Support & Impact
Energy cooperatives: How citizen capital becomes leverage for the energy transition
How energy cooperatives mobilize private capital and enable citizens to actively, regionally, and democratically help shape the energy transition.
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8 minutes
The energy transition in Germany requires not only political will and technological innovation – above all, it needs capital. While institutional investors and energy companies are important players, energy cooperatives offer an effective supplement that turns citizens into active shapers of the energy future. Energy cooperatives also play a central role in the success of a decentralized energy transition, because the complex requirements on infrastructure can best be solved locally in terms of subsidiarity.
This article explains what energy cooperatives are, how they help to shoulder the transformation in a social and public welfare-oriented way, and why they play a central role in the success of the energy transition. Because the challenges of the energy transition are great, but the key lies in particular in regional implementation - collectively by the citizens.
A guest post by valueverde.
📚 Table of Contents
The Financing Gap in the Energy Transition
How Does an Energy Cooperative Work?
The Power of Collective Engagement
Case Study: egis eG and BürgerEnergie Berlin
Overcoming Barriers to Market Access
Digitalization as a Catalyst
Conclusion: Clean Energy and Active Co-determination
The Financing Gap of the Energy Transition
The energy transition is a massive investment task. According to a study by the Federal Association of the Energy and Water Industries (BDEW) together with the Association of Local Public Utilities (VKU), an additional €720 billion is required for the energy transition between 2022 and 2030. By 2050, the total requirement adds up to around €13.2 trillion. These sums clearly exceed the capacities of public budgets and traditional energy providers, especially municipal utilities. Because the financial situation of municipal utilities is acutely strained.
Institutional investors can close some of this gap. There are already some initial ideas in this direction - from LBBW (Landesbank Baden-Württemberg) to the proposed energy transition fund from Deloitte. What they all have in common is a lack of regional connection and a lack of democratic participation in the transformation.
This is exactly where energy cooperatives come in: They mobilize private capital and at the same time create local value and identification with energy projects. In addition, the cooperative principle applies that every member has one vote, regardless of the size of their share.
How Does an Energy Cooperative Work?
Energy cooperatives are community associations of citizens, businesses, or municipalities that jointly invest in renewable energies and benefit from their yields. They usually emerge locally and enable a decentralized, democratic energy transition: every vote counts, regardless of the amount invested. Instead of maximizing profits, they aim for sustainable supply, regional value creation, and climate protection. Through their structure, they promote acceptance and participation because people are directly involved in wind, solar, or biogas plants. Profits often flow back into new projects or into the region. Energy cooperatives show that climate protection does not have to be an exclusive project of large corporations, but can be anchored in society through joint action. Thus, energy cooperatives represent a simple but effective model for the energy transition.
The basis is organized under the legal form of a registered cooperative. The following excursion will detail the special features of this legal form.
💡The registered cooperative - Special features
A registered cooperative (eG) is a democratic business form owned by its members. These members are simultaneously investors and can help make decisions about the cooperative's affairs. This is similar to a classic public limited company (AG) – where the company belongs to the shareholders. However, unlike an AG, the principle of a cooperative is: "One member – one vote", regardless of the total sum invested. Unlike public limited companies, the primary focus is not on maximizing profit, but on the promotional mandate: the joint promotion of the economic interests of the members through joint business operations (for example, the expansion of energy systems).
Cooperatives exist in many areas - particularly well-known are the large housing cooperatives and the cooperative banks (Volks- und Raiffeisenbanken). However, cooperatives can also be found in agriculture and commerce, as well as in energy supply.
All members benefit collectively from economic success. The earnings from the cooperative flow back to the cooperative members as dividends - typically between two and six percent annually. In doing so, cooperatives are a robust corporate form, with the lowest insolvency rate of all corporate forms. A publication by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation states that they "act as an anchor of stability and security [...] and represent a haven of economic sustainability." Economic stability is also due to the fact that cooperatives undergo regular external audits by cooperative auditing associations, which establishes transparency and trust.
The Power of Collective Engagement
According to data from the DGRV (German Cooperative and Raiffeisen Association), over 220,000 people are active in energy cooperatives. Since 2006, they have collectively invested approximately €3.6 billion in expanding green energy production, generating around 8 terawatt-hours of green electricity. This avoids 3 million tons of CO2-equivalent greenhouse gases. For comparison, this is roughly equivalent to the amount of CO2 generated annually by a major German city like Stuttgart.
