News & Articles on Community Power
Developing renewable energy on the scale needed to make the energy transition will require public acceptance. Unlike nuclear power, where society can force a single plant on a community for the benefit of society at large, renewable energy will have to become ubiquitous in our communities and on our landscapes. This can only be possible when the majority accept this transformation. Experience has taught that acceptance is greatest when neighbors and the community at large can participate in the renewable energy revolution. The beauty of renewable energy is that everyone can take part–and own a stake in their future–when given an opportunity to do so. The challenge is creating the policies that make this possible, whether it’s for a community wind project or a solar garden.
Great Britain: Two Swindon solar farms to go ahead
By
Peter Bennett
Both the projects are being developed as split-ownership projects which offer local communities the opportunity to invest in the sites, and both sites have secured pre-accreditation under the feed-in tariff.
Growth of energy co-ops slows down in Germany
By
German cooperative association DGRV says new registrations of energy cooperatives fell by 60 percent in 2014. The organization says amendments to the Renewable Energy Act (EEG) from 2014 are the reason, but there was another as well.
What the switch from FITs to auctions means
By
Craig Morris
If we are going to talk about the technical need for utilities as aggregators, we should admit that the people who brought about this transition over the past 25 years will be demoted as market players in the process.
Investors Declare Independence from Utility Takeover–Form Coop to Rescue Defunct German Wind Developer
By
Paul Gipe
In a stunning turn in the battle between corporate domination of renewable energy and community ownership, a cooperative of German investors has rescued defunct commercial wind developer Prokon.
New community wind farm in UK is largest ever
By
Craig Morris
This month, construction of the Beinn Ghrideag wind farm was completed. In the next few months, three 3 MW Enercon wind turbines are expected to start power production. A comparison with a recent German committee project is illustrative.
How big can a community wind farm be?
By
Craig Morris
A few weeks ago, 360 German citizens completed and 82.3 MW wind farm consisting of 24 wind turbines. The project even included a transformer station, which the community project financed completely on its own.
Spreading the model of renewable energy cooperatives
By
In Germany, citizen cooperatives have long been investing in the production of renewable energies and some are now looking at how to buy back the energy grid from the energy companies. They failed to do so in Berlin, but have succeeded in Hamburg, creating a new business model that many other countries would like to emulate.
Boell: Few new German energy co-ops in 2014
By
Craig Morris
Last summer, the umbrella organization for German energy cooperatives announced that the willingness of energy cooperatives to make further investments in the current year had already fallen from 92 percent in 2013 to 70 percent in 2014. The number of newly founded co-ops has also been on the decrease since the peak in 2011
MARKET INTEGRATION AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF WIND POWER COOPERATIVES IN DENMARK LESSONS LEARNED FOR GERMANY
By
Boris Gotchev
Wind power cooperatives in Denmark have mitigated exposure to market risks through joint cooperative actions and coopera-tion with financially strong partners. They have been facilitated by specific regulatory measures. Meanwhile, Bürgerwindparks (citizen-owned wind farms) in Germany could face severe obstacles from increased market integration. Price risks are ower, but the risks and costs of marketing electricity could be higher compared to Denmark.
UK Energy Policy and the role of community energy
By
Catherine Mitchell
Its not all doom and gloom in GB–FITs has been a great success and kick-started all sorts of developments.
