| dc.description.abstract | Norway has ambitious clean electrification targets that require expansion of its
renewable energy sources. A leader in hydropower, its energy flexibility positions it
to add solar and wind energy capacity towards even larger decarbonised electricity
grids. While wind energy is progressing with some contestation, Norway has
remained a laggard on solar energy unlike other Nordic countries with similar solar
irradiation. Yet solar energy at community scale can overcome many of the
challenges associated with limiting renewable energy diffusion, such as nature
conservation and safeguards against land use change. This thesis examines why solar
energy communities are emerging slowly in Norway and seeks to identify pathways
for their emergence and diffusion. It draws on document analysis of peer-reviewed
and grey literature, expert interviews, and online news articles.
This approach offers the basis to argue that energy communities are limited to
various forms due to various reasons. These include lack of regulatory frameworks
and strong support schemes, reluctance of grid companies to engage with end-users
and the threat of disperse generation units to grid stability, the ownership structure
of natural resources and the skepticism in collective energy activities among others.
During this research some of the barriers identified earlier in the process became
drivers later in the process. The main drivers identified include deeper electrification
efforts, high electricity prices and people’s interest in energy activities. These
limitations and pathways to overcome them are discussed in relation to scholarship
on sustainability transitions, especially concerning the dynamics of diffusion. The
thesis offers an overview of prospects and challenges for solar energy community
evolution in Norway and the justice implications that emerge along the way. | |