These figures clearly show that community energy is no longer a niche segment. Photovoltaic installations dominate the systems portfolio with over 60 percent of the projects, followed by wind turbines and increasingly also local heating networks and storage technologies. What unites these projects: they remain in regional hands and create local value.
The financial attractiveness is undeniable: while classic savings accounts yield almost no interest and inflation eats away at savings, energy cooperatives offer a foreseeable return with manageable risk. According to the DGRV, the average distribution is 4 percent per year.
💡 Which is the largest energy cooperative in Germany?
According to a DGRV 2025 survey, there are 998 energy cooperatives in Germany. Germany's largest energy cooperative with nearly 40,000 members is Prokon eG, which celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2025.
Case Study: egis eG and BürgerEnergie Berlin
Two examples illustrate the breadth of successful civic engagement: egis eG (Inn-Salzach Energy Cooperative) and BürgerEnergie Berlin eG pursue different approaches with impressive results.
Since its founding in 2009, egis eG in Bavaria has gained over 2,000 members and invested more than €30 million in renewable energy projects. Its portfolio includes photovoltaic and wind energy plants with a total capacity of over 40 megawatts. The annual dividend ranges between 3 and 5 percent, with CO₂ savings now exceeding 25,000 tons per year.
BürgerEnergie Berlin, with its more than 3,000 members, was founded to municipalize Berlin's power grid. And successfully so! Today it operates photovoltaic systems and tenant electricity projects in the capital and shows how energy cooperatives can also function in urban spaces.
Overcoming Barriers to Market Access
Despite the positive development, interested citizens still face significant entry barriers. Finding suitable energy cooperatives is often difficult. Information on yields, risks, CO₂ impact, or specific projects is frequently hard to access or incomplete.
Traditionally, joining energy cooperatives happens through personal contacts, local events, or time-consuming research. This lack of transparency deters potential investors and slows down the growth of community energy. Anyone who does not happen to hear about a cooperative in their neighborhood or conduct intensive research is left out and often doesn't even know that energy cooperatives exist at all.
Digitalization as a Catalyst
Digitalization can systematically dismantle these barriers. Platforms that bundle energy cooperatives and present them transparently create a new level of accessibility. Interested individuals can compare different cooperatives, view key metrics on yields and climate impact, and learn about the respective business models.
An example of this approach is valueverde, the first digital trading platform for energy cooperatives. There, users receive compact overviews of share prices, expected yields, and CO₂ savings of various cooperatives. Joining is done entirely digitally – without tedious paper processes or personal on-site appointments.
Such digital solutions democratize access to community energy and can significantly accelerate the growth of the sector. They turn a regional, often exclusive investment opportunity into a form of impact investing accessible to all - with real and direct impact.
Conclusion: Clean Energy and Active Co-determination
Energy cooperatives uniquely combine individual return expectations with collective climate protection and civic engagement. They keep economic value within regions and give citizens the opportunity to actively help shape the energy transition.
The digitalization of market access will further strengthen this movement. Platforms that create transparency and simplify joining processes can unlock the full potential of community energy. Because the goal must be to make our energy supply clean, secure, and affordable for everyone.
Sources
BDEW Study https://www.bdew.de/energie/energie-in-europa/kapital-fuer-die-energiewende/
Costs up to 2050 https://www.tagesschau.de/wirtschaft/energie/energiewende-investitionen-kosten-eon-100.html
Deloitte Fund https://www.pv-magazine.de/2024/06/03/energiewende-fonds-soll-privates-kapital-mobilisieren/
FES https://library.fes.de/pdf-files/wiso/08964.pdf
Distributions https://www.solarserver.de/2019/07/23/energiegenossenschaften-zahlen-mehrheitlich-dividende/
DGRV Annual Survey of Energy Cooperatives 2025
https://www.dgrv.de/news/dgrv-jahresumfrage-energiegenossenschaften-2025/
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⚠️ Disclaimer: We do not provide tax advice. We do not replace a certified tax advisor. All information is provided without guarantee.
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valueverde
