Facetten (SE)

Testing municipal-business collaboration and shared meter structures in a historic industrial site.

The Facetten Energy Community is an economic association whose members include the municipality and nine tenant companies of the Facetten Business Park building, located in Åtvidaberg in southeastern Sweden. The building was formerly used by Facit, a global industrial company, and today houses a mix of local businesses under municipal ownership. Their key motivations for establishing the energy community included using single-meter infrastructure to share locally generated solar power, reduce energy costs, and support municipal economic development.

The operational model & energy flow

The model was designed so that Facetten would operate under a single shared electricity subscription with one physical meter, enabling tax-free and network-charge-free energy sharing. The property was particularly well suited to this model, since the entire building already ran on that single shared subscription and the shared infrastructure needed for collective self-consumption was already in place. Energy would be produced from solar panels installed on the rooftop of the Facetten Business Park building, with members buying shares in the installation and receiving annual electricity bill deductions. All produced electricity would be consumed directly within the building premises.

Looking ahead, a potential second stage for this energy community could expand solar panel capacity onto a nearby remediated industrial plot. This future phase would allow the community to welcome additional members, including private households, local businesses, and municipal organizations.

Numbers at a glance

• 100 kW installed solar capacity, no storage in the first stage. 
• Estimated annual production of 78 862 kWh/year. 
• Estimated total savings of €9 000/year.
• 250.9 t CO₂ per year avoided.
• Total establishment cost was €92 500 (including €74 000 project grant + €18 500 in loans).

The journey of the Facetten Pilot Site

The vision for Facetten grew out of Åtvidaberg Municipality’s long history of working with climate and energy projects. When the municipality sought to connect climate goals with local enterprise, Facetten emerged as a natural choice. On paper, everything lined up: a single municipal owner, a shared electrical meter, and a group of forward-thinking business tenants already operating under one roof.

However, moving from concept to concrete commitment proved more complex than anticipated. While local businesses showed genuine interest, they needed absolute clarity on financial returns and operational responsibilities before signing on. At the same time, the municipality faced institutional hurdles. Moving forward required a formal political investment decision. With businesses hesitating and municipal rules requiring complex power purchase agreements that squeezed financial margins, the municipality was not prepared to shoulder the financial exposure alone. Without that political green light, the original plan for a fully operational, municipally led energy community began to stall.

Still valuable, even without full implementation

Even though Facetten didn’t develop as planned, the process still created value. Within the municipality, it built capacity – a better understanding of how energy communities function, what role a municipality can play, and what challenges such processes involve. The solar calculations produced through the project have since been used elsewhere in the municipality to assess where solar energy could cut energy use and costs.

The process also shaped municipal strategy. Åtvidaberg’s energy and climate strategy now includes a target to work towards establishing energy communities, and the municipality is planning solar panels at Facetten outside StartSun’s formal frame. The idea of an energy community at Facetten hasn’t been dropped either – the municipality intends to keep exploring it, and the businesses in the building know the discussion may continue.

Facetten matters precisely because it didn’t unfold neatly. It shows where the real friction points lie: limited time, limited shared understanding, weak incentives, and institutional complexity. A promising site isn’t enough on its own – energy communities need time, a credible value proposition, informed participants, and political support. Municipalities can play a key facilitating role, but they also need the right conditions to bring potential members into a meaningful shared process.

Programme Manual Online

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