Abstract
Stakeholders and communities’ involvement is vital for shaping novel intergenerational resource governance frameworks. This is crucial for modelling upcoming energy transitions towards cleaner and more sustainable production systems. New models envisage energy mixes in which renewable resources are prominent and offer sustainable development advantages. Examining electricity production figures is, hence, necessary to understand trends and formulate policies and actions. This paper aims at drafting the state-of-the-art of electricity production in the Nordic-Baltic Sea area, moving an exploratory regional appraisal. Aggregated and disaggregated data on electricity production sources are explored and compared for all the eleven selected countries—at domestic, sub-regional, and regional levels. The region shows great national diversity, which implies diversified energy policies. Thus, the role of local initiatives—such as power grid implementation—in local communities empowerment is revealed. From this outcome, possible strategies are prescribed locally to assist the regional sustainable energy appraisal and furnish indications for the European energy and ecological transition.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
Data are available upon request.
Change history
03 December 2023
Affiliations 2 and 4 are the same
References
Ahlborg H, Sjöstedt M (2015) Small-scale hydropower in Africa: socio-technical designs for renewable energy in Tanzanian villages. Energy Res Soc Sci 5:20–33
Akella AK, Saini RP, Sharma MP (2009) Social, economical and environmental impacts of renewable energy systems. Renew Energy 34(2):390–396
Alam MS, Miah MD, Hammoudeh S, Tiwari AK (2018) The nexus between access to electricity and labour productivity in developing countries. Energy Policy 122:715–726
Aldieri L, Grafström J, Sundström K, Vinci CP (2020) Wind power and job creation. Sustainability 12(1):45
Aldieri L, Gatto A, Vinci CP (2021) Evaluation of energy resilience and adaptation policies: an energy efficiency analysis. Energy Policy 157:112505
Aldieri L, Gatto A, Vinci CP (2022) Is there any room for renewable energy innovation in developing and transition economies? Data envelopment analysis of energy behaviour and resilience data. Resour Conserv Recycl 186:106587
Aslani A, Antila E, Wong KFV (2012) Comparative analysis of energy security in the Nordic countries: the role of renewable energy resources in diversification. J Renew Sustain Energy 4(6):062701
Axon S, Morrissey J, Aiesha R, Hillman J, Revez A, Lennon B, ... Boo E (2018) The human factor: classification of European community-based behaviour change initiatives. J Clean Prod 182:567–586
Bahn-Walkowiak B, Wilts H (2017) The institutional dimension of resource efficiency in a multi-level governance system—implications for policy mix design. Energy Res Soc Sci 33:163–172
Bales C, Furbo S (2004) Heat in a cold climate: solar heating systems developed for the Nordic market. Refocus 5(2):32–34
Batidzirai B, Trotter PA, Brophy A, Stritzke S, Moyo A, Twesigye P, ... Madhlopa A (2021) Towards people-private-public partnerships: an integrated community engagement model for capturing energy access needs. Energy Res Soc Sci 74:101975
Bergaentzlé C, Skytte K, Soysal ER, Boscàn L, Olsen OJ (2017) Regulatory barriers for activating flexibility in the Nordic-Baltic electricity market. In 2017 14th International Conference on the European Energy Market (EEM). IEEE, pp. 1–6
Best R, Burke PJ (2018) Adoption of solar and wind energy: the roles of carbon pricing and aggregate policy support. Energy Policy 118:404–417
Bhattacharyya SC (2018) Mini-grids for the base of the pyramid market: a critical review. Energies 11(4):813
Bhattacharyya SC, Palit D (2014) Introduction. In: Bhattacharyya S, Palit D (eds) Mini-grids for rural electrification of developing countries. Green Energy and Technology. Springer, Cham
Bhattacharyya SC, Palit D (2016) Mini-grid based off-grid electrification to enhance electricity access in developing countries: what policies may be required? Energy Policy 94:166–178
Bhattacharyya SC, Palit D (2021) A critical review of literature on the nexus between central grid and off-grid solutions for expanding access to electricity in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 141:110792
