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Scaling renewable energy cooperatives for a net-zero Canada: Challenges and opportunities for accelerating the energy transition

Boucher, Martin, Pigeon, Marc-André·2024·Energy Research & Social Science
DOI 10.1016/j.erss.2024.103618
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Abstract

Employing a niche-management framework, we conduct a census of renewable energy cooperatives (RECs) to study their potential role in helping Canada achieve its net-zero greenhouse gas emission targets. Based on a review of more than 250 websites as well as 27 semi-structured interviews with representatives from RECs and cooperative associations across Canada, we find that Canada's REC sector is struggling to break out of its niche, with inconsistent and often unavailable data on energy production making it difficult to tally the sector's contribution. Nevertheless, based on the available data, we estimate that the sector contributed at most 73 MW, or less than 0.05 % to Canada's total installed capacity in 2021. We also find that the number of RECs declined by 44 % ( n = 40) between 2016 and 2021. While we found evidence of REC merger activity, the overwhelming picture is of a sector where volunteers are stretched and often forced to wind-up their cooperative. Drawing on cooperative scholarship and a scan of other jurisdictions, we note that RECs could follow the path of other cooperative sectors and become an important part of the regime by forming a second-tier cooperative association. • The number of active Renewable Energy Cooperatives (RECs) in Canada has decreased, with nearly half becoming inactive since 2015, and Ontario being the central hub of activity. • The energy production of active RECs is dominated by solar, followed by wind and biofuels, with a small focus on…

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Metadata

Authors
Boucher, M., & Pigeon, M.-A.
Venue
Energy Research & Social Science
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2024-09
Volume
115
Pages
103618
ISSN
2214-6296
DOI
10.1016/j.erss.2024.103618
Cited by
43
References
0
Language
en
Licence
Funders
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada

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