Energy communities in rural areas - an engine for sustainable change

How can rural villages produce, share and manage their own energy - and become more secure during disruptions? Together with residents and businesses in villages outside Skellefteå, RISE are developing models for local energy communities that strengthen local economies, increase crisis preparedness and support a sustainable energy transition.

Energy communities enable residents, associations and local businesses to jointly own, produce and use renewable energy. But the path from interest to a functioning energy community is often long. Villages face questions about technology and sizing, regulations, financing, and what the benefits are for the individual. The project addresses these barriers together with the people who live and work in the villages.

How the project works

Using participatory design (co-design), RISE develop needs-based models for energy communities in three rural areas of Skellefteå municipality in northern Sweden: Skråmträsk, Kusfors with the Pärlband villages, and Klutmark. Through village meetings, workshops and surveys, the project captures the villages' visions and needs and turns them into concrete solutions - from technical options and economic calculations to organisational forms and statutes.

One example is the idea of a "safety triangle" in Kusfors, where the village shop, café and fuel station, equipped with solar power and battery storage, can serve as a local safety hub when the power grid is disrupted. In Skråmträsk, the local store has already installed solar power and a battery - one of several steps towards an energy community in the village.

Benefits for rural areas and society

Locally anchored energy communities can strengthen the competitiveness of villages, create new collaborations between households and businesses, and increase security in times of crisis. The project is developing guidance on how to start and run an energy community, as well as a roadmap for long-term support - a one-stop shop - that can help more villages move forward, in Västerbotten and across Sweden.

The role of RISE

RISE leads the project and is responsible for the needs and context analysis. RISE provides expert input to the village dialogues - technology developments, legal conditions, techno-economic calculations and analysis of barriers and drivers - and connects the villages' needs with experience from other energy community initiatives.

The project is carried out in collaboration with Luleå University of Technology/Arctic Centre of Energy (coordinator), KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Coompanion Västerbotten, Skellefteå Municipality and the villages, and is funded by the Swedish Energy Agency through the programme Design for an energy-efficient everyday life. Results and materials are shared through the digital exhibition at energilandsbygd.se (in Swedish).