Grebo did not enter the StartSun process because everything was already lined up. It became a pilot because the project team needed a realistic place where an energy community could be explored in practice.
When the original plan in Facetten became difficult to realize, the working group began looking for other options in Åtvidaberg Municipality. Two possibilities emerged: the new business area at Sockertoppen and the village of Grebo. After further investigation, Grebo stood out as the more interesting case.
Grebo was not selected because it had one dramatic energy crisis waiting to be solved. It was selected because it brought together several things that matter when an energy community is still only an idea: room for growth, nearby local actors and a village setting where cooperation already had meaning.
Why this case matters:
Grebo shows that interest in local energy is not enough without people who can carry the process forward.
Main challenge:
The main barrier was organizational capacity, not technology.
Lesson for others:
A village needs a shared goal and a committed core group before an energy community can move from idea to action.
A village in a phase of change
Grebo is in an expansive phase. Around 200 new plots are planned in the coming years, which gave the discussions a forward-looking dimension from the start. The question was not only how electricity is used today. It was also what kind of local energy model could make sense in a community expected to grow.
The village also had an interesting mix of local actors. Early discussions focused on places that already matter in village life: the church, the grocery store, the school and the village association. They are close to one another, important for everyday life and different enough in their electricity use to make local sharing worth examining.
These actors also function as connection points in the community. If an energy community ever moves beyond the pilot stage, they could help bring more people into the conversation.
From project discussion to local conversation
The first phase was led by the project working group, which brought together the County Administrative Board, Uppsala University and Åtvidaberg Municipality. Within the municipality, people from spatial planning, property management and technical functions were involved early. The goal was not to launch an energy community overnight, but to investigate whether Grebo had the conditions to make the idea meaningful.
Local discussions followed. Representatives of the church, the grocery store and the village association were invited to in-person meetings to hear what an energy community could mean in practice.
The initial response was positive. The concept was new, but renewable energy was not. Some actors already had solar panels and were familiar with the technology. What was new was the idea of doing something shared rather than individual.
That distinction mattered. In Grebo, interest did not arise because people were waiting for the term “energy community”. It arose because they were already interested in renewable energy and wanted to know whether sharing electricity could make financial and practical sense.
Trust was not a side issue
One of the clearest themes in the Grebo case is trust. In a village setting, that is not a soft extra. It is one of the main conditions for progress.
The discussions showed that local cooperation in Grebo is strong enough to give an energy community a credible starting point. People know each other. They are used to working together in village life. That kind of social infrastructure is difficult to build from scratch, and it matters when a project requires investment and long-term commitment.
The project team also brought in an example from elsewhere. A representative from the Swedish energy community Fegen joined the discussions and helped make the concept more tangible. That added proof that the idea was not only theoretical.
Still, goodwill is not the same as capacity. When the village association’s board discussed the idea, the reaction was more cautious. It was not rejection in principle. It was the familiar problem of time and capacity. People were interested, but already busy.
The hard part was not the first meeting
It was not difficult to get the first group of potential members around the table. The first meetings were well attended, the tone was constructive and the interest was real.
What proved harder was maintaining momentum between meetings. Responses became slower and communication was more difficult to sustain. The project team’s interpretation is telling: this may partly have been because the process was initiated from the top down. If the push had come directly from the community, the follow-up might have been stronger.
This is one of the most useful insights from Grebo. Many communities are open to the idea of an energy community. Fewer have a core group ready to carry the work forward once the first conversation is over.
That is why the main barriers in Grebo were not primarily technical. They were organisational. The biggest question was who would take ownership of the next step. Legal issues, including taxation related to electricity sharing, also made the financial case less straightforward.
A useful pilot, even without full implementation
The StartSun work in Grebo was approached as a hypothetical case, but that should not be mistaken for a weak result. The aim was not only to draw a concept on paper. It was to build capacity in the municipality, in the village and among the actors who might one day form the nucleus of a real energy community.
The process increased knowledge, brought relevant local actors into the same discussion and created a basis for future decisions. It also influenced how the municipality now thinks about new development. Energy community thinking was not built into Grebo’s expansion plans from the start, but StartSun has opened up discussions about whether it could be included later.
Grebo has not produced a finished model that others can copy. What it has produced is a grounded picture of what it takes to move from curiosity to collective action.
For other villages, the lesson is clear. Start with a shared need, goal or vision. Then make sure there is a core group willing to carry the process. Without that, even strong local interest may not be enough.
Interested to learn more?
Join us on 22 September 2026 for the conference “From Concept to Community: Launching Solar Energy Communities“. This conference brings together local authorities, community initiatives, apartment associations, energy community leaders, developers, researchers, entrepreneurs and others interested in local renewable energy.
The conference will share practical experiences, success stories and challenges from developing solar energy communities, including technical, social and funding-related aspects, as well as cooperation models for turning ideas into action. Participants will also be introduced to the StartSun handbook and energy community feasibility calculator. The conference will be held in English and is co-funded by the European Union.