Distributed Renewable Energies for Off-Grid Communities

Chapter Fifteen

Ownership, Citizens Participation and Economic Trends

15.1 Community Ownership

Interest in community ownership of renewable energy generation is increasing not only in Europe but also in North America, following the launch of Ontario’s groundbreaking feed-in tariff program of 2009. Ontario’s policy specifically encourages community and aboriginal ownership of renewables. Currently 800 MW of projects, a full 20% of all projects in the Ontario program, are under contract, though not yet built.

The “feed-in” law passed in 1999 has paved the way for electricity generated in Germany, spreading rapidly from Bavaria in the south all the way to the Danish border in the north. In 2010, 51% of the more than 50,000 MW of renewable energy ...