Is social cohesion decisive for energy cooperatives existence? A quantitative analysis

Energy Cooperatives (ECoops), the most prominent example for Energy Communities, are attributed great importance for the energy transition both through the engagement of energy end-consumers and the increase of local renewable energy sources. We conducted an exploratory (spatial) data analysis to study which indicators of the European Social Progress Index and Quality of Life Index co-occure with the presence of ECoops. Results show that these indexes and most of their sub-components present values significantly better at the regions where the ECoops are located compared to all EU regions. While correlation and regression coefficients between the number of ECoops per region and the indexes are relatively small, the individual indicator “Life-long learning” reaches the highest correlation and explanatory values. Additionally, Global moran statistics show that the concentration of ECoops and their relation to the indexes in space are rather random but a local analysis shows clusters emerging throughout the continent.