IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v14y2021i8p2258-d538017.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Contribution of Energy Communities to the Upscaling of Photovoltaics in Germany and Italy

Author

Listed:
  • August Wierling

    (Department of Environmental Sciences, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Røyrgata 6, 6856 Sogndal, Norway)

  • Jan Pedro Zeiss

    (Department of Environmental Sciences, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Røyrgata 6, 6856 Sogndal, Norway)

  • Veronica Lupi

    (GREEN Research Centre, Bocconi University, Via Röntgen 1, 20136 Milan, Italy)

  • Chiara Candelise

    (GREEN Research Centre, Bocconi University, Via Röntgen 1, 20136 Milan, Italy
    Imperial Centre for Energy Policy and Technology (ICEPT), South Kensington Campus, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK)

  • Alessandro Sciullo

    (Department of Culture, Politics, and Society, University of Turin, Via Verdi 8, 10124 Turin, Italy)

  • Valeria Jana Schwanitz

    (Department of Environmental Sciences, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Røyrgata 6, 6856 Sogndal, Norway
    The Create Centre, The Schumacher Institute, Bristol BS1 6XN, UK)

Abstract

Energy communities (EC) are among the new actors in the energy market, playing an important role in the uptake of photovoltaics (PV) in European markets. This paper estimates their aggregate contribution to the low-carbon energy transition in terms of installed capacities for PV and evaluates their economic performance comparing with market prices. We compiled a database of PV facilities with 3672 entries for Germany and 64 entries for Italy. Our statistical analysis does not support an economic under-performance of EC. The aggregate contribution of EC currently amounts to 600–838 MWp installed capacity in Germany and 10.6 MWp installed capacity in Italy, which makes 1.2–1.7% and 0.07% of all PV installations in Germany and Italy, respectively.

Suggested Citation

  • August Wierling & Jan Pedro Zeiss & Veronica Lupi & Chiara Candelise & Alessandro Sciullo & Valeria Jana Schwanitz, 2021. "The Contribution of Energy Communities to the Upscaling of Photovoltaics in Germany and Italy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-16, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:8:p:2258-:d:538017
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/8/2258/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/8/2258/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Antonelli, Marco & Desideri, Umberto, 2014. "The doping effect of Italian feed-in tariffs on the PV market," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 583-594.
    2. Strupeit, Lars & Neij, Lena, 2017. "Cost dynamics in the deployment of photovoltaics: Insights from the German market for building-sited systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 948-960.
    3. Candelise, Chiara & Winskel, Mark & Gross, Robert J.K., 2013. "The dynamics of solar PV costs and prices as a challenge for technology forecasting," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 96-107.
    4. Yildiz, Özgür, 2014. "Financing renewable energy infrastructures via financial citizen participation – The case of Germany," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 677-685.
    5. Debor, Sarah, 2014. "The socio-economic power of renewable energy production cooperatives in Germany: Results of an empirical assessment," Wuppertal Papers 187, Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy.
    6. August Wierling & Valeria Jana Schwanitz & Jan Pedro Zeiß & Celine Bout & Chiara Candelise & Winston Gilcrease & Jay Sterling Gregg, 2018. "Statistical Evidence on the Role of Energy Cooperatives for the Energy Transition in European Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-25, September.
    7. 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.
    8. Chiara Candelise & Gianluca Ruggieri, 2020. "Status and Evolution of the Community Energy Sector in Italy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-22, 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. Piselli, C. & Fronzetti Colladon, A. & Segneri, L. & Pisello, A.L., 2022. "Evaluating and improving social awareness of energy communities through semantic network analysis of online news," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    2. Martens, Katrin, 2022. "Investigating subnational success conditions to foster renewable energy community co-operatives," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    3. Veronica Lupi & Chiara Candelise & Merce Almuni Calull & Sarah Delvaux & Pieter Valkering & Wit Hubert & Alessandro Sciullo & Nele Ivask & Esther van der Waal & Izaskun Jimenez Iturriza & Daniele Paci, 2021. "A Characterization of European Collective Action Initiatives and Their Role as Enablers of Citizens’ Participation in the Energy Transition," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-17, December.
    4. Ludwik Wicki & Robert Pietrzykowski & Dariusz Kusz, 2022. "Factors Determining the Development of Prosumer Photovoltaic Installations in Poland," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-19, August.
    5. Mirosław Struś & Daria Kostecka-Jurczyk & Katarzyna Marak, 2023. "The Role of Local Government in the Bottom-Up Energy Transformation of Poland on the Example of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(12), pages 1-13, June.
    6. Erika Michela Dematteis & Jussara Barale & Marta Corno & Alessandro Sciullo & Marcello Baricco & Paola Rizzi, 2021. "Solid-State Hydrogen Storage Systems and the Relevance of a Gender Perspective," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-26, September.
    7. Michael Krug & Maria Rosaria Di Nucci & Matteo Caldera & Elena De Luca, 2022. "Mainstreaming Community Energy: Is the Renewable Energy Directive a Driver for Renewable Energy Communities in Germany and Italy?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-24, June.
    8. Valeria Jana Schwanitz & Tadeusz Józef Rudek & Wit Hubert & August Hubert Wierling, 2022. "The Development of Citizen-Installed Renewable Energy Capacities in Former Eastern Bloc Countries—The Case of Poland," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-29, April.
    9. Roberto Gerundo & Alessandra Marra, 2022. "A Decision Support Methodology to Foster Renewable Energy Communities in the Municipal Urban Plan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-22, December.
    10. Roberto De Lotto & Calogero Micciché & Elisabetta M. Venco & Angelo Bonaiti & Riccardo De Napoli, 2022. "Energy Communities: Technical, Legislative, Organizational, and Planning Features," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-22, February.

