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Come together-the development of Swedish energy communities

Magnusson, Dick and Palm, Jenny LU (2019) In Sustainability (Switzerland) 11(4).
Abstract

Community energy (CE) and grassroots innovations have been widely studied in recent years, especially in the UK, Germany, and the Netherlands, but very little focus has been placed on Sweden. This paper describes and analyses the development and present state of several types of community energy initiatives in Sweden. The methodology uses interviews, document studies, analysis of previous studies, and website analysis. The results show that fewer initiatives have been taken in Sweden than in other countries, but that even with a rather 'hostile' institutional setting CE has emerged as a phenomenon. Wind cooperatives are the most common form of initiative, with solar photovoltaics cooperatives and eco-villages also prominent. The various... (More)

Community energy (CE) and grassroots innovations have been widely studied in recent years, especially in the UK, Germany, and the Netherlands, but very little focus has been placed on Sweden. This paper describes and analyses the development and present state of several types of community energy initiatives in Sweden. The methodology uses interviews, document studies, analysis of previous studies, and website analysis. The results show that fewer initiatives have been taken in Sweden than in other countries, but that even with a rather 'hostile' institutional setting CE has emerged as a phenomenon. Wind cooperatives are the most common form of initiative, with solar photovoltaics cooperatives and eco-villages also prominent. The various types of initiatives differ considerably, from well-organized wind cooperatives that have grown into professional organizations to small-scale hydroelectric power plants owned by a rural community. The initiatives may have modest impact on the energy transition in quantitative terms, but they are crucial in knowledge sharing and as inspirations for future initiatives.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Community energy, Energy cooperatives, Grassroots innovations, Sweden, renewable energy community, citizen energy community, solar energy, wind energy, wind, Photovoltaic (PV), prosumerism, eco villages, Local energy community
in
Sustainability (Switzerland)
volume
11
issue
4
article number
1056
publisher
MDPI AG
external identifiers
  • scopus:85061705151
ISSN
2071-1050
DOI
10.3390/su11041056
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
532b2798-9332-428a-9851-bae61ec14cab
date added to LUP
2019-02-25 12:12:36
date last changed
2022-07-06 17:14:28
@article{532b2798-9332-428a-9851-bae61ec14cab,
  abstract     = {{<p>Community energy (CE) and grassroots innovations have been widely studied in recent years, especially in the UK, Germany, and the Netherlands, but very little focus has been placed on Sweden. This paper describes and analyses the development and present state of several types of community energy initiatives in Sweden. The methodology uses interviews, document studies, analysis of previous studies, and website analysis. The results show that fewer initiatives have been taken in Sweden than in other countries, but that even with a rather 'hostile' institutional setting CE has emerged as a phenomenon. Wind cooperatives are the most common form of initiative, with solar photovoltaics cooperatives and eco-villages also prominent. The various types of initiatives differ considerably, from well-organized wind cooperatives that have grown into professional organizations to small-scale hydroelectric power plants owned by a rural community. The initiatives may have modest impact on the energy transition in quantitative terms, but they are crucial in knowledge sharing and as inspirations for future initiatives.</p>}},
  author       = {{Magnusson, Dick and Palm, Jenny}},
  issn         = {{2071-1050}},
  keywords     = {{Community energy; Energy cooperatives; Grassroots innovations; Sweden; renewable energy community; citizen energy community; solar energy; wind energy; wind; Photovoltaic (PV); prosumerism; eco villages; Local energy community}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{02}},
  number       = {{4}},
  publisher    = {{MDPI AG}},
  series       = {{Sustainability (Switzerland)}},
  title        = {{Come together-the development of Swedish energy communities}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su11041056}},
  doi          = {{10.3390/su11041056}},
  volume       = {{11}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}