IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v18y2025i11p2823-d1667099.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Lights, Policy, Action: A Multi-Level Perspective on Policy Instrument Mix Interactions for Community Energy Initiatives

Author

Listed:
  • Aamina Teladia

    (Integrated Research on Energy, Environment and Society, University of Groningen, 9712 CP Groningen, The Netherlands)

  • Henny van der Windt

    (Integrated Research on Energy, Environment and Society, University of Groningen, 9712 CP Groningen, The Netherlands)

Abstract

Community energy initiatives (CEIs) have the potential to accelerate energy transitions, but their scalability depends heavily on the alignment of policies across various governance levels. This study offers a comprehensive analysis of the multi-level policy instrument mix (PIM) supporting CEIs in the Netherlands, using the Multi-Level Perspective (MLP) to conceptualize CEIs as niche innovations within the broader energy regime. Our findings reveal that while national, regional, and local policies in the Netherlands align with overarching decarbonization and community involvement goals, significant misalignments persist. Specifically, the 50 percent local ownership ambition is inconsistently enforced, and grid infrastructure bottlenecks continue to hinder project implementation. These gaps underscore the need for improved coordination and clear role definitions across governance levels. In contrast, well-aligned policy instruments (such as coherent subsidy schemes and regional plans under the national Climate Act) have played a tangible role in supporting the growth of CEIs. This multi-level analysis contributes valuable insights not only for the Netherlands but also for countries seeking to integrate CEIs into their energy strategies. We conclude that a cohesive policy framework—combining top-down targets, bottom-up empowerment, and cross-level collaboration—is essential to empower communities and accelerate a just energy transition.

