In Ostrobothnia, bringing society into the process of accelerating and decentralizing energy production to connect local energy solutions has been recognised as critical for the regional energy transition. The journey towards carbon neutrality in Ostrobothnia, getting rid of the use of fossil fuels and basing the energy systems on green renewable energy, is connected to a need to work in new ways to engage different societal group in finding energy solutions based on local resources.
The urgency of the need
We are standing in front of a fast transition towards renewable energy raising the need for different types of solutions and requiring fundamental social changes to patterns of both consumption and production. The journey towards basing the energy systems on green renewable energy, will cause, especially during the period of building up the new systems worldwide, a situation where the energy availability in the grid is more intermittent and insecure than it has been. This will be a particular risk in the more sparsely-populated regions at the outer edges of the grid. Thus, actions and solutions that either improve the self-sufficiency of such areas in energy production, or resiliency solutions for energy shortages organised by the users (municipalities, villages, other types of end-user associations) themselves independently of the central actors, are needed more than ever.
The target groups most affected by the need
The target group most affected by the need is anticipated to be civil society including individual energy consumers, associations, and other citizens organisations. Depending on the solution suggested and developed, there will be related impact to varying extent on the following target groups:
- Cities and municipalities in the region
- Policy makers
- Politicians
- Industry/private sector
- Researchers/academia