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This paper reflects the socio-economic power of renewable energy production cooperatives for a wider energy system transformation in Germany. Energy cooperatives have turned into important supporters of renewable and decentralised energy structures, due to their strong growth since the year 2006, their participation in local renewable energy projects and their democratic awareness. The cooperative form of coordinating local renewable energy projects applies to a decentralised energy system that is managed by many smaller firms - a system concept that is preferred by the majority of German citizens. However, there is not enough knowledge to understand to what extent this organisational form is able to unify a broad group of actors in promoting a renewable energy system (societal power) and to gather capital for elaborating renewable energy supply structures (economic power).
The reflection is based on an empirical assessment of all energy cooperatives that were registered in Germany before 31st December 2013. Their growth dynamic and their business approaches are discussed. A special focus lies on renewable energy production cooperatives. The study presents the development of their members, their capital, their profit and loss, as well as their investment intensity over a timeframe of three years (2010-2012). The socio-economic potential of renewable energy production cooperatives for supporting a renewable energy system is discussed against the background of empirical results.
The transformation of energy systems is influencing economic policy agendas all over the world, particularly in industrialized countries. In this process, Germany has taken a pioneering role, and hence the technical innovations, legal frameworks, and business models established there are also of interest for other countries trying to achieve broader use of renewable energies. Energy cooperatives have been an important building block in the energy transition in Germany, although their practical importance is neither quantitatively nor qualitatively reflected in the academic literature. Drawing on recently collected data, this paper presents an overview of German energy cooperatives in terms of organization, financing, and membership. We then review literature from economics and the social sciences that has been used to analyze cooperatives on various levels in other fields. We discuss how these theories could be applied to create a better understanding of energy cooperatives, and we derive a preliminary research agenda for their analysis. We also assess the scope for interdisciplinary work among economists, sociologists, and other disciplines.
Multiplying mighty Davids? : The influence of energy cooperatives on Germany’s energy transition
(2018)
This book systematically describes and evaluates the impact of energy cooperatives as a key driving force in the German energy transition toward a sustainability-oriented energy sector. Based on a comprehensive survey and three case studies, it provides an instructive overview of the overall dimensions and scope of energy cooperatives in Germany, and of their history, structure and current investment projects. The book not only contributes to the energy policy discourse in Germany, but also highlights the role of energy cooperatives to enable an international readership to explore their potential in other countries. Further, it makes a theoretical contribution toward substantially supplementing actor research in general, and enterprise research in particular, in the field of sustainability transitions science.