The strategies, plans and legislation on energy market development and decarbonization in the European Union (EU) developed in recent years, such as the directives implementing the package “Clean energy for all Europeans”, aim at promoting not only renewable energy sources, but also new institutions that involve the development of local energy markets and a greater role for citizens in managing their own energy generation. At the same time, Poland remains the economy most dependent on coal and one of the largest air polluters in the EU. In order to minimize this problem and to meet the direction of energy development in the EU, Poland decided to establish, among other things, an energy cooperative. It is intended to fill the gap in the development of the civil dimension of energy on a local scale and at the same time improve efficiency in the use of the potential of renewable energy sources in rural areas. The authors of the paper seek to verify the extent to which this new institution, which is part of the idea of a local energy community, one of the driving forces for the implementation of the objectives and directions of development of “clean energy” set by the EU, has a chance to develop. The research took into account the characteristics of energy producers and consumers in rural areas, economic preferences provided for by law, relating to the functioning of an energy cooperative and the existing alternative solutions dedicated to prosumers. A dedicated mathematical model in the mixed integer programming technology was used to optimize the functioning of an energy cooperative, and more than 5000 simulations were carried out, with a typical optimization task performed as part of the research with about 50,000 variables. The conclusions and simulations make it possible to confirm the thesis that profitable energy cooperatives can be established in rural areas, with the objective of minimizing the sum of energy purchases from the distribution network and losses on the energy deposit (virtual network storage) (the energy deposit (or network deposit) should be understood as energy introduced to the grid during generation surpluses for its subsequent consumption, taking into account the discount factor).
The decentralization of the large-scale energy sector, its replacement with pro-ecological, dispersed production sources and building a citizen dimension of the energy sector are the directional objectives of the energy transformation in the European Union. Building energy self-sufficiency at a local level is possible, based on the so-called Energy Communities, which include energy clusters and energy cooperatives. Several dozen pilot projects for energy clusters have been implemented in Poland, while energy cooperatives, despite being legally sanctioned and potentially a simpler formula of operation, have not functioned in practice. This article presents the coopetitive nature of Energy Communities. The authors analysed the principles and benefits of creating Energy Communities from a regulatory and practical side. An important element of the analysis is to indicate the managerial, coopetitive nature of the strategies implemented within the Energy Communities. Their members, while operating in a competitive environment, simultaneously cooperate to achieve common benefits. On the basis of the actual data of recipients and producers, the results of simulations of benefits in the economic dimension will be presented, proving the thesis of the legitimacy of creating coopetitive structures of Energy Communities.
The European Green Deal aims to make Europe the world’s first climate-neutral continent by 2050 by shifting to a clean circular economy, combating biodiversity loss and reducing pollution levels. In Poland, whose economy invariably remains one of the most dependent on coal consumption in Europe, institutional responses to the above EU objectives have taken the shape of energy cooperatives aimed at filling the gaps in the development of the civic dimension of energy on a local scale and the use of potential renewable energy sources in rural areas, including in relation to the agricultural sector. This article is a continuation of the authors’ previous research work, which has so far focused on the analysis of the development of profitability of Polish institutions that fit into the European idea of a “local energy community”, which includes energy cooperatives. In this research paper, they present the results of subsequent research work and analyses performed on the basis of it which, on the one hand, complement the previously developed optimization model with variables concerning actual energy storage and, on the other hand, analyze the profitability of the operation of energy cooperatives in the conditions of the “capacity market”. The latter was actually introduced in Poland at the beginning of 2021. The research took account of the characteristics of energy producers and consumers in rural areas of Poland, the legally defined rules for the operation of the capacity market and the institutional conditions for the operation of energy cooperatives that can use the potential of energy storage. A dedicated mathematical model in mixed integer programming technology was used, enriched with respect to previous research, making it possible to optimize the operation of energy cooperative with the use of actual energy storage (batteries). Conclusions from the research and simulation show that the installation of energy storage only partially minimizes the volume of energy drawn from the grid in periods when fees related to the capacity market are in force (which should be avoided due to higher costs for consumers). The analysis also indicates that a key challenge is the proper parameterization of energy storage.
The inevitability and successive implementation of the elements of the European Union (EU) energy policy and the freedom of achieving the goals left in this regard for the member states should translate into actions taking the specificity of local markets into account, in order to carry out liberalization processes in a harmonious manner. In 2016, the European Commission published a package of guidance documents "Clean Energy for All Europeans" in the perspective of 2030, also known as the Winter Package. The recommendations contained in some of the documents assume the continuation of integration of markets in the national and regional dimension, setting ambitious targets in the field of decarbonization, the increase of energy efficiency and the increase of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) share in the energy balance of EU countries. The short time to carry out a thorough reconstruction of the energy-generating sector forces to seek solutions that are in line with the European Community recommendations and, at the same time, do not constitute an excessive burden for the national economy and legal order. One of the activities is to use the potential of micro-networks of local communities striving for energy independence based on their own energy sources and to create regulations enabling the neighborly exchange of energy. This mechanism works in the form of pilot projects in many locations around the world (Sonnen Group; Power 54 Ledger). The paper presents the concept of functional and analytical assumptions for an exemplary structure of neighboring prosumers along with the presentation of simulation results based on real generation and consumption profiles and the presentation of investment profitability indicators for the proposed functional model.
Until now, electricity users are being connected to the LV networks by a physical electricity consumption point. In this point an electricity meter is assigned to each and every one user. A given user may use the flowing electricity only by the meter assigned to him at the consumer-specific point. This is a significant limitation in the non- restricted access to the power network. The Authors come with an idea to eliminate this restriction. The paper presents the concept of virtualization of a physical point of electric power consumption in a LV network. The proposed novel idea of using the power network will ensure the expected non-restricted access to any point of the power network for users. This seems particularly important nowadays and is dictated by the growing expectations of users’ mobility. The presented concept is dedicated especially to networks in the form of clusters (cooperatives) or energy clouds. Its application in LV networks will significantly simplify the users’ use of the power infrastructure, also in the aspect of financial settlements. This should also contribute to the rapid significant development of electro- mobility.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.