Bhattacharyya SC, Palit D, Sarangi GK, Srivastava V, Sharma P (2019) Solar PV mini-grids versus large-scale embedded PV generation: a case study of Uttar Pradesh (India). Energy Policy 128:36–44
Blumberga A, Lauka D, Barisa A, Blumberga D (2016) Modelling the Baltic power system till 2050. Energy Convers Manag 107:67–75
Breyer C, Bogdanov D, Gulagi A, Aghahosseini A, Barbosa LS, Koskinen O, ... Farfan J (2017) On the role of solar photovoltaics in global energy transition scenarios. Prog Photovolt: Res Appl 25(8):727–745
Campbell B, Cloke J, Brown E (2016) Communities of energy. Econo Anthropol 3(1):133–144
Capellán-Pérez I, De Castro C, Arto I (2017) Assessing vulnerabilities and limits in the transition to renewable energies: land requirements under 100% solar energy scenarios. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 77:760–782
Chang RD, Zuo J, Zhao ZY, Zillante G, Gan XL, Soebarto V (2017) Evolving theories of sustainability and firms: history, future directions and implications for renewable energy research. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 72:48–56
Child M, Bogdanov D, Breyer C (2018) The Baltic Sea Region: storage, grid exchange and flexible electricity generation for the transition to a 100% renewable energy system. Energy Procedia 155:390–402
Cloke J, Mohr A, Brown E (2017) Imagining renewable energy: towards a Social Energy Systems approach to community renewable energy projects in the Global South. Energy Res Soc Sci 31:263–272
Dembczyk A, Zaoral J (2014) Stakeholder engagement in sustainable entrepreneurship and innovation: an exploratory study on start-ups from Germany and Sweden in renewable energy and energy efficiency
Dorothal M (2020) Top 3 fastest growing solar PV markets in the Nordics Updated with 2019 data. Solarplaza International BV
Drago C, Gatto A (2022a) An interval-valued composite indicator for energy efficiency and green entrepreneurship. Bus Strateg Environ 31(5):2107–2126
Drago C, Gatto A (2022b) Policy, regulation effectiveness, and sustainability in the energy sector: a worldwide interval-based composite indicator. Energy Policy 167:112889
Ellabban O, Abu-Rub H (2016) Smart grid customers’ acceptance and engagement: an overview. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 65:1285–1298
Fang Y, Wei Y (2013) Climate change adaptation on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau: the importance of solar energy utilization for rural household. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 18:508–518
Feenstra M (2020) Women as change agents of the Bulgarian energy transition. From Economic to Energy Transition. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, pp 181–208
Fischer R, Elfgren E, Toffolo A (2018) Energy supply potentials in the northern counties of Finland, Norway and Sweden towards sustainable nordic electricity and heating sectors: a review. Energies 11(4):751
Furbo S, Thür A, Fiedler F, Bales C, Rekstad J, Meir M, ... Karlsson B (2006) Nordic energy research cooperation on solar combisystems. In Eurosun 2006, Glasgow, UK, June 2006, 2006
Gast J, Gundolf K, Cesinger B (2017) Doing business in a green way: a systematic review of the ecological sustainability entrepreneurship literature and future research directions. J Clean Prod 147:44–56
Gatto A (2022a) Polycentric and resilient perspectives for governing the commons: strategic and law and economics insights for sustainable development. Ambio 51(9):1921–1932
Gatto A (2022b) The energy futures we want: a research and policy agenda for energy transitions. Energy Res Soc Sci 89:102639
Gatto A, Drago C (2021) When renewable energy, empowerment, and entrepreneurship connect: measuring energy policy effectiveness in 230 countries. Energy Res Soc Sci 78:101977
Gunnarsdottir I, Davidsdottir B, Worrell E, Sigurgeirsdóttir SJEP (2022) Indicators for sustainable energy development: an Icelandic case study. Energy Policy 164:112926
Hall NL (2014) Can the “social licence to operate” concept enhance engagement and increase acceptance of renewable energy? A case study of wind farms in Australia. Soc Epistemol 28(3–4):219–238
Hall N, Lacey J, Carr-Cornish S, Dowd AM (2015) Social licence to operate: understanding how a concept has been translated into practice in energy industries. J Clean Prod 86:301–310
