Who Wins With Wind? How Energy Communities Are Shaping The Green Transition

From Orkney to Amsterdam, Energy Communities are putting decision-making power around wind power in the hands of local citizens. With national governments failing to meet their climate targets, could community-owned renewable energy accelerate the transition to a net-zero economy?

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The northern-most point of the British mainland is a town called John O’ Groats. Fish and chips in hand, looking out beyond the thrashing waves of the North Sea, you will see Orkney – a collection of Islands off the North-East of Scotland. Home to only 22,000 people, it is paving the way for the green transition. In no small part due to the island’s brilliant capacity for harnessing the power of the wind from its prime location, Orkney’s energy demands are completely met by renewable sources. This is achieved through not only large-scale wind farms, but from over 760 domestic wind turbines – allowing 10% of the population to generate their own power. 

Not only are new wind projects leading the way in capturing more power, but they are also reshaping who owns this power. Planning began for three large wind farms approved in 2019, and as of October 2025, the UK’s National Wealth Fund has given a generous GBP 62.1 million boost to these projects. Yet with new energy projects, questions always arise on where the profits will go, and in Scotland, these worries are not surprising. Take ScotWind, for example: a set of 20 developments with a combined capacity of 30GW based in Scotland, which is now one of the largest commercial offshore wind projects in the world. Yet overall, despite bringing energy resilience, these projects may take more than they give: only 22% of developers are based in the UK, and beyond that 6 ScotWind developers are majority-owned by foreign state-owned enterprises. 

In Orkney, something different is happening – all the profits are staying local. This will make Orkney the UK’s largest publicly-owned wind farm. On top of this, all funds will be managed by Community Councils, which are devolved forums made up of local citizens. The profits are not small, bringing in GBP 5.5 million annually for the people of Orkney. In the context of a GBP 27 million funding gap in the Council’s budget, this new locally-owned scheme will deliver much-needed investment straight back into the communities of Orkney. 

Community-owned energy can help make the economy more circular, keeping investments local and reinvesting in sustainable services. Not only this, but in the face of a cost-of-living crisis, it can provide people with more power over their energy bills while tackling a crisis of democracy within economic institutions. The UK provides a stark picture, with energy companies having raked in GBP 500 billion of profits since the start of the UK’s ‘energy crisis’ while millions are stuck in fuel poverty. Work by think-tank Common Wealth shows that under the UK's privatized energy system, 21% of energy revenues go towards dividends instead of being reinvested to lower costs. It is clear that something has to change.

Amidst this chaos, small revolutions have been shining through. Through cooperation with the council, Plymouth Energy Community Renewables is one example which now provides co-operatively owned electricity to over 2,000 homes. Municipalities and councils are key players in helping communities like these develop energy communities through revising legal frameworks or offering funding for local projects. Energy is being reframed as a resource to be held in common.

Community-owned energy isn’t constrained to the United Kingdom. In fact, energy communities are scattered across Europe: in Wolfhagen, Germany, a community co-operative owns a quarter of the municipality-owned energy company, leading to a city which is now 100% renewable. Furthermore, in Križevci, Croatia, the community came together to crowd-fund solar panel installations on business centres and local libraries. Energy communities also aren’t a new phenomenon: Ecopower in Belgium is one of the largest energy co-operatives, providing green power to over 67,000 residents, and began over three decades ago in 1991.  

Looking closer to home, Amsterdam has a rich history of energy collectives working together to bring about a greener transition that champions local power. The city itself has over 30 energy communities, and nearly 700 in the whole of the Netherlands. One trailblazer is the neighbourhood of Sporenburg, which is installing solar panels and EV charging stations for 540 households. Neighbours can share excess energy to ensure that consumption is sustainable and circular. This development is part of the RESCHOOL project, which has other pilots in Spain, Greece and Sweden. There is also a range of Dutch co-operatives focusing solely on wind, which are increasing their capacity and membership year-on-year. These renewable energy communities can be great assets for locals, as they speed up planning and can reduce negative externalities compared to plans which do not involve active community feedback. 

These new ways of organising the green transition may become increasingly important as the Netherlands falls behind its neighbours, with only 17% of total energy consumed coming from renewable sources. The Netherlands’ climate plans also fall in line with those of the EU Climate Law, yet recently, EU ambitions to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 2040 have been watered down ahead of COP30. While national institutions are failing to stick to targets to mitigate one of the biggest crises of our time, expanding power to local communities and decentralising ownership could allow the green transition to be more effective, cheaper and democratic.  

Although Orkney is separated by sea and only accessible by a ferry or a tiny plane, it does not stand alone. By putting energy in the hands of the local community, Orkney is joining a colourful mosaic of energy co-operatives and communities from all across Europe. While large energy corporations hike the bills of everyday citizens and our governments pull back on policy to deal with the ever-imposing threat of climate change, maybe we can look to our next-door neighbours first for solutions.