Enhancing the contribution of community energy to the energy transition in Great Britain through an ecosystems approach

Abstract

Electricity demand in the UK is set to double by 2050. By the same date, the UK is
committed to achieving Net Zero in its carbon emissions and the UK government has set at arget for the electricity grid to achieve Net Zero by 2035. The need for a decentralised, flexible electricity network as part of the Net Zero energy transition means there is potential for community energy to play a role in addressing the growing constraints in the electricity network, while simultaneously bringing benefits to communities. There are approximately
500 community energy organisations in the UK. Many are benefitting from the on-going receipt of support from feed-in tariffs, which closed to new entrants in 2019. The further growth of the community energy sector is held back by a lack of policy support and sustainable business models. Increasingly, community energy organisations are seeking to engage their communities in energy efficiency and in low carbon heat and transport.

The strengths and weaknesses of the relationships between community energy and key components of the ecosystem are examined through literature and semi-structured interviews with a variety of key informants from academia, electricity distribution network operators, local authorities, intermediary organisations and other commentators. A model for understanding and strengthening the interactions between community energy and other actors in the energy sector is presented using the concept of a community energy ecosystem, and an initial mapping of its components presented, with an assessment of their capacity.

Recommendations for advancing the role of community energy are proposed, and for further research, including on how to strengthen the proposed ecosystem model, for addressing gaps in its evidence base, and to generate new analysis to support the advancement of the community energy sector in the UK.

Date of Award	1 Oct 2024
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Bristol
Supervisor	Chris McMahon (Supervisor) & Hadi Abulrub (Supervisor)