Energy communities as an alternative way of organizing the energy system in Europe: key societal aspects

The European energy system is undergoing transformation due to the climate crisis, advancing digitalization, and the increasing demand for greater citizen engagement. Energy communities are recognized as crucial catalysts for the transition toward sustainable energy. While the communities have for long focused on collective generation only, recently they are increasingly involved in new activities, such as providing, distributing, and balancing energy and flexibility. By doing so, energy communities are not only becoming a new actor in the energy system, but they also offer an alternative way of organizing it based on the need for independence from the energy suppliers, social cohesion, or support to the local economy. However, the current energy system operates predominantly in a top-down, central way with large power units, transmission, and distribution operators. Market participation is based on high liquidity levels, professionalization, and large volumes that communities do not have and, mostly, do not want. For communities, this implies the necessity to deal with many barriers and challenges. To make space for energy communities, changes are necessary in the organization of the current energy system. In this chapter, we investigate the energy communities as a new form of organizing the European energy system and we analyze how the current energy system provides obstacles to their greater upscaling. We focus on gathering insights about societal aspects that facilitate energy communities as they make their way to the larger system and offer a novel alternative that is more democratic and just.