Energy community practice in Greece: a step towards energy democratisation?

Abstract

In recent years, a vibrant debate on clean energy transition has emerged. In Greece while private investment in utility-scale renewable energy projects is promoted as the driver of decarbonisation, critical voices calling for energy democratisation come to the fore and the idea of Energy Community (EC) becomes increasingly popular. This paper aims to shed light on the under-investigated landscape of Greek ECs and explore its socially innovative features and potential to democratise energy systems. Drawing on social innovation theories and the notion of energy democracy, the paper examines to what extent and under which conditions does the EC instrument facilitate social innovation niche and contribute to a real just energy transition in Greece. Empirical evidence draws from: (1) legislative and regulation documents on decentralised energy; (2) semi-structured interviews with EC members; and (3) participant observation during the Pan-European EC gathering in Athens, 2023. Heterogeneity in the Greek EC landscape and spores of social innovation in ECs under study are traced, showing evidence of emerging energy system democratisation. Nevertheless, these developments run the risk of remaining anaemic in the context of neoliberal state policies that have cultivated the hegemony of profit-making ECs, thus largely distorting the original intention of the idea of energy community.