Grassroots initiatives (GIs) are open and dynamic bottom-up activities that seek to provoke changes that go beyond or against the orchestrated paths of transition, but are self-organized and transformational. GIs include local and regional initiatives, established by groups and communities that aim for more durable energy systems in their direct environment. This includes NGOs and community organizations, but also collaborations with local authorities and businesses that are thinking and working ‘out of the box’.
In this part of the project, the aim is to systematically map and trace grassroots initiatives and their engagement in the development of practices concerning energy production, use and distribution. This requires both information on local GI activities and developments, and on the state of transition in each country in terms of policy, regulations and actor constellations. We created a relational database of all renewable energy (GIs) in the three countries under scrutiny.
Danish database
The Danish database covering GIs is being finalized at the moment. Due to its long history of GIs within energy, Denmark has a comparably large number of GIs today. So far, roughly 4,000 GIs have been identified, the largest number of which are cooperatively owned wind turbines (around 3,000), followed by locally owned district heating plants (around 400). Some district heating (DH) plants are not only interesting due to their organizational structure, but also due to their technological portfolio, as they can be considered key technologies in the future smart energy system. Moreover, around 80 collective and farm biogas plants could be identified. As well as a few eco-villages and folk high schools. Finally, there are a number of GIs, which are important because of their efforts within information and knowledge sharing, political activity, and social processes linked to renewable energy planning.
Dutch database
The Dutch database yields a collection of 360 Dutch GIs, varying from energy cooperatives to working groups. From the analysis of the database we distinguish four waves of GIs, each with different characteristics in terms of goals, motivations, networking and technology. Furthermore, GIs are increasingly connected among each other and to intermediary organisations. A sub-database was created to investigate the role of energy retailers in supporting the growth and diffusion of local community renewable energy initiatives in the Netherlands.
Swedish database
The Swedish history of GIs is different compared to the Netherlands and Denmark, meaning that there are not as many. 221 identified GIs were included in the database, covering cooperatives for Solar PVs, onshore and offshore wind turbines, biogas systems, local heating systems, eco-villages and a few cooperatives focusing on hydro power. In quantity, the wind cooperatives are the largest amount as there are 88 organizations owning plants. These are predominantly “incorporated associations”, owned by members and they were initiated before year 2000 and are generally connected through the Swedish umbrella organization. There are 43 biogas corporations which are small farmers which are to some extent connected organizationally, but more seemingly they are geographically clustered to the western part of Sweden and to the southwestern coast. Corporation, formed as “incorporated associations” for Solar PVs have been developed in the recent years and there are now 22 of them. In several cases, especially regarding wind and solar PVs, there are clear connections to the municipalities through corporations or in some cases ownership. This is a typical Swedish situation, as the municipalities historically have had a strong position in energy provision and they are now supporting these kinds of initiatives.