Periodic Reporting for period 2 - NEWCOMERS (New Clean Energy Communities in a Changing European Energy System (NEWCOMERS))
Okres sprawozdawczy: 2020-12-01 do 2022-05-31
NEWCOMERS (New Clean Energy Communities in a Changing European Energy System; 2019-2022) studied new forms of energy communities (ECs) that favor the uptake of renewable energy and energy-efficient behavior in order to accelerate energy transitions in Europe. Such new clean ECs were considered to be characterized by the use of new technologies, the creation of new values, as well as new collaborations between a diversity of stakeholders. NEWCOMERS’ final aim was to deliver policy recommendations on how to support these new clean ECs to unfold their potential benefits for European citizens and the Energy Union. The consortium conducted research alongside 10 EC case studies in 6 NEWCOMERS partner countries (DE, IT, NL, SE, SI, UK) with a multi-method approach. This included qualitative interviews with EC managers and members, online surveys among EC members, and a large citizen survey among the general population in 9 European countries (DE, ES, FR, IT, NL, PL, SE, SI, UK). It further comprised an in-depth business model analysis for all 10 case studies, an analysis of socio-technical systems in the 6 NEWCOMERS partner countries and a field experiment (randomized controlled trial) with a newly created virtual EC in Slovenia.
As a final step, the project results were synthesized and policy recommendations were derived. Some key findings are that a sufficiently broad definition of ECs is required in legislation to capture contemporary activity and to support further experimentation in ECs, as they have to develop new, often highly innovative business models to survive and flourish within transforming energy systems. The benefits of ECs are wide-ranging and extend beyond environmental and financial aspects, including the empowerment of citizens and community building. They contribute to society by mobilizing people to invest and take action in energy transitions, increasing the contribution of renewable energy to the system as a whole. Future potential lies on ECs to also offer flexibility services to increase overall system efficiency. Currently, ECs are largely dependent on volunteering citizens and may lack the full professional expertise needed to set up viable renewable energy projects, which begs for a simplification of EC-related legislation and for the creation of supportive networks and umbrella organizations that share specific knowledge and skills. In addition, the commitment of (local) governments is needed to support the development of ECs and to overcome the various administrative and legal hurdles for ECs. For the scaling of ECs, dedicated targets, financial incentives and knowledge sharing seem crucial. While EU legislation should explicitly support the further development of the EC sector, it is important to acknowledge the need for adaptation of regulations to national circumstances, as every country has its own interplay between diverse actors, motivations, policies and contexts and the development of local versions of ECs should be enabled.
As a final step, the project results were synthesized and policy recommendations were derived. Some key findings are that a sufficiently broad definition of ECs is required in legislation to capture contemporary activity and to support further experimentation in ECs, as they have to develop new, often highly innovative business models to survive and flourish within transforming energy systems. The benefits of ECs are wide-ranging and extend beyond environmental and financial aspects, including the empowerment of citizens and community building. They contribute to society by mobilizing people to invest and take action in energy transitions, increasing the contribution of renewable energy to the system as a whole. Future potential lies on ECs to also offer flexibility services to increase overall system efficiency. Currently, ECs are largely dependent on volunteering citizens and may lack the full professional expertise needed to set up viable renewable energy projects, which begs for a simplification of EC-related legislation and for the creation of supportive networks and umbrella organizations that share specific knowledge and skills. In addition, the commitment of (local) governments is needed to support the development of ECs and to overcome the various administrative and legal hurdles for ECs. For the scaling of ECs, dedicated targets, financial incentives and knowledge sharing seem crucial. While EU legislation should explicitly support the further development of the EC sector, it is important to acknowledge the need for adaptation of regulations to national circumstances, as every country has its own interplay between diverse actors, motivations, policies and contexts and the development of local versions of ECs should be enabled.
The NEWCOMERS team first developed a theoretical framework for the research, integrating elements of polycentric governance theory and socio-technical systems theory, which resulted in a common analytical framework with 12 research propositions that were evaluated during the project. Further, a typology of EC business models was created. In parallel, the consortium consulted with the case study communities to discuss the research approach. Subsequently, a series of qualitative interviews was conducted with both founders/managers of the 10 case study communities and several of their members to support the qualitative research on the emergence, operation and the various business models of the case study communities, as well as on the multiple values (benefits) the communities create for their members and for society. This research was further supported by an online survey among a wider group of energy community members. In parallel, an analysis of the socio-technical systems in the 6 NEWCOMERS partner countries was carried out, to compare how the countries’ different national settings encourage or hinder the development of ECs. To better understand the differences between EC members and non-members, and to evaluate the potential for ECs to spread among the broader population, a large citizen survey was launched in 9 European countries. The survey elicited citizens’ knowledge of ECs and interest in creating or joining an EC and included a discrete choice experiment to understand preferences for different EC features, such as investment requirements and decision-making mechanisms. Further, a field experiment (randomized controlled trial) was carried out in a newly created virtual EC, testing interventions to stimulate energy conservation and demand response in combination with the EC setting. Finally, results were synthesized along 10 core themes and best practices were identified, the propositions from the common analytical framework were evaluated, and policy recommendations were co-created in six national stakeholder workshops. The NEWCOMERS final policy recommendations give practical advice to decision-makers at EU and national levels.
The interdisciplinary approach and the multi-method research design allowed the consortium to study new clean ECs from various angles, connected through elements of polycentric governance thinking. This led to a novel common analytical framework opening avenues for future research. Throughout the project, the consortium closely interacted with the case study communities and a broader group of EC stakeholders in various formats, to make sure that any policy recommendations developed in NEWCOMERS reflect the perspectives of ECs and their stakeholders across Europe. In early 2022, this culminated in a series of local stakeholder dialogues, held in all 6 NEWCOMERS partner countries. At these workshops, policy recommendations were co-created with the representatives of our case study communities and representatives of energy providers, umbrella organizations and civil society organizations. Findings were presented at the joint policy conference “Putting people at the heart of energy transitions”, which was held on April 28th, 2022, in Brussels and was organized jointly with three sister H2020 projects: COMETS, SONNET and SocialRES. At this occasion, the four projects presented the Joint Policy Brief “Putting people at the heart of energy transitions”, with more than 50 people present and more than 100 online participants. Immediate practical benefits to European citizens, consumers, ECs, energy providers and system operators were also provided through educational and awareness-raising material like the Energy Literacy for Energy Communities Handbook (available in several languages), the online platform Our-energy.eu for education, awareness-raising and networking of ECs and other key stakeholders, and a contact database of EC experts.