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Consumer Stock Ownership Plans (CSOPs)—The Prototype Business Model for Renewable Energy Communities

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  • Jens Lowitzsch

    (Comparative Law, East European Business Law and European Legal Policy at the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Europa Universität Viadrina, Große Scharrnstraße 59, D-15230 Frankfurt, Germany)

Abstract

The 2018 recast of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED II) defines “renewable energy communities” (RECs), introducing a new governance model and the possibility of energy sharing for them. It has to be transposed into national law by all European Union Member States until June 2021. This article introduces consumer stock ownership plans (CSOPs) as the prototype business model for RECs. Based on the analysis of a dataset of 67 best-practice cases of consumer (co-) ownership from 18 countries it demonstrates the importance of flexibility of business models to include heterogeneous co-investors for meeting the requirements of the RED II and that of RE clusters. It is shown that CSOPs—designed to facilitate scalable investments in utilities—facilitate co-investments by municipalities, SMEs, plant engineers or energy suppliers. A low-threshold financing method, they enable individuals, in particular low-income households, to invest in renewable projects. Employing one bank loan instead of many micro loans, CSOPs reduce transaction costs and enable consumers to acquire productive capital, providing them with an additional source of income. Stressing the importance of a holistic approach including the governance and the technical side for the acceptance of RECs on the energy markets recommendations for the transposition are formulated.

Suggested Citation

  • Jens Lowitzsch, 2019. "Consumer Stock Ownership Plans (CSOPs)—The Prototype Business Model for Renewable Energy Communities," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-24, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:13:y:2019:i:1:p:118-:d:301875
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Sara Torabi Moghadam & Maria Valentina Di Nicoli & Santiago Manzo & Patrizia Lombardi, 2020. "Mainstreaming Energy Communities in the Transition to a Low-Carbon Future: A Methodological Approach," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-25, April.
    2. Di Silvestre, Maria Luisa & Ippolito, Mariano Giuseppe & Sanseverino, Eleonora Riva & Sciumè, Giuseppe & Vasile, Antony, 2021. "Energy self-consumers and renewable energy communities in Italy: New actors of the electric power systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    3. Binod Prasad Koirala & Ellen van Oost & Henny van der Windt, 2020. "Innovation Dynamics of Socio-Technical Alignment in Community Energy Storage: The Cases of DrTen and Ecovat," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-22, June.
    4. Bekirsky, N. & Hoicka, C.E. & Brisbois, M.C. & Ramirez Camargo, L., 2022. "Many actors amongst multiple renewables: A systematic review of actor involvement in complementarity of renewable energy sources," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    5. Binod Prasad Koirala & Ellen C. J. van Oost & Esther C. van der Waal & Henny J. van der Windt, 2021. "New Pathways for Community Energy and Storage," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-8, January.
    6. Shubhra Chaudhry & Arne Surmann & Matthias Kühnbach & Frank Pierie, 2022. "Renewable Energy Communities as Modes of Collective Prosumership: A Multi-Disciplinary Assessment Part II—Case Study," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(23), pages 1-21, November.
    7. Bernadette Fina & Hubert Fechner, 2021. "Transposition of European Guidelines for Energy Communities into Austrian Law: A Comparison and Discussion of Issues and Positive Aspects," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-14, June.

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