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.
