ABSTRACT
Given the stagnation of the wind energy sector in recent years and delays in establishing first RES co-operatives, there is a need for new business models to accommodate bottom-up citizen initiatives in Poland, and energy clusters are becoming crucial platforms for the involvement of local actors in the Polish sustainable energy transition. First introduced into law in 2016, energy clusters are based on agreements of local entities involved in the production, consumption, storage and sale of local energy sources such as renewables. Energy clusters aim at meeting energy needs of the local communities while mobilizing people to engage in green energy production actively. This chapter analyzes some of the key factors of pilot energy clusters’ initial success and their challenges using the case of Słupsk’s Bioenergy Cluster in Pomorskie. Ranked among the ten best out of 33 pilot energy cluster projects in the country in 2018, the cluster constitutes a good case study for identifying and analyzing best practices for active stakeholders’ engagement at the local level. The analysis is based on semi-structured interviews with the local producers, prosumers, energy consumers and larger entities that are actively engaged in Słupsk’s Bioenergy Cluster’s operation.