Hancock KJ (2015) The expanding horizon of renewable energy in sub-Saharan Africa: leading research in the social sciences. Energy Res Soc Sci 5:1–8
Hanke F, Lowitzsch J (2020) Empowering vulnerable consumers to join renewable energy communities—towards an inclusive design of the clean energy package. Energies 13(7):1615
Harjanne A, Korhonen JM (2019) Abandoning the concept of renewable energy. Energy Policy 127:330–340
IRENA (2019) Renewable capacity Statistics 2019, International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Abu Dhabi
Jami AA, Walsh PR (2017) From consultation to collaboration: a participatory framework for positive community engagement with wind energy projects in Ontario, Canada. Energy Res Soc Sci 27:14–24
Jimenez J (2019) Climate vulnerability, adaptation, and grassroots renewable energy in Nicaragua: a case study responding to the El Niño of 2015–2016 in Las Mariitas, Somotillo, Chinandega
Kanase-Patil AB, Saini RP, Sharma MP (2010) Integrated renewable energy systems for off grid rural electrification of remote area. Renew Energy 35(6):1342–1349
Kang SH, Islam F, Tiwari AK (2019) The dynamic relationships among CO2 emissions, renewable and non-renewable energy sources, and economic growth in India: evidence from time-varying Bayesian VAR model. Struct Chang Econ Dyn 50:90–101
Karekezi S (2002) Renewables in Africa—meeting the energy needs of the poor. Energy Policy 30(11–12):1059–1069
Karekezi S, Ranja T (1997) Renewable energy technologies in Africa. Zed Books
Khan I, Han L, Khan H (2021) Renewable energy consumption and local environmental effects for economic growth and carbon emission: evidence from global income countries. Environ Sci Pollut Res 1–18
Khezri M, Heshmati A, Khodaei M (2022) Environmental implications of economic complexity and its role in determining how renewable energies affect CO2 emissions. Appl Energy, Part B 306:117948
Kivimaa P, Sivonen MH (2021) Interplay between low-carbon energy transitions and national security: an analysis of policy integration and coherence in Estonia, Finland and Scotland. Energy Res Soc Sci 75:102024
Klevas V, Streimikiene D, Grikstaite R (2007) Sustainable energy in Baltic states. Energy Policy 35(1):76–90
Komendantova N, Riegler M, Neumueller S (2018) Of transitions and models: community engagement, democracy, and empowerment in the Austrian energy transition. Energy Res Soc Sci 39:141–151
Kuhi-Thalfeldt R, Lahtvee V (2016) Low carbon energy transition in Estonia. NORSTRAT addition Baltics 2 Technical report
Kumar M (2020) Social, economic, and environmental impacts of renewable energy resources. Wind Solar Hybrid Renew Energy Syst
Lahtvee V (2015) Development of the Baltic power system for the utilisation of the region’s vast renewable energy potential. Policy brief. NORSTRAT
Lee AH, Chen HH, Chen J (2017) Building smart grid to power the next century in Taiwan. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 68:126–135
Lindroos TJ, Lehtilä A, Koljonen T, Kofoed-Wiuff A, Hethey J, Dupont N, Vītiņa A (2018) Baltic energy technology scenarios 2018. Nordic Council of Ministers. TemaNord 2018:515, Denmark
Lund PD, Skytte K, Bolwig S, Bolkesjö TF, Bergaentzlé C, Gunkel PA, ... Blumberga D (2019) Pathway analysis of a zero-emission transition in the Nordic-Baltic region. Energies 12(17):3337
Markard J (2018) The next phase of the energy transition and its implications for research and policy. Nat Energy 3(8):628–633
McCauley D, Ramasar V, Heffron RJ, Sovacool BK, Mebratu D, Mundaca L (2019) Energy justice in the transition to low carbon energy systems: exploring key themes in interdisciplinary research
McKenna RC, Bchini Q, Weinand JM, Michaelis J, König S, Köppel W, Fichtner W (2018) The future role of power-to-gas in the energy transition: regional and local techno-economic analyses in Baden-Württemberg. Appl Energy 212:386–400
Mišík M, Oravcová V (2021) Introduction: central and eastern european perspectives on energy transition. In: From Economic to Energy Transition. Energy, Climate and the Environment. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, pp 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55085-1_1
Mohammed YS, Mustafa MW, Bashir N (2013) Status of renewable energy consumption and developmental challenges in Sub-Sahara Africa. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 27:453–463
