Preferences for community renewable energy investments in Europe: A choice experiment across 31 nations

This paper presents the results of a choice experiment for investments in community renewable energy (CRE) projects administered across 31 European nations. Across the full sample of 18,037 respondents, a high level of interest in the CRE investments is observed, with 79% of respondents choosing to invest in at least one of the eight investment scenarios shown to them. Along with financial concerns, operational and siting aspects of the investment options are shown to be highly relevant to potential investors. Specifically, investments that are administered as an energy cooperative and run by a local organization are strongly preferred to investments administered by utility companies. Strong heterogeneity across European nations is noted in the preference for the installation to be visible from an investor's home, and thereby potentially impact the viewshed, but on the other hand allow for feelings of pride and self-sufficiency. Results suggest that energy policies hoping to increase the uptake of the CRE model across Europe would do well to focus on supporting local organizations to build the operational capacity to administer such projects, and highlight any positive local economic impacts from renewable generation projects to potential investors.