IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/renene/v216y2023ics0960148123009448.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Energy communities in rural areas: The participatory case study of Vega de Valcarce, Spain

Author

Listed:
  • Lode, Maria Luisa
  • Felice, Alex
  • Martinez Alonso, Ander
  • De Silva, Jayesh
  • Angulo, Maria E.
  • Lowitzsch, Jens
  • Coosemans, Thierry
  • Ramirez Camargo, Luis

Abstract

This study follows a multi-disciplinary approach to implementing an Energy Community (ECs) in Vega de Valcarce, a rural community in Spain. ECs are entities that encompass collective actions of citizens and other actors towards the open, democratic governance of renewable energy sources; ECs can take various technical and organisational forms. This study developed and evaluated socially accepted, technically optimal and feasible options for the implementation of the EC at Vega de Valcarce. We conducted a participatory multi-criteria analysis incorporating the results of mixed-integer linear programming for energy system optimisation and regulatory analysis of ECs under Spanish law. Our study showed that the main objectives of local stakeholders are the reduction of the energy bill and emissions. The limited liability company fulfilled legal and regulatory restrictions the best by implementing a bigger-sized EC. We summarise the key challenges of implementing an EC in a rural context, mainly legal and financial, and conclude with recommendations on how to overcome these. While contributing to understanding the roll-out of ECs in Spain and Europe, our research aims to provide a structured approach for the uptake of renewable energy in rural areas.

