Legal and Practical Barriers
There are several legal and practical barriers impeding the implementation of energy communities in Sweden. Data from interviews and previous studies emphasise the regulation on the requirement of network concession as a major legal barrier. Further stated hindering factors are the DSO’s monopolistic position on the distribution market, various actors’ economic and technical constraints, a generally low level of public knowledge, and a political and judicial ambiguity related to the definition of energy communities.
Several interviewees emphasise the regulation on network concession and exemption from concession as a barrier, hindering further models for energy communities to be implemented in Sweden. Because it is generally prohibited to develop networks that connect several buildings in residential areas, many of the potential positive financial and environmental effects of energy communities are limited. However, due to the implementation of the EU Clean Energy Package, EMD and REDII, and a recently stronger public interest in finding new energy-efficient solutions, interviewees expect that the national legislation will soon be adapted, to enable energy communities to produce, share and store energy. Furthermore, as noted previously, there are currently pilot projects that have been permitted to share and store energy within a community, indicating an increasing interest in these solutions among Swedish authorities.
Interviewees also describe the DSOs as potential keepers of the services needed to implement energy communities at a larger scale. Although some DSOs currently are invested in projects to implement energy communities, interviewees representing projects express a general lack of interest from the DSOs to engage in projects aiming at developing energy communities. One potential reason for this,as expressed by interviewees, is that DSOs might consider the emergence of energy communities as future competitors that potentially could threaten their position in the distribution market in a longer perspective.
Moreover, several interviewees have pointed out current economic and technological constraints as hindering factors. Developing, installing, and maintaining solutions needed to produce, store, and share energy is a major investment for individual members in smaller communities, thus composing an important barrier for citizens. A few interviewees also express uncertainty about whether the net cost of producing energy within an energy community would be reduced after the investment compared to the regular energy price. Further, Sweden has come from a long period of relatively low electricity prices and has a stable national grid, hence making the economic and other forms of incentives relatively weak to invest in alternative solutions, such as energy communities. However, with electricity prices currently increasing and the investment costs for various modules to produce renewable energy decreasing, a few interviewees consider that there will be a shift toward more locally produced and shared energy in the future, creating better conditions for the implementation of energy communities.
The generally low public knowledge regarding energy consumption and unawareness of solutions to lower costs is furthermore described as a barrier by interviewees. Due to historically low energy prices, the relatively robust energy system, and the stable energy supply in Sweden, interviewees underline that the public has not generally engaged in acquiring energy-related knowledge. Due to rapidly increasing energy prices, however, the public debate on the national energy supply has intensified, leading to increased public interest and knowledge. Civilians are currently becoming increasingly aware of their energy consumption and showing a greater interest in alternative solutions to decrease their electricity costs, which potentially will lead to better conditions for implementing energy communities in the future.
Lastly, several interviewees describe a general political and juridical ambiguity concerning the definition of energy communities nationally and in EU legislation which impedes public debate and juridical implementation. Multiple interviewees state that a higher degree of clarity regarding the definition of energy communities is needed to generate public interest and to create better conditions for the implementation of energy communities on a greater scale. Thus, several interviewees are sceptical of implementing the two definitions of energy communities from the EU directives.