Denmark has been a frontrunner in the green transition, especially with the successful stories of wind energy. Both the City of Aarhus and Aarhus University (AU) have set ambitious climate goals. If these goals are to succeed in time, citizens need to be involved and play an active role. The AURORA initiative provides such opportunities for citizens in Aarhus, especially students and staff at AU, to participate in the green transition.
In the demo site in Aarhus, we established the energy community (“energifællesskab”) by crowdfunding the installation of rooftop solar photovoltaic panels on campus. The community is set up as a solar cooperative (“solcellelaug”) following the Danish spirit of “andelstanken”. The cooperative, called Universitetets Energifællesskab F.M.B.A (UEF), is officially founded in August 2023 and registered with the Danish Business Authority in September 2023. Citizens in Aarhus have the opportunity to become members of UEF by buying shares in the crowdfunded solar installation. In addition to annual economic returns, citizens get access to energy-related public discussions and hands-on workshops in the community. After project AURORA ends, UEF will keep its independent operation with its own statutes and board of directors.
120 people and small organisations participated in the crowdfunding to finance the rooftop PV installation. The company 1KOMMA5° Danmark was chosen to carry out the installation. The installation was completed in the summer of 2024 and started producing energy since September 2024. On the AURORA Dashboard, you can find information on the electricity production.
All the lessons learnt from the process is documented and shared through an open access paper.