Suggested Citation

  • Lode, Maria Luisa & Felice, Alex & Martinez Alonso, Ander & De Silva, Jayesh & Angulo, Maria E. & Lowitzsch, Jens & Coosemans, Thierry & Ramirez Camargo, Luis, 2023. "Energy communities in rural areas: The participatory case study of Vega de Valcarce, Spain," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:216:y:2023:i:c:s0960148123009448
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2023.119030
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148123009448
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.renene.2023.119030?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ribeiro, Fernando & Ferreira, Paula & Araújo, Madalena, 2013. "Evaluating future scenarios for the power generation sector using a Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) tool: The Portuguese case," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 126-136.
    2. Rodrigo A. Estévez & Valeria Espinoza & Roberto D. Ponce Oliva & Felipe Vásquez-Lavín & Stefan Gelcich, 2021. "Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis for Renewable Energies: Research Trends, Gaps and the Challenge of Improving Participation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-13, March.
    3. Siksnelyte-Butkiene, Indre & Streimikiene, Dalia & Balezentis, Tomas, 2022. "Addressing sustainability issues in transition to carbon-neutral sustainable society with multi-criteria analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 254(PA).
    4. O'Sullivan, Kate & Golubchikov, Oleg & Mehmood, Abid, 2020. "Uneven energy transitions: Understanding continued energy peripheralization in rural communities," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    5. Lode, M.L. & te Boveldt, G. & Coosemans, T. & Ramirez Camargo, L., 2022. "A transition perspective on Energy Communities: A systematic literature review and research agenda," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    6. Felice, Alex & Rakocevic, Lucija & Peeters, Leen & Messagie, Maarten & Coosemans, Thierry & Ramirez Camargo, Luis, 2022. "Renewable energy communities: Do they have a business case in Flanders?," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 322(C).
    7. Gjorgievski, Vladimir Z. & Cundeva, Snezana & Georghiou, George E., 2021. "Social arrangements, technical designs and impacts of energy communities: A review," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 1138-1156.
    8. Wustenhagen, Rolf & Wolsink, Maarten & Burer, Mary Jean, 2007. "Social acceptance of renewable energy innovation: An introduction to the concept," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 2683-2691, May.
    9. Hoicka, Christina E. & Lowitzsch, Jens & Brisbois, Marie Claire & Kumar, Ankit & Ramirez Camargo, Luis, 2021. "Implementing a just renewable energy transition: Policy advice for transposing the new European rules for renewable energy communities," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    10. te Boveldt, Geert & Keseru, Imre & Macharis, Cathy, 2022. "When monetarisation and ranking are not appropriate. A novel stakeholder-based appraisal method," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 192-205.
    11. Heras-Saizarbitoria, Iñaki & Sáez, Lucía & Allur, Erlantz & Morandeira, Jon, 2018. "The emergence of renewable energy cooperatives in Spain: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 1036-1043.
    12. Gallego-Castillo, Cristobal & Heleno, Miguel & Victoria, Marta, 2021. "Self-consumption for energy communities in Spain: A regional analysis under the new legal framework," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    13. Euan Phimister & Deborah Roberts, 2012. "The Role of Ownership in Determining the Rural Economic Benefits of On-shore Wind Farms," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 63(2), pages 331-360, June.
    14. Marie Schaefer & Laura Schmitt Olabisi & Kristin Arola & Christie M. Poitra & Elise Matz & Marika Seigel & Chelsea Schelly & Adewale Adesanya & Doug Bessette, 2021. "Understanding Socio-Technological Systems Change through an Indigenous Community-Based Participatory Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-13, February.
    15. Florian Hanke & Jens Lowitzsch, 2020. "Empowering Vulnerable Consumers to Join Renewable Energy Communities—Towards an Inclusive Design of the Clean Energy Package," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-27, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Petr Klusáček & Petr Dvořák & Jakub Trojan, 2023. "Revitalising Rural Spaces: Lessons Learnt from Brownfield Regeneration in a Shrinking Region," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-25, December.
    2. Pagnini, Luisa & Bracco, Stefano & Delfino, Federico & de-Simón-Martín, Miguel, 2024. "Levelized cost of electricity in renewable energy communities: Uncertainty propagation analysis," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 366(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Álvaro Manso-Burgos & David Ribó-Pérez & Manuel Alcázar-Ortega & Tomás Gómez-Navarro, 2021. "Local Energy Communities in Spain: Economic Implications of the New Tariff and Variable Coefficients," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-18, September.
    2. Adam X. Hearn & Raul Castaño-Rosa, 2021. "Towards a Just Energy Transition, Barriers and Opportunities for Positive Energy District Creation in Spain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-18, August.
    3. Hoicka, Christina E. & Conroy, Jessica & Berka, Anna L., 2021. "Reconfiguring actors and infrastructure in city renewable energy transitions: A regional perspective," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    4. Herenčić, Lin & Kirac, Mislav & Keko, Hrvoje & Kuzle, Igor & Rajšl, Ivan, 2022. "Automated energy sharing in MV and LV distribution grids within an energy community: A case for Croatian city of Križevci with a hybrid renewable system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 191(C), pages 176-194.
    5. Sward, Jeffrey A. & Nilson, Roberta S. & Katkar, Venktesh V. & Stedman, Richard C. & Kay, David L. & Ifft, Jennifer E. & Zhang, K. Max, 2021. "Integrating social considerations in multicriteria decision analysis for utility-scale solar photovoltaic siting," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 288(C).
    6. Copena, Damián & Simón, Xavier, 2018. "Wind farms and payments to landowners: Opportunities for rural development for the case of Galicia," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 38-47.
    7. Kerscher, Selina & Koirala, Arpan & Arboleya, Pablo, 2024. "Grid-optimal energy community planning from a systems perspective," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    8. Kubli, Merla & Puranik, Sanket, 2023. "A typology of business models for energy communities: Current and emerging design options," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    9. Stanislav Martinát & Justyna Chodkowska-Miszczuk & Marián Kulla & Josef Navrátil & Petr Klusáček & Petr Dvořák & Ladislav Novotný & Tomáš Krejčí & Loránt Pregi & Jakub Trojan & Bohumil Frantál, 2022. "Best Practice Forever? Dynamics behind the Perception of Farm-Fed Anaerobic Digestion Plants in Rural Peripheries," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-17, March.
    10. Dasí-Crespo, Daniel & Roldán-Blay, Carlos & Escrivá-Escrivá, Guillermo & Roldán-Porta, Carlos, 2023. "Evaluation of the Spanish regulation on self-consumption photovoltaic installations. A case study based on a rural municipality in Spain," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 204(C), pages 788-802.
    11. Gjorgievski, Vladimir Z. & Cundeva, Snezana & Markovska, Natasa & Georghiou, George E., 2022. "Virtual net-billing: A fair energy sharing method for collective self-consumption," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 254(PB).
    12. Danial Esfandiary Abdolmaleki & Shoeib Faraji Abdolmaleki & Pastora M. Bello Bugallo, 2023. "Evaluating Renewable Energy and Ranking 17 Autonomous Communities in Spain: A TOPSIS Method," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-12, August.
    13. Nima Narjabadifam & Javanshir Fouladvand & Mustafa Gül, 2023. "Critical Review on Community-Shared Solar—Advantages, Challenges, and Future Directions," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(8), pages 1-25, April.
    14. Petrovich, Beatrice & Kubli, Merla, 2023. "Energy communities for companies: Executives’ preferences for local and renewable energy procurement," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    15. Antoine Boche & Clément Foucher & Luiz Fernando Lavado Villa, 2022. "Understanding Microgrid Sustainability: A Systemic and Comprehensive Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-29, April.
    16. Mehmet Efe Biresselioglu & Siyami Alp Limoncuoglu & Muhittin Hakan Demir & Johannes Reichl & Katrin Burgstaller & Alessandro Sciullo & Edoardo Ferrero, 2021. "Legal Provisions and Market Conditions for Energy Communities in Austria, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain, and Turkey: A Comparative Assessment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-25, October.
    17. Sirviö, Katja & Motta, Sergio & Rauma, Kalle & Evens, Corentin, 2024. "Multi-level functional analysis of developing prosumers and energy communities with value creation framework," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 368(C).
    18. Barbara Antonioli Mantegazzini & C?dric Clastres & Laura Wangen, 2022. "Energy communities in Europe: An overview of issues and regulatory and economic solutions," ECONOMICS AND POLICY OF ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2022(2), pages 5-23.
    19. Woo, JongRoul & Chung, Sungsam & Lee, Chul-Yong & Huh, Sung-Yoon, 2019. "Willingness to participate in community-based renewable energy projects: A contingent valuation study in South Korea," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 643-652.
    20. Felice, Alex & Rakocevic, Lucija & Peeters, Leen & Messagie, Maarten & Coosemans, Thierry & Ramirez Camargo, Luis, 2022. "Renewable energy communities: Do they have a business case in Flanders?," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 322(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:216:y:2023:i:c:s0960148123009448. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/renewable-energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.