Suggested Citation

  • Aamina Teladia & Henny van der Windt, 2025. "Lights, Policy, Action: A Multi-Level Perspective on Policy Instrument Mix Interactions for Community Energy Initiatives," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-35, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:18:y:2025:i:11:p:2823-:d:1667099
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/11/2823/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/11/2823/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jake Barnes & Sarah Darby & Paula Hansen, 2024. "Smartening Local Energy in Europe: A Comparative Analysis of Three Cases and Their Implications for Supporting Transformative Governance Practices," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-15, May.
    2. Kern, Florian & Rogge, Karoline S. & Howlett, Michael, 2019. "Policy mixes for sustainability transitions: New approaches and insights through bridging innovation and policy studies," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(10).
    3. Wand, Robert & Leuthold, Florian, 2011. "Feed-in tariffs for photovoltaics: Learning by doing in Germany?," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(12), pages 4387-4399.
    4. Smith, Adrian & Raven, Rob, 2012. "What is protective space? Reconsidering niches in transitions to sustainability," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(6), pages 1025-1036.
    5. Veeneman, Wijnand & Mulley, Corinne, 2018. "Multi-level governance in public transport: Governmental layering and its influence on public transport service solutions," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 430-437.
    6. Giulia Taromboli & Laura Campagna & Cristina Bergonzi & Filippo Bovera & Vincenzo Trovato & Marco Merlo & Giuliano Rancilio, 2025. "Renewable Energy Communities: Frameworks and Implementation of Regulatory, Technical, and Social Aspects Across EU Member States," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(9), pages 1-32, May.
    7. Maruyama, Yasushi & Nishikido, Makoto & Iida, Tetsunari, 2007. "The rise of community wind power in Japan: Enhanced acceptance through social innovation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 2761-2769, May.
    8. Kern, Florian, 2012. "Using the multi-level perspective on socio-technical transitions to assess innovation policy," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 79(2), pages 298-310.
    9. Johansen, K. & Emborg, J., 2018. "Wind farm acceptance for sale? Evidence from the Danish wind farm co-ownership scheme," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 413-422.
    10. Beau Warbroek & Thomas Hoppe, 2017. "Modes of Governing and Policy of Local and Regional Governments Supporting Local Low-Carbon Energy Initiatives; Exploring the Cases of the Dutch Regions of Overijssel and Fryslân," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-36, January.
    11. Maqbool, Amtul Samie & van der Waal, Esther & van der Windt, Henny, 2023. "‘Luctor et emergo’, how a community energy initiative survived the changing policy and technology landscape of the Dutch energy system?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    12. Falcone, Pasquale Marcello & Lopolito, Antonio & Sica, Edgardo, 2019. "Instrument mix for energy transition: A method for policy formulation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    13. Enzensberger, N. & Wietschel, M. & Rentz, O., 2002. "Policy instruments fostering wind energy projects--a multi-perspective evaluation approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(9), pages 793-801, July.
    14. Cousse, Julia, 2021. "Still in love with solar energy? Installation size, affect, and the social acceptance of renewable energy technologies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    15. Devenish, Anna & Lockwood, Matthew, 2024. "Locally-led governance of residential heat transitions: Emerging experience of and lessons from the Dutch approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    16. Pons-Seres de Brauwer, C. & Cohen, J.J., 2020. "Analysing the potential of citizen-financed community renewable energy to drive Europe's low-carbon energy transition," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    17. Pi-Chuan Sun & Hsueh-Mei Wang & Hsien-Long Huang & Chien-Wei Ho, 2020. "Consumer attitude and purchase intention toward rooftop photovoltaic installation: The roles of personal trait, psychological benefit, and government incentives," Energy & Environment, , vol. 31(1), pages 21-39, February.
    18. Roesler, Tim & Hassler, Markus, 2019. "Creating niches – The role of policy for the implementation of bioenergy village cooperatives in Germany," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 95-101.
    19. Rogge, Karoline S. & Reichardt, Kristin, 2016. "Policy mixes for sustainability transitions: An extended concept and framework for analysis," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(8), pages 1620-1635.
    20. Li, Lili & Taeihagh, Araz, 2020. "An in-depth analysis of the evolution of the policy mix for the sustainable energy transition in China from 1981 to 2020," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 263(C).
    21. Kivimaa, Paula & Kern, Florian, 2016. "Creative destruction or mere niche support? Innovation policy mixes for sustainability transitions," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 205-217.
    22. Reichardt, Kristin & Negro, Simona O. & Rogge, Karoline S. & Hekkert, Marko P., 2016. "Analyzing interdependencies between policy mixes and technological innovation systems: The case of offshore wind in Germany," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 11-21.
    23. Lowitzsch, J. & Hoicka, C.E. & van Tulder, F.J., 2020. "Renewable energy communities under the 2019 European Clean Energy Package – Governance model for the energy clusters of the future?," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    24. Esther C. Van der Waal & Henny J. Van der Windt & Ellen C. J. Van Oost, 2018. "How Local Energy Initiatives Develop Technological Innovations: Growing an Actor Network," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-19, December.
