Renewable Energy Communities: The Challenge for New Policy and Regulatory Frameworks Design

D’Alpaos, Chiara; Andreolli, Francesca

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-48279-4_47

Cited by 10 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…A variety of studies deal with regulations [25] and corresponding business model opportunities of ECs [26], especially in terms of detailed regulatory framework design in different countries [27]. In addition to the comprehensive regulatory consideration (see also in [28]) further aspects, such as environmental [29] and socio-economic [30] objectives, are becoming increasingly important. These and further studies (i.e., exploring the transition potentials of ECs in [31], the renewable energy-based strategies for ECs in [32], or low-carbon pathways for energy systems in [33]) highlight the proposed holistic approach for the implementation of ECs.…”

Section: State-of-the-artmentioning

confidence: 99%

Citizen Participation in Low-Carbon Energy Systems: Energy Communities and Its Impact on the Electricity Demand on Neighborhood and National Level

Zwickl-Bernhard

Auer

2021

Energies

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In this work, the main research question is how a high penetration of energy communities (ECs) affects the national electricity demand in the residential sector. Thus, the existing building stock of three European regions/countries, namely, the Iberian Peninsula, Norway, and Austria, is analyzed and represented by four different model energy communities based on characteristic settlement patterns. A tailor-made, open-source model optimizes the utilization of the local energy technology portfolio, especially small-scale batteries and photovoltaic systems within the ECs. Finally, the results on the national level are achieved by upscaling from the neighborhood level. The findings of different 2030 scenarios (building upon narrative storylines), which consider various socio-economic and techno-economic determinants of possible future energy system development, identify a variety of modification potentials of the electricity demand as a result of EC penetration. The insights achieved in this work highlight the important contributions of ECs to low-carbon energy systems. Future work may focus on the provision of future local energy services, such as increasing cooling demand and/or high shares of electric vehicles, further enhancement of the upscaling to the national level (i.e., considering the distribution network capacities), and further diversification of EC composition beyond the residential sector.

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Section: State-of-the-artmentioning

confidence: 99%

Citizen Participation in Low-Carbon Energy Systems: Energy Communities and Its Impact on the Electricity Demand on Neighborhood and National Level

Zwickl-Bernhard

Auer

2021

Energies

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“…Similarly, [22] carries out a cross-country comparison between the existing regulatory frameworks of nine European countries, in order to point out the major opportunities and challenges for renewable energy prosumers. Furthermore, [23] addresses the challenges of new policy and regulatory framework design, specifically for renewable energy communities under the peer-to-peer trading framework. While the RED undoubtedly provides valuable opportunities for sustainable energy community development, such as empowering vulnerable consumers [24], novel barriers also arise.…”

Section: Energy Communities With Respect To the Legal Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Economic Viability of Renewable Energy Communities under the Framework of the Renewable Energy Directive Transposed to Austrian Law

Fina

Auer

2020

Energies

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This study is concerned with the national transposition of the European Renewable Energy Directive into Austrian law. The objective is to estimate the economic viability for residential customers when participating in a renewable energy community (REC), focused on PV electricity sharing. The developed simulation model considers the omission of certain electricity levies as well as the obligatory proximity constraint being linked to grid levels, thus introducing a stepwise reduction of per-unit grid charges as an incentive to keep the inner-community electricity transfer as local as possible. Results show that cost savings in residential RECs cover a broad range from 9 EUR/yr to 172 EUR/yr. The lowest savings are gained by customers without in-house PV systems, while owners of a private PV system make the most profits due to the possibility of selling as well as buying electricity within the borders of the REC. Generally, cost savings increase when the source is closer to the sink, as well as when more renewable electricity is available for inner-community electricity transfer. The presence of a commercial customer impacts savings for households insignificantly, but increases local self-consumption approximately by 10%. Despite the margin for residential participants to break even being narrow, energy community operators will have to raise a certain participation fee. Such participation fee would need to be as low as 2.5 EUR/month for customers without in-house PV systems in a purely residential REC, while other customers could still achieve a break-even when paying 5 EUR/month to 6.7 EUR/month in addition. Those results should alert policy makers to find additional support mechanisms to enhance customers’ motivations to participate if RECs are meant as a concept that should be adopted on a large scale.

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“…Energy communities have appeared as substantial contributors to this discussion, as they facilitate the integration of DGs, particularly inside local energy systems. Many researchers are involved in and keen to work on and promote topics such as REC-like concepts [23,24], distributed energy technologies and their integration [25,26], design and modeling [27,28], energy sharing [29,30], economic and feasibility analyses [31,32], policies and policymakers [33,34], challenges [34,35], comparison between countries [36,37], business models [38,39], community and social acceptance [28], prosumer and consumer roles [40,41], self-consumption [42], and many others. All these topics are discussed individually in different articles.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Review of Renewable Energy Communities: Concepts, Scope, Progress, Challenges, and Recommendations

Ahmed,

Ali,

D’Angola

2024

Sustainability

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In recent times, there has been a significant shift from centralized energy systems to decentralized ones. These systems aim to satisfy local energy needs using renewable resources within the community. This approach leads to decreased complexity and costs, improved efficiency, and enhanced local resilience and supports energy independence, thereby advancing the transition toward zero carbon emissions. Community energy plays a pivotal role globally, particularly in European countries, driven by citizen engagement in generating power from renewable sources. The European Union, known for its focus on social innovation and citizen participation, recognizes the essential role of energy communities in its latest energy strategy. The concept for creating local energy communities or community-based energy projects has gained worldwide attention, demonstrating the economic, environmental, and efficiency benefits for using renewable energy sources. However, there is a noticeable gap in research covering all the updated aspects of renewable energy communities. This article provides an in-depth review of energy communities, especially renewable energy communities, exploring their concepts, scope, benefits, and key activities. It also sheds light on their progress by presenting results and analyses. Some countries have shown significant advancement, others are in the initial stages, and a few have partially adopted REC implementation according to the Renewable Energy Directive II. Additionally, it discusses the main challenges and potential recommendations to enhance the growth of renewable energy communities. This work is a valuable resource, emphasizing the importance of citizen involvement and offering insights into various aspects of community energy for sustainable energy transition. It also provides practical insights and valuable information for policymakers, researchers, industry professionals, and community members who are keen on promoting sustainable, community-driven energy systems.

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Renewable Energy Communities: The Challenge for New Policy and Regulatory Frameworks Design

Cited by 10 publications

References 29 publications

Citizen Participation in Low-Carbon Energy Systems: Energy Communities and Its Impact on the Electricity Demand on Neighborhood and National Level

Citizen Participation in Low-Carbon Energy Systems: Energy Communities and Its Impact on the Electricity Demand on Neighborhood and National Level

Economic Viability of Renewable Energy Communities under the Framework of the Renewable Energy Directive Transposed to Austrian Law

A Review of Renewable Energy Communities: Concepts, Scope, Progress, Challenges, and Recommendations

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