CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2024
| Author | Harnett, Raphael |
|---|---|
| Title | Probing the role that Third-party Collective Self-Consumption plays for reaching the goals of the Clean Energy for all Europeans Package |
| Summary | The 2019 Clean Energy for all Europeans Package (CEP) is a landmark piece of legislation in Europe to harmonise the rules for the decentralisation of the European energy system. Until only recently, large energy companies have started to advertise ‘energy communities’ that adopt the Third-party Collective Self-Consumption (TCSC) business model. Some analysts claim that companies who use this business model attempt to capture renewable energy projects that are owned and controlled by local communities. This research contributes to the debate by probing the business model from the perspective of the energy justice implied by the CEP. The theoretical framework mainly builds on Heldeweg, and Saintier (2020)’s conceptualisation of the CEP and employs Pel (2016)’s definition of corporate capture. The research narrows into the case of the Bicesse Kindergarten project developed by Greenvolt Comunidades. A coding analysis was applied to data collected using semi-structured interviews complemented by secondary source material. The findings of this research suggest that large energy companies using the TCSC business model provide tangible benefits to their clients, moving the process of decentralisation forward. However, their role should not be overestimated, TCSCs addresses the decentralisation that is implied in the CEP only in part. Member States (MSs) should refrain from overly relying on, or substituting, this market-provided solution to decentralisation with processes of community ownership and control in local energy projects. Large energy companies should also avoid convoluting the CEP’s language on Renewable Energy Communities (REC) with their business model. |
| Supervisor | Schaffartzik, Anke |
| Department | Environment Sciences and Policy MSc |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2024/harnett_raphael.pdf |
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