Mohammed YS, Mustafa MW, Bashir N (2014) Hybrid renewable energy systems for off-grid electric power: review of substantial issues. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 35:527–539
Mussard M (2017) Solar energy under cold climatic conditions: a review. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 74:733–745
Norvaiša E, Galinis A (2016) Future of Lithuanian energy system: electricity import or local generation? Energ Strat Rev 10:29–39
OECD International Energy Association (2018) IEA Electricity Information database. Paris, 2018
OECD International Energy Association (2019) World energy balances and statistics. Paris, 2019
Ollila J, Skov-Spilling J (2017) Nordic energy co-operation: strong today–stronger tomorrow (Vol. 2017732). Nordic Council of Ministers
Pacheco A, Monteiro J, Santos J, Sequeira C, Nunes J (2022) Energy transition process and community engagement on geographic islands: the case of Culatra Island (Ria Formosa, Portugal). Renew Energy 184:700–711
Panarello D (2021) Economic insecurity, conservatism, and the crisis of environmentalism: 30 years of evidence. Socioecon Plann Sci 73:100925
Pang M, Zhang L, Ulgiati S, Wang C (2015) Ecological impacts of small hydropower in China: insights from an emergy analysis of a case plant. Energy Policy 76:112–122
Patwary AK, Sharif A, Aziz RC, Hassan MGB, Najmi A, Rahman MK (2023) Reducing environmental pollution by organisational citizenship behaviour in hospitality industry: the role of green employee involvement, performance management and dynamic capability. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30(13):37105–37117
Pursiheimo E, Holttinen H, Koljonen T (2017) Path toward 100% renewable energy future and feasibility of power-to-gas technology in Nordic countries. IET Renew Power Gener 11(13):1695–1706
Purvins A, Huang T, Zalzar S, Pi RJ, Flego G, Masera M, ... L’Abbate A (2017) Integration of the Baltic States into the EU electricity system: a technical and economic analysis. JRC Science for Policy Report. Final report (Executive Summary). Project No: 2017.3516
Rathmann R, Szklo A, Schaeffer R (2010) Land use competition for production of food and liquid biofuels: an analysis of the arguments in the current debate. Renew Energy 35(1):14–22
Rosenberg DM, Bodaly RA, Usher PJ (1995) Environmental and social impacts of large scale hydroelectric development: who is listening? Glob Environ Chang 5(2):127–148
Sadik-Zada ER, Gatto A (2022) Civic engagement and energy transition in the Nordic-Baltic Sea Region: parametric and nonparametric inquiries. Socioecon Plann Sci 87:101347
Sadik-Zada ER, Gatto A, Blick N (2022) Rural electrification and transition to clean cooking: the case study of Kanyegaramire and Kyamugarura solar mini-grid energy cooperatives in the Kyenjojo District of Uganda. Sustainable policies and practices in energy, environment and health research. Springer, Cham, pp 547–562
Salay J, Fenhann J, Jaanimägi K, Kristoferson L (1993) Energy and environment in the Baltic States. Annu Rev Energy Env 18(1):169–216
Schwerhoff G, Sy M (2017) Financing renewable energy in Africa–key challenge of the sustainable development goals. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 75:393–401
Sen R, Bhattacharyya SC (2014) Off-grid electricity generation with renewable energy technologies in India: an application of HOMER. Renew Energy 62:388–398
Shahzad MK, Zahid A, ur Rashid T, Rehan MA, Ali M, Ahmad M (2017) Techno-economic feasibility analysis of a solar-biomass off grid system for the electrification of remote rural areas in Pakistan using HOMER software. Renew Energy 106:264–273
Shandiz SC, Foliente G, Rismanchi B, Wachtel A, Jeffers RF (2020) Resilience framework and metrics for energy master planning of communities. Energy 117856
Sharma GD, Tiwari AK, Erkut B, Mundi HS (2021) Exploring the nexus between non-renewable and renewable energy consumptions and economic development: Evidence from panel estimations. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 146:111152
Sovacool BK (2011) An international comparison of four polycentric approaches to climate and energy governance. Energy Policy 39(6):3832–3844
Sovacool BK, Dworkin MH (2014) Global energy justice. Cambridge University Press
Streimikiene D (2007) Monitoring of energy supply sustainability in the Baltic Sea region. Energy Policy 35(3):1658–1674
