Community energy – Broadening the ownership of renewables

This guide offers a short introduction to the concept of community energy and identifies its benefits, challenges and suggested actions to promote it.

IRENA Coalition for Action published this paper in 2017 because it identified the scaling-up of renewable energy investment as one of the most urgent topics to address in order to accelerate the global energy transformation. The guide lists the following benefits of community energy:

• Building community acceptance and support for the development of renewable
  energy projects
• Added value for the region through the establishment of a new economic sector, job
  creation and a local identity
• Increase in actor diversity resulting in shared decision-making and increased transparency in planning and construction
• Integration of citizens into sustainable economic processes
• Lower energy prices
• Acceleration of energy access and general renewable deployment rates
• Technology and business model innovation

When looking at the challenges, the document focuses on regulatory/policy challenges and financial challenges. In addition, it identifies a lack of clarity regarding the definition of community energy, as well as cultural challenges and challenges related to disparities within communities.

The actions to promote community energy suggested in this guide refer to policies to create equal market access for energy communities, the development of special incentives for community energy investments, the establishment of community energy authorities with the sole purpose of supporting community energy projects, and the creation of international programmes and networks around community energy.

The paper is aimed at citizens and policy makers wishing to promote energy communities in their local community.