Participative Renewable Energy Community—How Blockchain-Based Governance Enables a German Interpretation of RED II

Abstract

Distributed solar photovoltaic generation is less expensive than the retail price of electricity from the grid in most parts of Europe. Growing shares of variable generation place a focus on Renewable Energy Communities (REC) to increase the economic benefits of local energy systems. Civil society could play an influential and necessary role in the development of such communities, the expansion of renewable energy capacity and the provision of flexibility. However, current RECs models still confine tenants to their role as non-participating consumers. This article provides a concept to enable participative RECs within the German regulatory framework through collective self-consumption by including consumers for a fair allocation of renewable electricity using the blockchain technology.

Will Oil Price Volatility Cause Market Panic?

“…Prior studies were concerned more with the relationship between oil price volatility and the stock market. Most of these studies found that the stock market is highly related to oil price volatility [4,[15][16][17][18][19][20][21]41]. However, only few studies address the oil price volatility and VIX index, and the uncertainty of the relationship between them.…”

“…We conclude that the positive oil price shock has a greater effect on the VIX index than the negative oil price shock. Although oil prices may cause investors' panic, it is worth mentioning that frontier technologies such as blockchain technology may bring new changes to the crude oil market [41][42][43][44][45]. When studying the impact of international crude oil prices on the market, we may need to examine the moderator role of frontier technologies.…”

“…Promoting the marketization of energy pricing or trading may also be conducive to reducing the adverse impact of oil price volatility. For example, some scholars, such as Chantrel, Surmann, Erge and Thomsen [41], Yapa, de Alwis, Liyanage and Ekanayake [42], Kirli, Couraud, Robu, Salgado-Bravo, Norbu, Andoni, Antonopoulos, Negrete-Pincetic, Flynn and Kiprakis [43], and Górski [44] proposed blockchain technology for renewable energy trading. (3) From the oil-specific demand perspective, the derivatives market based on oil and other bulk commodities is developing rapidly.…”

“…In addition, promoting the marketization of energy pricing or trading is also conducive to reducing the adverse impact of oil price volatility. For example, some scholars, such as Chantrel et al [41], Yapa et al [42], Kirli et al [43], and Górski [44], proposed blockchain technology for renewable energy trading. It is thought that blockchain technology can provide a secure and immutable ledger of value transfers in a network, which will facilitate the replacement of crude oil by renewable energy.…”

A Review of Peer-to-Peer Energy Trading with Standard Terminology Proposal and a Techno-Economic Characterisation Matrix

“…That is, while applications in localized parts may exist, the scalability and viability of system-wide applications are subject to further investigations. Existing regulations may also hinder the adoption of DLT, which needs to be revised [106]. Concretely, it is to be investigated if a distributed ledger in energy trading applications would be superior to a conventional centralized ledger in terms of transaction efficiency, transparency, and security.…”