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.
More of Morris on Community Ownership of Renewables in Germany: All Major Political Parties Support
By
Craig Morris
Energy democracy is not just about having your own solar roof . . . Conservative politicians Ingbert Liebing and Josef Göppel also expressed their support. “In northern Frisia, we have more than 90% community wind farms, and that increases local acceptance,” Liebling stated. His southern German colleague Göppel said, “We now have more than 650 energy coops nationwide, and power production has truly become a popular sport in the south.”
Greenpeace: Renewable Energy is the Economic Motor for Communities (auf Deutsch)
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In 2012 17 billion Euros were added to local communities in Germany by wind and solar energy, according to a study for Greenpeace.
UK Parliament: Local Energy
By
Energy and Climate Change Committee
Government provides support to households who install small-scale renewable energy systems through the Feed-in Tariff scheme (FiT), while large scale projects like off-shore wind farms will be supported through new fixed-price Contracts for difference (CfDs). Medium-sized energy projects between 10-50 Megawatts (MW) are currently slipping through the net, however, being too big to receive FiTs yet too small to take advantage of CfDs.
UK Parliament: “Support communities who want to install renewable energy systems”
By
Energy and Climate Change Committee
Businesses, cooperatives, local authorities, schools and housing associations should be given financial support to install medium-sized renewable energy generating systems – such as solar arrays, wind turbines and district heating systems – because of the benefits these projects can bring to communities and the country as a whole, MPs on the Energy and Climate Change Committee have said.
Renewables International: Utility-scale solar small in Germany
By
Craig Morris
The statistics are further evidence that the German PV market has a relatively large share of small, distributed systems in an international comparison. One reason is strong community and citizen ownership in the country. Indeed, even systems with hundreds or thousands of kilowatts (such as a recent 7.8 MW project) are often owned by communities and citizen investors, not utilities. The label “utility-scale” is therefore probably misleading in Germany to begin with.
31 Community Power Coops Wind Contracts in Ontario
By
Soon, more of the power produced in some 60 municipalities in Ontario will be owned by the people of the province through community power co-operatives. Twenty-five MW in contracts have been awarded to 33 co-ops located across the province.
German Renewable Cooperatives Continue Growth (auf Deutsch)
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Some 130,000 Germans have now invested 1.2 billion Euros in renewable energy cooperatives capable of generating 580 million kWh per year. Half of the investment is in solar, 40% in wind. More than half of German renewables are owned by its citizens in limited partnerships that are a different form of ownership model to that of cooperatives
Community Energy in the UK: A review of the evidence
By
Department Of Energy & Climate Change
The Government recognises that there are a number of potential benefits of community energy. In June 2012, DECC Minister Greg Barker announced that the Government would launch a Community Energy Strategy in the autumn of 2013. This interim report is being published alongside the Government Community Energy Call for Evidence which will also inform the Strategy.
SolarShare Poised to Become Largest Solar Power Cooperative in North America
By
Paul Gipe
SolarShare announced 8 July that the Ontario Power Authority has awarded it 4.9 MW in new feed-in tariff contracts. Combined …
Zoo Poo Power Wins Ontaraio FIT Contract
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First cooperative biogas plant in Canada–and likely in North America as well–wins 500 kW contract from the Ontario Power Authority to build plant at the Toronto Zoo.
