Energy community development model for multi-apartment residential buildings in Latvia

Abstract

The European Union regards energy communities as an important  instrument for advancing the energy transition, promoting citizen participation, and expanding renewable energy production. However, despite the legal and policy framework established by the European Union, the practical development of energy communities in Latvia remains limited. 
Although previous research has examined energy community governance  models and the legal, institutional, and social factors influencing their  development, there is still a lack of studies that define a governance model  for energy communities adapted to Latvia’s institutional, legal, and  social context, including the roles of institutional actors and spatial  planning aspects influencing their practical implementation. Therefore,  this study aims to empirically validate a conceptual model for the  development of energy communities in Latvia by identifying the key institutional actors, their roles, and the preconditions required for  generating the common good and enabling the practical implementation of energy communities.
The proposed model was developed by integrating the findings of a series  of interrelated studies addressing the legal, institutional, and social  preconditions for energy community development in order to identify the  factors essential for their implementation within the Latvian institutional  and regulatory context. To validate and refine the proposed model, a focus  group was conducted involving representatives of the principal  stakeholders in energy community development, including national public  authorities responsible for energy and spatial planning policies, municipalities and municipal representative organisations, residential  building managers, and an existing energy community. The discussion  focused on the appropriate scale of energy communities, governance  arrangements, and the roles of institutional actors, providing  recommendations for further refinement of the proposed model. The findings indicate that the development of energy communities in Latvia is  constrained by limited experience in collective action under democratic  market conditions and insufficient institutional capacity. Consequently, municipalities should participate alongside citizens as institutional  members of energy communities. The study demonstrates that  municipalities can play a crucial role in defining the common good,  providing institutional support, coordinating local energy community  initiatives, and strengthening public trust and cooperation. These findings contribute to the development of a governance framework for energy communities that is better suited to the Latvian context and may support  their successful implementation at the local level.