Mobilization of Savings Deposits to Promote Citizen Energy

Active citizen participation is one of the key pillars of decentralized and democratic energy transition processes, consolidated by a comprehensive legislative body of the European Union. This phenomenon is known as citizen energy and involves the participation and collaboration of citizens in the production, consumption, storage, and/or trading of energy from renewable sources, aiming to create a more resilient and environmentally friendly energy system while contributing to local economic development and carbon emissions reduction. Despite the growing interest in this participatory model, one of the main challenges citizens face in the implementation of citizen energy projects is securing financial resources. In addition to the traditional financing model for such projects, there are numerous alternatives, such as crowdfunding and ethical bank loans, while the mobilization of citizens’ savings remains relatively unexplored. Therefore, this research project aims to delve deeper into the underexplored area of mobilizing household savings as a potential source of funding for citizen energy projects. Citizens keep a significant amount of money in non-time deposits, suffering financial losses due to inflation. Mobilizing savings deposits could not only contribute to the realization of citizen energy projects but also foster a deeper sense of ownership and citizen engagement in the energy transition. Given the context of the global climate crisis and the need for transitioning towards sustainable energy solutions, as well as the lack of relevant literature on this aspect, the potential activation of savings deposits in banks for this purpose represents an intriguing and relevant research topic.