    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. Chiara Candelise & Gianluca Ruggieri, 2017. "Community Energy in Italy: Heterogeneous institutional characteristics and citizens engagement," IEFE Working Papers 93, IEFE, Center for Research on Energy and Environmental Economics and Policy, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy.
    2. Chiara Candelise & Gianluca Ruggieri, 2020. "Status and Evolution of the Community Energy Sector in Italy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-22, April.
    3. Pons-Seres de Brauwer, C. & Cohen, J.J., 2020. "Analysing the potential of citizen-financed community renewable energy to drive Europe's low-carbon energy transition," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    4. Yildiz, Özgür & Rommel, Jens & Debor, Sarah & Holstenkamp, Lars & Mey, Franziska & Müller, Jakob R. & Radtke, Jörg & Rognli, Judith, 2014. "Research Perspectives on Renewable Energy Cooperatives in Germany: Empirical Insights and Theoretical Lenses," MPRA Paper 55931, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Chiara Modanese & Hannu S. Laine & Toni P. Pasanen & Hele Savin & Joshua M. Pearce, 2018. "Economic Advantages of Dry-Etched Black Silicon in Passivated Emitter Rear Cell (PERC) Photovoltaic Manufacturing," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-18, September.
    6. 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.
    7. Strupeit, Lars, 2017. "An innovation system perspective on the drivers of soft cost reduction for photovoltaic deployment: The case of Germany," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 273-286.
    8. Jenny Palm, 2021. "The Transposition of Energy Communities into Swedish Regulations: Overview and Critique of Emerging Regulations," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-15, August.
    9. Collier, Samuel H.C. & House, Jo I. & Connor, Peter M. & Harris, Richard, 2023. "Distributed local energy: Assessing the determinants of domestic-scale solar photovoltaic uptake at the local level across England and Wales," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    10. Berka, Anna L. & Creamer, Emily, 2018. "Taking stock of the local impacts of community owned renewable energy: A review and research agenda," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 82(P3), pages 3400-3419.
    11. Moritz Ehrtmann & Lars Holstenkamp & Timon Becker, 2021. "Regional Electricity Models for Community Energy in Germany: The Role of Governance Structures," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-24, February.
    12. Beate Fischer & Gunnar Gutsche & Heike Wetzel, 2020. "Who wants to get involved? Determinants of citizens’ willingness to participate in German renewable energy cooperatives," MAGKS Papers on Economics 202027, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung).
    13. Rossi, Federico & Heleno, Miguel & Basosi, Riccardo & Sinicropi, Adalgisa, 2021. "LCA driven solar compensation mechanism for Renewable Energy Communities: the Italian case," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 235(C).
    14. Romero-Rubio, Carmen & de Andrés Díaz, José Ramón, 2015. "Sustainable energy communities: a study contrasting Spain and Germany," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 397-409.
    15. Jakub Jasiński & Mariusz Kozakiewicz & Maciej Sołtysik, 2021. "Determinants of Energy Cooperatives’ Development in Rural Areas—Evidence from Poland," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-19, January.
    16. Maksym Koltunov & Simon Pezzutto & Adriano Bisello & Georg Lettner & Albert Hiesl & Wilfried van Sark & Atse Louwen & Eric Wilczynski, 2023. "Mapping of Energy Communities in Europe: Status Quo and Review of Existing Classifications," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-25, May.
    17. Pohlmann, Angela & Colell, Arwen, 2020. "Distributing power: Community energy movements claiming the grid in Berlin and Hamburg," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    18. F.G. Reis, Inês & Gonçalves, Ivo & A.R. Lopes, Marta & Henggeler Antunes, Carlos, 2021. "Business models for energy communities: A review of key issues and trends," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    19. Elia, A. & Kamidelivand, M. & Rogan, F. & Ó Gallachóir, B., 2021. "Impacts of innovation on renewable energy technology cost reductions," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    20. Michael Krug & Maria Rosaria Di Nucci & Matteo Caldera & Elena De Luca, 2022. "Mainstreaming Community Energy: Is the Renewable Energy Directive a Driver for Renewable Energy Communities in Germany and Italy?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-24, June.

    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:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:8:p:2258-:d:538017. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.