Powered by actors and business models: Analysing the potential for energy community development in new regions using the case of Kökar island

Abstract: An energy transition from centralised and fossil-fuelled installations towards decentralised and renewable energy has been advocated by governments, businesses and academia. In the EU it has become a regional strategy, and a desire of citizens, to enable communities to take an active role in the energy market in the hopes of transitioning to an increasingly local, renewable and participatory future energy system. These citizen-led energy communities (ECs) have multiple individual and societal benefits and are expected to have a major role in the future energy system. Prior studies on ECs have mostly focused on analysing existing ECs on regions with a favourable environment for their development. Studies on developing ECs in new regions without existing EC culture have received less attention. Therefore, this thesis analyses EC development in new regions using the case of Kökar island in Åland, Finland. It utilises a developed EC enabling framework to find a suitable EC type fitting Kökar and from these results provides recommendations for future EC development efforts. To determine a suitable EC type on Kökar, data was collected from document analysis, ten expert interviews, a survey and three focus groups and analysed in a content analysis software. As a result, an EC type with six characteristics could be proposed for Kökar, and suggestions provided to simplify and improve the efficiency of the EC enabling framework to aid future EC development work. Additionally, recommendations were provided for EC developers and policymakers to emphasise contextual factors when developing ECs, utilise and continue improving the EC enabling framework, provide development assistance to, and capitalise on the possibilities provided by, the nascent field of ECs. The changing energy environment requires future research to follow and contribute to the field’s advancement by e.g. analysing EC development frameworks and suitable organisational forms and taking an active role in producing pilot sites.