A qualitative exploratory study on the integration of societal and spatial objectives by Dutch community energy initiatives and the effect of organizational structure

This research explored the effect of organizational structure and the supportiveness of the governance context on the degree of integration of societal and spatial objectives by community energy initiatives. The research distinguishes between physical and social organizational structure. The main research question guiding this research is ’’How does the organizational structure of community energy influence the integration of societal and spatial objectives by community energy and how is this integration affected by the supportiveness of the local governance context?’’. To answer this question, a qualitative exploratory research design was selected. Six cases of Dutch community energy initiatives were examined. The results of the analysis show that physical organizational structure positively influences the degree of integration by community energy up until a certain limit in size. In addition, having broad objectives and re-investing profits broadly positively influences the degree of integration for the four initiatives not surpassing this limit in size. The supportiveness of the governance context also positively influences the degree of integration for those four initiatives.