The role of citizen-based support and finance mechanisms for strengthening and managing energy transition

Renewable and energy efficiency projects are usually developed in a local context. These projects need funds to be realized; however, public funds are often lacking. Crowdfunding and cooperatives structures, citizen-based support and finance tools could go a long way towards fostering energy transition and filling the financing gap for the local public administrations. Indeed, cooperative and crowdfunding models can help municipalities to work around procedural boundaries (debt ceiling, for example) and procurement barriers. Moreover, social acceptability must be taken into consideration. Crowdfunding and cooperative models are based on involving communities of people in the process of innovation, thus making the renewable and energy efficiency projects familiar and more easily acceptable for the communities. By analysing the platform ‘Citizenergy’, the first European platform that provides information on sustainable energy projects, this paper aims to evaluate the diffusion of this phenomenon across European countries, and to compare the two different solutions (i.e., crowdfunding platforms and cooperatives). The analysis aims to underline the principal features of the renewable and energy efficiency projects posted on the platform and to point out emerging trends.