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Local electricity exchange is often praised for its ability to empower consumers and benefit communities. In this paper, we investigate and compare the development of local electricity exchange practices in three European countries: France, Switzerland, and Great Britain. We ask: how do local electricity exchange practices and markets vary across national contexts? What are their dynamics of ownership and consolidation, if any? What areas of contestation or disagreement emerge? To answer these questions, we first briefly define and conceptualize local electricity exchange and its categories before explicating our mixed methods research design consisting of document analysis, 40 original expert interviews across the three countries, and observational data derived from seven meetings and events. These comparative cases reveal the complexity and variation of the local electricity exchange phenomenon across our three national contexts, how such acts of decentralization in turn (and perhaps unpredictably) consolidate power among incumbent actors, and how local electricity exchanges are prone to significant contestation and disagreement. Moreover, they reveal competing dynamics of centralization and shifting forms of ownership. We conclude by noting that (i) local electricity exchange has as much potential to cement conventional actors and power relations in the sector as it does to support new actors or transform power relations; (ii) approaches to local electricity exchange vary considerably across national contexts and are strongly linked with institutional frameworks and policy regimes; and (iii) the future merits of local electricity exchange are prone to great uncertainty and contestation.

Within the SONNET project, the main aim of WP6 is to quantify which initiatives engaged in social innovation in the energy sector (SIE-initiatives) achieve the highest contribution towards EU-aims. For this purpose, we prepared 3 different surveys that are included in Annex 3ff to assess different aspects and perspectives regarding the contribution of SIE-initiatives. Based on the responses to the first survey - responses from 42 researchers, 18 representatives of initiatives engaged in social innovation in the energy sector (SIE-representatives) and 36 representatives of organisations that are active in the energy sector (field-actors) - we find that SIE-initiatives most successfully contribute to their own aims, such as "social acceptance" and "local community". Aims shared by SIE and EU (referred to as shared-aims) towards which the SIE-initiatives are perceived to contribute the most are “renewables production” and lower “CO2-emissions”, which are also the Shared-aims that are most important to SIE-initiatives.

SONNET aims to co-create a rich inter- and transdisciplinary understanding of the diversity,processes (including enabling and impeding factors) and contributions of SIE (social innovation in the energy sector). In WP3, we make use of a multiple, embedded case study approach, using diverse units of analysis to build a better understanding of SIE-fields and the SIE-initiatives within them. The main unit of analysis is the SIE-field, while the subunits of analysis are the SIE, different SIE-field-actors (who work on the SIE) and their SIE-initiatives, and other field-actors (who enable and impede the SIE). The analysis also considers the context of wider socio-political, socio-economic and sociocultural issues linked to these actors and the SIE-field. The case studies are presented as a series of six country reports: France, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, Switzerland, and United Kingdom. Each country report presents three embedded case studies of SIE-fields within their national context. Overall, the country reports present 18 embedded case studies of SIE-fields, and 36 cases of SIE-initiatives nested within the SIE-field investigations and published in deliverable D3.2 This deliverable D3.3 has two overall aims. First, to dive into a comparative analysis of each SIE-field and their SIE-initiatives across three SONNET countries (for example, comparing framings against fossil fuel energy pathways in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Poland). This analysis draws on empirical phenomena surfacing in the different cases and specific concepts that help to further the understanding of SIE. Second, to derive key insights into specific aspects of the diversity, processes and contributions of SIE.

This report addresses the following research questions: How do Social Innovation in energy (SIE) and SIE-fieldsemerge, develop, and institutionalise over time? How do SIE-field-actors and other field-actors interact with the‘outside’ institutional environment and thereby co-shape the SIE-field over time? What are the enabling and impeding factors for SIE-field-actors and other field-actors to conduct institutional work and change the ‘outside’ institutional environment? In WP3, we make use of a multiple, embedded case study approach, building a better understanding of SIE-fields (e.g. ‘local electricity exchange’ and ‘cooperative organisational models for renewable energy’) using diverse units of analysis. The main unit of analysis is the SIE-field, whereas the subunits of analysis are made up of the SIE (e.g. multi-actor collectives implementing local electricity exchange), different SIE-field-actors (who work on) and their SIE-initiatives (e.g. Energy Local or Ripple Energy, UK) and other field-actors (who enable and impede SIE) (e.g. Ofgem’s sandbox trials, UK). They are embedded in their respective context, which relates to wider socio-political, social-economic and sociocultural issues linked to these actors and SIE-field. The case studies are presented as a series of six country reports: France, Germany, Netherlands/Belgium, Poland, Switzerland, and United Kingdom. Each country report contains documentation of three embedded case studies of SIE-fields set in their national context, giving a full set of 18 embedded case studies across all six SONNET countries. In these embedded case studies, 36 cases of SIE-initiatives are nested within the SIE-field investigations.