ENABLING LEGISLATION TO INCREASE PUBLIC ACCEPTANCE FOR RES PROJECTS ACROSS EUROPE - CO-POWER

摘要

Public support is a key to reaching the EU's 2020 RES (Renewable Energy Sources) target.rnCommunity RES projects can turn public opposition into support for new RES installations and infrastructure,rnincluding grids. Research demonstrates that if citizens are actively involved in RES projects from the initial proposal,rnand the economic and social benefits of such projects are shared, public acceptance is far higher. Communityrnownership of renewable energy plants can mobilise local investment, improve the acceptability and increase localrncommunity benefits of renewable energy. There are several European examples of how citizen involvement hasrnaccelerated the development of RES. However, the share of community owned renewable energy plants differs a lotrnin the EU countries. In Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries, upfront financing is a particularly large barrierrnto achieving a higher share of RES. The problem of enabling legislation for and financing of community RESrnprojects at the European, national and local level is addressed by the CO-POWER project (Enabling legislation tornincrease acceptance for RES projects across Europe) which is supported by the Intelligent Energy for EuropernProgramme of the European Union. The project is raising awareness among policy makers on the benefits ofrncommunity RES ownership.This paper gives an overview on community energy models and recommendations forrnlegal frameworks.