Energy Cooperatives Findings of survey conducted by the DGRV and its member associations
Spring 2014
Publisher: DGRV – German Cooperative and Raiffeisen Confederation – reg. assoc. Pariser Platz 3 10117 Berlin Tel.: 0049-30-20241-6900 Fax: 0049-30-20241-6985 E-Mail: info@dgrv.de Internet: www.dgrv.de www.genossenschaften.de www.neuegenossenschaften.de
Energy cooperatives survey 2014
Introduction
Over the last three decades numerous citizens' groups, local town councils and businesses have got together to launch renewable energy projects in their region. Energy cooperatives are one increasingly popular means of organising these projects.
Cooperatives provide all sorts of opportunities and scope for participation. What is more, each member of a cooperative has one vote. Projects can be carried out democratically with many equal partners, each with their own local roots. Around 650 successful new cooperatives have been founded in the field of renewable energies in Germany in recent years – and the numbers are rising all the time.
Photovoltaic cooperatives, for example, enable many citizens to make a modest financial contribution to developing renewable energies in their own local area. PV systems are often launched jointly by decision-makers in local authorities, public institutions and regional banks. Systems can also be mounted on roofs – such as public buildings, including nurseries or schools – which are not used by individuals. These systems are frequently installed and maintained by trade businesses based in the region.
As well as providing energy from sun and other renewable energy sources cooperatives also run district heating and electricity networks. Cooperatives have operated as regional energy utilities in many parts of Germany for well over 100 years. In many cases it is energy cooperatives which are providing important impetus for the decentralised energy transition. Cooperatives facilitate the collective commitment of various local players and bring together broader social, business, municipal and environmental interests. They also help renewable energy projects to gain more widespread acceptance in the region.
In 2014, the DGRV carried out a study of energy cooperatives in a questionnairebased survey for the third time in a row. The most important findings of this survey are presented in the following.
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Energy cooperatives survey 2014
Framework study data
Population
718
(New renewable energy cooperatives since 2006) Questionnaires returned
216
Survey period
January to March 2014
Processed by
Cooperatives' management or supervisory boards
718 new energy cooperatives were set up within member associations of the DGRV since 2006. 216 of those coops took part in our survey. All of them have been founded between 2006 and 2013. Older energy cooperatives were not examined in the survey.
Foundations of energy cooperatives since 2006 (cumulated):
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Energy cooperatives survey 2014
Foundations of energy cooperatives In the year 2012 129 energy cooperatives were set up within member associations of the DGRV. Although this is still a pleasing number, a strong uncertainty and restraint have been noticeable among founders and representatives of energy cooperatives during the last months because of the uncertain legal framework. The DGRV estimates that investments of around 300 million euros are postponed in the year 2014. The number of new energy cooperatives already shows this uncertainty. Since the peak value in 2011 with 167 foundations, numbers decline. During the first quarter of 2014 only 17 new energy cooperatives were founded. This is a decrease of nearly 50 % compared to the first quarter of 2013.
Foundations of energy cooperatives since 2006:
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Energy cooperatives survey 2014
Membership structure of energy cooperatives The structure of energy cooperatives is quite stable compared to previous years. On average new energy cooperatives have 43 members. Variability is from 5 to 427 founding members. Membership tends to grow very quickly after a cooperative has been set up. At the time the survey was carried out average membership had grown almost fivefold to 198. Around 60% of cooperatives have between 50 and 200 members; just 16% have fewer than 50 members. Most energy cooperatives are owned by citizens: More than 90% of cooperative members are private individuals.
Membership structure of energy cooperatives:
Participation of members Cooperatives enable people of relatively modest means who may not own a roof of their own to take part in the energy transition. Shares in some cooperatives can be bought for less than 100 euros. The average minimum shareholding in an energy cooperative is 738 euros.
