David against Goliath? Challenges and opportunities for energy cooperatives in Southern Europe

Abstract

Unlike in some northern European countries, renewable energy cooperatives in Portugal, Spain and Italy are few and represent a very small share of the energy market. This article aims to understand the social, political, economic and cultural factors that affect the development of renewable energy cooperatives in southern Europe, but also the opportunities and benefits cooperatives offer over other energy providers in the energy transition. It is based on a comparative analysis of four case studies of cooperatives in Portugal, Spain and Italy, relying on document analysis, observation and interviews with cooperative representatives, complemented with legal, policy and statistical data for contextualisation. We ascertain that energy policies have favoured large utility companies and concentrated energy generation, while a lack of civic culture of participation and mistrust of cooperatives have also hindered their development. Furthermore, we show how cooperatives have unique features that make them valuable actors in energy systems: promotion of environmental and social values, local embeddedness, flexibility to diversify activities, ability to mobilise networks of similar organisations and fostering democratic governance and participation.