The diploma thesis attends the phenomenon of energy cooperatives (also called co-ops or guilds) and relates it to theoretical framework and also to international context. The text is divided into three parts. First part explains the cooperatives from the inside - how do they work, how are they founded, how are they financed, what are their advantages etc. Second part deals with the energy cooperatives in context of theory of reflexive modernization, sustainable development and energy self-sufficiency. Knowledge explained in first and second part is exeplified by practical examples for better understanding. Third part contains of comparative case study that compares Denmark and The Czech republic from the point of view of energy policy development and conditions for development of energy cooperatives.

Energy cooperatives have become an important player in the German energy transition. After two legal amendments in the Renewable Energy Act in 2012 and 2014 the number of new foundations dropped sig-nificantly. Several studies have investigated potential barriers and opportunities for energy cooperatives to expand their business model beyond energy production and adapt to the legal changes. This study aims to identify relevant factors that lead energy cooperatives to have a high or a low level of diversification. To this end, I interviewed board members of eight energy cooperatives and complemented the findings by the assessment of firm documents and newspaper articles. While no single factor seems to be decisive, the founding initiative, in particular a clear vision and concrete business goals correlate with the level of di-versification. Important is, that a high level of internal resources or strong support from the local govern-ment alone cannot explain a high level of diversification. Instead, I identified two important aspects, in-teractive effects and threshold effects, that help to understand why energy cooperatives have a high or low level of diversification. Interactive effects mean, that a negative performance in one factor, such as a low level of internal resources, can be outbalanced by a very positive performance in another factor, such as external resources or local political environment. Threshold effects mean, that apparently a certain perfor-mance of a factor might be sufficient to achieve a high level of diversification, whereas a high performance of all factors, also leads to a very high level of diversification, as was shown with one cooperative, that serves as best practice example and corresponds to the theoretical model as forecasted. That means future research should deal with the complex nature of energy cooperatives, as diversification and probably de-velopment in general cannot be explained by looking at single factors, such as the level of internal re-sources. The findings also suggest, that for some energy cooperatives the plan to adopt new business mod-els was already laid at the foundation and did not spontaneously emerge as response to the legal changes. A future study should investigate, whether that applies to energy cooperatives more generally, or was just found  to be  true  for the eight cases  studied  here. The role of external resources  to adopt  new  business models has to be emphasized and calls for more cooperation among energy cooperatives and with external partners, to continuously be important players for the energy transition.

Major global problems, manifested by climate change and social inequality, reinforce the need for a societal shift towards sustainable practices. This transition requires new approaches in the future design of society. The current energy system, based on fossil fuels and centralized infrastructure is a key contributor to many of the socio-ecological issues related to the sustainability challenge. The intent of this research is to examine renewable energy cooperatives as an alternative to minimize the negative impacts of the current energy system. Using a Strategic Sustainable Development (SSD) approach with a Resilience Attribute Framework, this research explored the presence of resilience attributes (Trust, Diversity, Learning and Self-organization) and sustainability behavior in renewable energy cooperatives. The research then explored, through interview and surveys, the perceived impacts that these cooperatives had on the resilience and sustainability behavior of the wider community. Findings showed that energy cooperatives displayed high levels of the resilience through the attributes of: - Trust: due to non-profit status, ownership structure, localisation and shared values - Diversity: due to member and service diversity - Learning: through collaboration, diverse member knowledge and participation - Self-organization: due to cooperative development, leadership and outcomes (infrastructure and energy knowledge). This study showed that renewable energy cooperatives have numerous impacts on their community however; there were no significant evidence to suggest energy cooperatives transferred their high levels of social resilience to the community.

Community energy is an umbrella term encompassing various forms of renewable energy initiatives involving citizens and communities. These initiatives have been highlighted as a strategy for more sustainable and just energy systems. While community energy is a marginal phenomenon in Sweden, there are still around 140 active community energy initiatives of which the majority are wind power cooperatives. An overview of both active and discontinued wind power cooperatives gives evidence of different types and levels of collaborations with municipal energy companies, pointing to the vital role these play in the emergence and development of wind power cooperatives in Sweden. Still, there is a lack of research engaging with wind power cooperatives on the local level. With this thesis, I address this research gap by conducting a qualitative case study of four wind power cooperatives in Sweden exhibiting different types and levels of collaborations with municipal energy companies. The aim is to explore ways to conceptualise these collaboration structures and create a better understanding of the implications they have on the emergence and development of energy cooperatives in general. To this end, I use the concept of modes of governance as an analytical tool to discern, describe, and conceptualise the various ways in which wind energy cooperatives and municipal energy companies collaborate. The findings indicate both differences and similarities between the various cases in terms of how and why wind power cooperatives and municipal energy companies collaborate. The results suggest that a productive and supportive collaboration structure between energy cooperatives and energy companies is characterised by principles of co-production such as mutual interests and benefits. In turn, the conditions for such a collaboration depend on internal and external factors such as personal ties, individual engagement, and institutional aspects like policies and tax rules. Further, the study indicates that while cooperative ownership still has a role to play in the expansion of renewable energy in Sweden, it will likely remain a niche phenomenon whose emergence and survival is dependent on facilitation and guidance by governments.