The successful energy transition begins right at our own doorstep. The best example of this is committed citizens who come together to form an energy cooperative to implement smaller local green energy projects. Energy cooperatives operate facilities for electricity and heat generation. This ranges from solar power plants and combined heat and power plants to wind turbines. They supply external customers with electricity and gas or even operate the local energy grid. And there are already quite a few of them: Around 220,000 members, spread across 877 cooperatives, who invested more than three billion euros in renewable energy projects in 2022, were counted by the Federal Office for Energy Cooperatives.
Such Green Energy initiatives initiated by citizens, however, cannot be realised overnight. New players in the energy transition must first navigate through legal provisions, bureaucratic requirements, country-specific regulations and complex economic feasibility calculations. This can be a real challenge for those unfamiliar with economics.
Young cooperatives receive strong support in establishing themselves from the regional cooperative associations. "Knowledgeable contacts take care of the concerns of the founding members here," explains Dr. Andreas Wieg, Head of the Federal Office for Energy Cooperatives.
This is a sub-department of the overarching German Cooperative and Raiffeisen Association e. V. (DGRV), the nationwide umbrella organization for cooperatives based in Berlin (see last paragraph). In the capital city, the association carries out important lobbying work for Germany's energy cooperatives. "We engage with MPs and political decision-makers to represent the positions of the energy cooperatives, suggest improvements, and point out shortcomings," explains Wieg.
The association receives support, among others, from Prokon, Germany's largest energy cooperative. At the last Federal Congress for Cooperative Energy Transition, the annual industry meeting and main event of the DGRV, Prokon board member Henning von Stechow appealed to the government to accelerate the urgently needed expansion of the grid. The joint demands are: "More speed through less bureaucracy, nationwide regulations, rapid digitization of grid connections, and more fairness in grid fees."
A concrete success of the lobbying work of the DGRV is the exception for citizen energy companies from tenders for wind turbines, defined within certain size limits. Background: Citizen energy companies usually only have one project in the planning stage. The financial risk of not being awarded a tender is particularly high for them, especially as they cannot share the risk of failure. Against this backdrop, the support programme "Citizen Energy Companies for Onshore Wind Energy" was introduced by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection, partly on the advice of the DGRV. The programme aims to cover incurred project development costs after unsuccessful applications.
Recently, the Federal Office for Energy Cooperatives has advocated for greater citizen participation and has collaborated with the Citizens' Energy Alliance to draft a joint legislative proposal. The aim is for citizens and residents to have the opportunity to financially participate in local wind energy projects and solar installations. If this opportunity is not provided to them, the operator must make a compensation payment. "Experience shows that the more actively citizens are involved in local renewable energy projects, the greater the acceptance of such projects," explains Wieg.
Ultimately, regional renewable energy projects, involving multiple stakeholders, always create a (multiple) win-win situation, according to Wieg: "The local bank finances the project, local businesses receive orders, and the financially involved citizens benefit from a green return."
The DGRV (German Cooperative and Raiffeisen Association e. V.) is the most important umbrella organization of the German cooperative movement. Among others, it represents the cooperative banks and Raiffeisen banks, cooperative building societies (e.g. Schwäbisch Hall) and commercial cooperatives (including EDEKA, REWE). The association advocates for cooperative framework conditions with politicians and authorities. Furthermore, the DGRV or its regional associations carry out the legally required audits of newly founded cooperatives and advise its members on legal, tax-related, and business management issues (e.g. financial statements). The DGRV currently unites 5114 cooperatives with 19.3 million members. As a department of the DGRV, the Federal Office for Energy Cooperatives specifically addresses the concerns of cooperatives operating facilities for electricity and heat generation. This includes Prokon. As Germany's largest energy cooperative, Prokon eG is one of the strongest voices of the association.
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