New Clean Energy Communities in a Changing European Energy System (NEWCOMERS) : Deliverable D3.1 Description of polycentric settings in the partner countries

This deliverable maps the prevailing polycentric settings of six studied countries. The studied countries are the partner countries for the NEWCOMERS project, i.e. Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Sweden and the United Kingdom. In this report, the countries' polycentric settings will be described in relation to the polycentric framework developed in WP 2, with specific focus on the technical system and actors. The factors in focus for the country descriptions are socio-economic conditions, technical system (electricity and heat), institutional arrangements as well as actors. Additionally, a description of energy communities in each country is presented, showing different developments in this area.The research was conducted through a desktop research. Existing literature, reports as well as statistical information were gathered and then organised according to the factors chosen.The aim in this delivery is to describe and understand the national polycentric settings as a first step to understand the emergence of new forms of energy communities. This deliverable is the basis for delivery 3.2, which will compare different polycentric national settings and delivery 3.3, which will evaluate what forms of energy communities work best in different polycentric setting and what are the potentials for learning between different polycentric settings.