It starts with people! A basic prerequisite for the success of your project is forming a group that is responsible for the organisation’s direction, contact network, administration, and management. Central to this is documenting the process, steps, and decisions as well as establishing and maintaining networks of people who contribute in different ways, whether the project is urban or rural.
You can take advantage of existing methods and resources for start-up support:
Studiefrämjandet offers materials for a study circle called Sustainable Energy Together.
Rural Sweden is a civil society organisation that has 24 county divisions and can be contacted for collaboration.
Coompanion promotes co-operative entrepreneurship in Sweden through government and regional funds and can be contacted for free support and guidance.
The conditions for starting up a locally owned energy project vary depending on where you live. It can be worthwhile contacting the municipality or region’s energy or environment manager, such as a climate or environmental strategist, to get an overview of current projects and any local or regional conditions that you need to take into special consideration.
Business developers in the municipality or region can provide an expanded network of contacts, as well as insights into establishment and financing.
For inspiration, there is a Danish guide for local participation in the green transition, produced by the interest organisation
Landdistrikternes fællesråd.
More up-to-date information about locally owned energy in Sweden and the rest of Europe can be found on the website of the interest organisation
Sweden’s Energy Communities.
In the start-up phase, the group needs to answer the following questions:
Why do you want to create a local energy project?
Motivations may include:
Having a technical interest in how energy is generated
Wanting to contribute to a better world with a smaller carbon footprint
Wanting to run a joint project
Wanting to save money and other resources
Who should be involved?
Invite a broad range of people and encourage participation, regardless of financial capital or prior knowledge. An inclusive process is central to ensuring local anchoring. For example, you can send out a survey to other local residents to gauge interest in owning energy locally and invite them to an information meeting. Contact grid owners and the municipality early in the process. There may be stakeholders with competing or conflicting interests that may give rise to conflict locally. Being welcoming and creating an open dialogue can help to counteract this.
Different skills are needed to succeed with locally owned energy projects. Such skills may cover areas such as energy, the energy system, financing, laws and regulations, and local conditions, as well as how to hold good meetings and document them correctly. Try to compose a group that includes several of these skills at the start of the project. If needed, you can call on external expertise, such as from Swedish municipal energy advisors, the regional Energy agencies, or on specialist knowledge in technology and legislation. Needs can be identified retrospectively, and relevant skills may change during the different phases of the project.
There are a number of handbooks and support materials on how to ensure participation, inclusion and transparency, and on how to manage power and equality (Slätmo et al. 2020;
Rural Sweden, 2024; MUCF, 2021). See, for example, “Meeting methods” by Rural Sweden and the “Democracy Handbook” on
MUCF’s website.
What energy needs are there?
Conduct a needs analysis to understand your energy needs. You can get support for this work from public- or private-sector energy advisors, energy consultants, or civil society organisations, among others.
Framtidskraft is a digital tool developed by
Coompanion Värmland to facilitate the visioning, planning, and creation of local democratic energy communities. The tool provides an overview of how a local democratically owned energy community may look in urban, residential, or rural areas with different energy types. It also helps calculate the community’s energy production, energy balance, and approximate investment costs.
This video clip shows how Framtidskraft works.
What will the impact be if we establish a locally owned energy project?
Conduct a risk and benefit analysis to identify and minimise risks. Define the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and risks and use these insights to inform your decisions.
The impact and benefits of the project will depend on its objectives. It’s important to identify the geographical area in which you want to operate, who will benefit, and the timeframe of the project. Local ownership can bring benefits in the form of measurable results, but it can also involve social or cultural factors that may be more difficult to measure or discern, such as cohesion, community, and identity creation. The same applies to potential risks. The risk–benefit analysis can, for example, provide guidance on where it is appropriate to place infrastructure, how responsibilities and benefits are shared across the group, and what skills are needed. This requires a clear project plan with objectives that are proactive and focused on both the process and the desired outcomes.
Swedenergy offers a risk management course, and at
Energiforsk you can learn more about risk and reliability analyses.
How should we organise ourselves?
Choose an organisational structure based on the group’s interests, needs, and access to capital.
The project’s case studies can inspire you to create an economic association, a limited liability company, or a co-operative, or to use a housing association to own energy locally.
The Swedish Energy Markets Inspectorate recommends an economic association for creating an energy community.
Keep in mind that rules, capital requirements, and tax conditions differ depending on the organisational structure.
Read up on the different options and select a structure based on the motives you’ve documented, your group, your energy needs, the local impact you want to have, and the funding solutions that suit you best.
How will the project be funded – in the short and long term?
Apply for funding for a feasibility study. These funds can be used to pay consultants to review legislation on energy, land and the environment, local guidelines, and building permit requirements. Those who run the organisation will normally do so on a voluntary basis to start with.
A risk–benefit analysis that demonstrates the economic benefits, as well as the environmental and social impact, can be a great help in getting your application for a feasibility study approved.
Funding can come from multiple sources, not just those with an energy focus. Financing and a willingness to invest by external parties can be difficult for local projects to achieve. Co-funding is often required, and in some cases, an individual can become a creditor. For inspiration on how projects can be funded, visit
Mikrofonden website.