Streimikiene D, Ciegis R, Grundey D (2007) Energy indicators for sustainable development in Baltic States. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 11(5):877–893
Suberu MY, Mustafa MW, Bashir N, Muhamad NA, Mokhtar AS (2013) Power sector renewable energy integration for expanding access to electricity in sub-Saharan Africa. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 25:630–642
Thorsteinsson T, Björnsson H (2012) Climate change and energy systems: impacts, risks and adaptation in the Nordic and Baltic Countries
Tiwari AK, Eapen LM, Nair SR (2021) Electricity consumption and economic growth at the state and sectoral level in India: evidence using heterogeneous panel data methods. Energy Econ 94:105064
Tong Y, Zhou H, Jiang L, He B (2021) Investigating the factors underlying participation by the Chinese public in environmental management: an approach based on spatial heterogeneity. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28(35):48362–48378
United Nations (UN) (2015) CHAPTER XXVII, ENVIRONMENT, 7. d. Paris Agreement. Paris, 12 December 2015
van de Grift E, Cuppen E, Spruit S (2020) Co-creation, control or compliance? How Dutch community engagement professionals view their work. Energy Res Soc Sci 60:101323
Vik A, Smith B (2009) Nordic energy technologies: enabling a sustainable Nordic energy future. Nordic Council of Ministers
Wang R, Jiang Z (2017) Energy consumption in China’s rural areas: a study based on the village energy survey. J Clean Prod 143:452–461
Wilkinson S, Hojckova K, Eon C, Morrison GM, Sandén B (2020) Is peer-to-peer electricity trading empowering users? Evidence on motivations and roles in a prosumer business model trial in Australia. Energy Res Soc Sci 66:101500
Wolsink M (2012) The research agenda on social acceptance of distributed generation in smart grids: Renewable as common pool resources. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 16(1):822–835
Xiaohua W, Kunquan L, Hua L, Di B, Jingru L (2017) Research on China’s rural household energy consumption–household investigation of typical counties in 8 economic zones. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 68:28–32
Xin-Gang Z, Ying Z (2023) Can China’s renewable energy industry policy support the low-carbon energy transition effectively? Environ Sci Pollut Res 30(11):29525–29549
Yamegueu D, Azoumah Y, Py X, Zongo N (2011) Experimental study of electricity generation by solar PV/diesel hybrid systems without battery storage for off-grid areas. Renewable Energy 36(6):1780–1787
Zhang Y, Hu H, Zhu G, You D (2023) The impact of environmental regulation on enterprises’ green innovation under the constraint of external financing: evidence from China’s industrial firms. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30(15):42943–42964
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
Conceptualisation: AG; methodology: AG; software: AG; validation: AG; formal analysis:
AG; investigation: AG; resources: AG; writing—original draft: AG; writing—review and editing: AG and ERSZ;
data curation: AG; visualisation: AG; supervision: AG; project: AG; funding acquisition: n/a.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Ethics approval and consent to participate
This material is the authors’ own original work, which has not been previously published elsewhere. No humans nor animals were involved in this research. No approval was required.
Consent for publication
The paper reflects the authors’ own research and analysis in a truthful and complete manner. All authors express their consent to publish.
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Responsible Editor: Roula Inglesi-Lotz
Publisher's note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Gatto, A., Sadik-Zada, E.R. People have the power. Electricity production, renewable energy transition, and communities empowerment across 11 Nordic-Baltic countries. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 125464–125477 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-29156-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-29156-7
Keywords
- Electricity production
- Electricity sources
- Nordic-Baltic region
- Comparative analysis
- Community engagement
- People empowerment
- Power grids
- Smart grids
- Renewable energy
- Solar energy