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Energy cooperatives survey 2014 Distribution of minimum shareholdings per member (in euros):
The larger picture shows that nearly three-quarters of cooperatives enable members to participate with shares of less than 500 euros. On average, individual members have a shareholding of 3,298 euros. The average shareholding in two thirds of cooperatives is between 1,000 and 6,000 euros.
Distribution of actual shareholdings per member (in euros):
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Energy cooperatives survey 2014
Business activities of energy cooperatives The largest share of energy cooperatives is engaged in the business of generating electricity from renewable resources – particularly from photovoltaic systems. 16% of cooperatives produce energy for heating from renewable energy sources (biomass) which is used to supply households from a cooperatively-run heat network. What business activities does your cooperative engage in? (Multiple answers possible)
Electricity generation
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Heat generation
Operating an electricity network
Operating a district heating network
Energy cooperatives survey 2014
On average, cooperatives have installed capacity of 1,034 kWp. The capacity is spread across 7 plants on average. That means each plant has an average installed capacity of around 150 kWp. Distribution of installed capacity (in kWp):
On average, cooperatives produce 1,216 MWh of electricity. This is enough to supply around 350 average households. This is an increase of around 20 % compared to the previous year. Distribution of electricity generation (in MWh):
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Energy cooperatives survey 2014
Economic data Energy cooperatives have an average seed capital of just under 686,000 euros. At the time the survey was performed cooperatives had, on average, invested just under 1.9 million euros in renewable energies. Energy cooperatives have a comparatively high proportion of equity of 54% in average. Almost one in four cooperatives invests with no debt capital at all. 64% of the outside capital borrowed comes from cooperative banks. Distribution of equity ratio (in %):
Energy coops generate an annual turnover of around 337,000 euros on average. Every second cooperative paid out a dividend last year. On average dividends were 4,26 %.
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Energy cooperatives survey 2014
Total figures (projections)
Over 145,000 people in Germany have already invested around 470 million euros of equity in energy cooperatives. In total, cooperatives have already invested around 1.35 billion euros in renewable energies. Cooperatives produce 830,000 MWh electricity, enough to supply around 230,000 average households. Based purely on the figures this means that new energy cooperatives already produce significantly more electricity than is required to supply the households of all their members.
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Energy cooperatives survey 2014
Outlook for the future Solar and wind power remain the most important future fields of activity for energy cooperatives. 39% of energy cooperatives plan to make investments in PV systems during the next 12 months and 38% intend to move into producing wind power. But, mainly in the PV-sector a clear decline from 53 % to 39 % is noticeable compared to the previous year. In contrast, the number of coops that plan no further investments at all jumped up from 8 % to 30 %. The harmful consequences of the unstable legal framework are already visible here. The survey shows an increase in the sector of heating networks. 18 % of the coops plan investments in this domain (previous year: 11 %). Since the year 2006 around 120 cooperative heating network coperatives have been installed in Germany, more than 70 of them during the last three years.
In what areas does your cooperative plan to make investments/undertake additional activities in the next 12 months? (Multiple answers possible)
2013 2012 *not asked in 2012
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Energy cooperatives survey 2014
Energy coops were also asked to evaluate the legal conditions that are currently in discussion with regard to their own prospects of success. They considered very important the exemption of private energy use of coop members from the EEG apportionment. A limiting of the general expansion targets for renewable energies and the implementation of public tendering procedures for all new energy projects are rejected. The new EEG goes along with regulations that are contrary to the ideas of energy coops. How do you judge the legal conditions that are currently in discussion with regard to the success of your cooperative?
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Energy cooperatives survey 2014
Cooperation with municipalities The survey underlines the important role the municipalities play in cooperation with the energy coops. More than two out of three cooperatives use public rooftops or properties and in nearly 60 % of the energy coops the municipality is a coop member and/or actively engaged in the cooperative committees. Every second cooperative was initiated by the local municipality. In only 13 % of the energy coops the municipality plays no role at all. What role does the municipality play in your cooperative?
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