example of cooperative models, this paper aims at providing some preliminary evidence about the factors and dynamics that seem to have played, and may play, a role in hampering or facilitating EC model diffusion. Attention is therefore specifically paid to three dimensions of analysis referring to: the energy mix and market structure; the institutional and policy landscape; the wider social attitudes towards environmental issues and cooperation among citizens. In addition to providing a wide comparison of different EU countries, the paper shows that the historical evolution pathways have to be carefully taken into account to understand what might trigger ECs exploitation in the EU.

【 授权许可】

Unknown