The solar panels and charging stations in the parking lot in front of Hvidovre Gymnasium are the first concrete and visible results of the high school's participation in the Energy Community Avedøre (Energifællesskabet Avedøre), which was founded in 2020 as the first citizen energy community in Denmark.

The idea is that, on a local level, you join forces to produce renewable energy, which you may consume yourself or feed into the larger energy grid. So, in addition to producing and using renewable energy, the solar panels and charging stations are prominent illustrations of a strong local initiative.

Energy communities are a new form of citizen involvement, explains Rikke Hagensby Jensen, assistant professor at the Department of Computer Science, Aalborg University, and principal investigator of a research project that has mapped the value ​​and expectations that local citizens, institutions and companies bring to the community:

- The local energy communities make it a joint task to contribute to the green transition and take ownership of it. Energy communities are also part of an EU strategy that aims to engage citizens in the production of renewable energy, which is decentralized, but which takes place in interaction with the larger energy grid.

THE HUMAN FACTOR

The purpose of mapping the participants' values ​​in relation to the energy community is to try to ensure that the digital solutions and the infrastructure that support the production of renewable energy are designed to accommodate these values. This may, for example, be solutions to automate when energy-consuming devices such as heat pumps are running, or electric cars are charged to best match the local production of electricity from solar panels.

- Digital solutions are essential for energy communities to realize renewable energy projects at local level. All too often, however, we see that the projects are very technology-driven, which typically does not provide the commitment and local ownership that is so important when new energy technology is introduced. So, it is crucial that the human factor, as expressed in the values ​​the stakeholders bring into the community, is accommodated in the digital solutions from the start, says Rikke Hagensby Jensen.

LOCALLY ROOTED

Examples of identified values ​​are collaboration, inclusion and autonomy. From slightly different angles, those values ​​represent a very strong driving force for those involved in the energy community.

- It is quite clear that there is a sense of pride in the fact that the initiative is locally rooted and that you collaborate to do something good, both for the local community and for the green transition, says Rikke Hagensby Jensen.

A slightly more concrete value is transparent data, and Rikke Hagensby Jensen gives an example of how that value could be incorporated in the solutions:

- An energy community generates both production and consumption data, and a value such as transparent data could, for example, be realized by creating an open and accessible API so that data could be used in other contexts, for example in a learning context on the local high school.

A POSITIVE STORY

- There is no doubt that for the stakeholders, the good story about what can be achieved if you join forces at a local level to do something active for the green transition is important. The initiative is created bottom-up and driven by people who are passionate about doing something within sustainable energy production, says Rikke Hagensby Jensen.

The solar panels and charging stations at the local high school are just a first step and will be followed up by other initiatives. There is, to take but one example, a vision that the excess heat generated in Filmbyen (the Film City) in connection with their productions is delivered to the local heating plant, which can then redistribute it to heat local households.

SUSTAINABLE ENERGY MADE PRESENT

Part of the research project has also been aimed at making it present to the local citizens that they are part of a community in which they produce and consume renewable energy. Specifically, a workshop was organized with two classes at the local high school, during which they worked together to create metaphors for energy consumption taken from the students' everyday life. The metaphors have then been used on an information screen set up in the high school's common area, where students can see, for example, how many of the produced kWh have been spent on straightening their hair in the morning!