NWO Vidi grant for Björn Hoops

How can the law help vulnerable groups to play an active part in the energy transition? By supporting energy communities! But what if there are no binding standards for equitable Energy Communities that involve vulnerable groups in the energy transition? Professor of Private Law and Sustainability Björn Hoops has been awarded an Vidi Grant to answer this question. 

The grant funds the research project ‘Putting Caring into Sharing: Private Law for Equitable Energy Communities’ that develops legal arrangements for equitable and inclusive Energy Communities. 

Energy Communities are organizations in which people, businesses, and public authorities jointly generate renewable energy, making an important contribution to the energy transition. Policymakers and researchers want these communities to include and empower vulnerable groups, such as low-income households.

However, there are no clear guidelines on how this should be achieved in practice. This project works with Energy Communities and stakeholders across Austria, Germany, and the Netherlands to develop such guidelines and translate them into practical and enforceable legal arrangements.

Theory and practice

 The project generates new theoretical insights into how private rule-making can incorporate societal goals without state intervention. It advances understanding of the legal position of vulnerable Energy Community members and how private-law tools interact in not-for-profit organizations. 

In practice, the model arrangements enable legal practitioners to advise Energy Communities more efficiently and assist public authorities in designing subsidy schemes, helping ECs better support vulnerable groups.

These will help reduce legal complexity and costs, while creating more favourable conditions for equitable and inclusive Energy Communities.

109 Vidi grants

A total of 109 researchers in the Netherlands are to receive a Vidi grant with a maximum funding amount of 850,000 euros, the research organisation NWO announced on Thursday.  With this grant, researchers can develop their own innovative research plans and establish their own research groups.

The project will run for five years. The grant will fund two postdoctoral researchers, one PhD candidate and one student assistant.