Transcending community energy: collective and politically motivated projects in renewable energy (CPE) across Europe

Based on an EU-wide empirical survey, this paper proposes the alternative concept of collective and politically motivated renewable energy (CPE) projects that includes different forms of enterprises such as co-operatives and participatory public utilities. In doing so, we intend to take a clearer stance on both organisational and ownership features and the political motivation of these projects. The aim is to overcome the vagueness of the term 'community energy' and to widen the perspective beyond the British context. Mapping CPE projects across different European countries we have identified three development trends and provide a project case study for each trend: the further dissemination of local CPE projects, the formation of regional projects, and the occurrence of urban CPE projects. Countries covered are the United Kingdom, Spain and Germany. We also reflect our findings for the concept of community energy and invite researchers to expand upon our research.