Paper short abstract:

This paper presents a case study from Sweden, focusing on the planning of developing a new sustainable city district in Malmö. We will examine the dialogues including various stakeholders relating to the energy systems in the area, especially the discussions on establishing a microgrid.

Paper long abstract:

New decentralized energy generation technologies (PV, wind,) have turned scale economies up-side down and have made smaller generation units more economically viable. The increased penetration of information technologies has led to new possibilities of managing infrastructures in a less hierarchical and more flexible way. This together with citizen demand for energy control have brought energy communities to the agenda around Europe. This can add up to a substantial transformation, or transition, towards more sustainable systems, but their longer-term outcomes still have to be seen.

This paper will present case study from Sweden, where participatory observations and interviews have been conducted in the planning of developing a new sustainable city district in Malmö. The process has included a variety of stakeholders and voices and we will examine the dialogues relating to the energy systems in the area and especially the discussions on establishing a microgrid. The electricity grid company in the area promote, with support from the city administration, their solutions, while the property developers opt for more decentralised community owned systems. Although the discussions have been technologically oriented, the outcome of the discussions have to an equal extent, if not more, been people, their perceptions, and their interactions with each other, with the professional society and regulations. How to understand these dialogues in a sustainable energy system perspective will be discussed.