    25. Leonhardt, Renata & Noble, Bram & Poelzer, Greg & Belcher, Ken & Fitzpatrick, Patricia, 2023. "Government instruments for community renewable energy in northern and Indigenous communities," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    26. Geels, Frank W. & Schot, Johan, 2007. "Typology of sociotechnical transition pathways," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 399-417, April.
    27. Schmidt, Tobias S. & Sewerin, Sebastian, 2019. "Measuring the temporal dynamics of policy mixes – An empirical analysis of renewable energy policy mixes’ balance and design features in nine countries," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(10).
    28. Mavrot, Céline & Hadorn, Susanne & Sager, Fritz, 2019. "Mapping the mix: Linking instruments, settings and target groups in the study of policy mixes," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(10).
    29. Capano, Giliberto & Pritoni, Andrea & Vicentini, Giulia, 2020. "Do policy instruments matter? Governments’ choice of policy mix and higher education performance in Western Europe," Journal of Public Policy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 40(3), pages 375-401, September.
    30. Sebi, Carine & Vernay, Anne-Lorène, 2020. "Community renewable energy in France: The state of development and the way forward," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Wen-Min Lu & Thu-Thao Le, 2025. "From Technology to Strategy: The Evolving Role of Smart Grids and Microgrids in Sustainable Energy Management," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-23, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Guo, Jingjing & Wang, Yueqi & Chen, Jin, 2025. "Policy instrument mix, financial slack, and firm innovation performance: Evidence from China's photovoltaic industry," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    2. Kanger, Laur & Sovacool, Benjamin K. & Noorkõiv, Martin, 2020. "Six policy intervention points for sustainability transitions: A conceptual framework and a systematic literature review," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(7).
    3. Borozan, Dj, 2022. "Detecting a structure in the European energy transition policy instrument mix: What mix successfully drives the energy transition?," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    4. Bjerkan, Kristin Ystmark & Seter, Hanne, 2021. "Policy and politics in energy transitions. A case study on shore power in Oslo," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    5. Nuñez-Jimenez, Alejandro & Knoeri, Christof & Hoppmann, Joern & Hoffmann, Volker H., 2022. "Beyond innovation and deployment: Modeling the impact of technology-push and demand-pull policies in Germany's solar policy mix," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(10).
    6. Edmondson, Duncan L. & Kern, Florian & Rogge, Karoline S., 2019. "The co-evolution of policy mixes and socio-technical systems: Towards a conceptual framework of policy mix feedback in sustainability transitions," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(10).
    7. Weigelt, Carmen & Lu, Shaohua & Verhaal, J. Cameron, 2021. "Blinded by the sun: The role of prosumers as niche actors in incumbent firms’ adoption of solar power during sustainability transitions," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(9).
    8. Raven, Rob & Walrave, Bob, 2020. "Overcoming transformational failures through policy mixes in the dynamics of technological innovation systems," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    9. Trotter, Philipp A. & Brophy, Aoife, 2022. "Policy mixes for business model innovation: The case of off-grid energy for sustainable development in sub-Saharan Africa," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(6).
    10. Khatoon, Tohmina & Kivimaa, Paula & Brisbois, Marie Claire & Saadi, Shah Abdul, 2024. "A global south perspective on the interplay between innovation policy mix and technological innovation systems dynamics: The case of Dhaka City's road passenger transport system," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    11. Falcone, Pasquale Marcello & Lopolito, Antonio & Sica, Edgardo, 2019. "Instrument mix for energy transition: A method for policy formulation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    12. Haddad, Carolina R. & Bergek, Anna, 2023. "Towards an integrated framework for evaluating transformative innovation policy," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(2).
    13. Yongqing Xiong & Shufeng Qin, 2021. "Differences in the effects of China’s new energy vehicle industry policies on market growth from the perspective of policy mix," Energy & Environment, , vol. 32(3), pages 542-561, May.
    14. Kern, Florian & Rogge, Karoline S. & Howlett, Michael, 2019. "Policy mixes for sustainability transitions: New approaches and insights through bridging innovation and policy studies," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(10).
    15. Jiang, Zihao & Shi, Jiarong, 2023. "Government intervention and technological innovation in the wind power industry in China: The role of industrial environmental turbulence," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 344(C).
    16. Yucai Hu & Jiancheng Liu & Ruotong Hao & Jiaxin Shen & Shanshan Fan, 2025. "The Impact of Carbon Emissions Trading and Market Participants on Green Innovation: A Synergistic Effect," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-24, February.
    17. Hilde Nykamp, 2020. "Policy Mix for a Transition to Sustainability: Green Buildings in Norway," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-17, January.
    18. Befort, N., 2020. "Going beyond definitions to understand tensions within the bioeconomy: The contribution of sociotechnical regimes to contested fields," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    19. Jonas Heiberg & Christian Binz & Bernhard Truffer, 2020. "Assessing transitions through socio-technical network analysis – a methodological framework and a case study from the water sector," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 2035, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Aug 2020.
    20. Eric Brouillat & Maïder Saint Jean, 2020. "Mind the gap: Investigating the impact of implementation gaps on cleaner technology transition," Post-Print hal-03490256, HAL.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:18:y:2025:i:11:p:2823-:d:1667099. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.