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E
nergy communities have been
around for some time now.
The rst was launched in the
1980s, when citizens in Denmark
joined forces to nance wind tur-
bines. Still, energy communities re-
mained a rare phenomenon. Later,
municipalities brought back and
started operating the distribution grid
to set up local energy communities.
Today, we see a wide range of en-
ergy community concepts – from
public-owned to privately held; from
island solutions to communities rely-
ing heavily on the grid – the most
popular ones arguably being market-
ing-driven, nationwide communities
selling the idea of a large-scale peer-
to-peer energy exchange based on a
shared energy tariff. And whereas
the rst communities were mostly
communities producing electricity
from wind or solar, many of today’s
communities offer a connection be-
tween producers and pure consumers
creating benets for both.
So far, regulation has not helped
much. However, with the recent
Clean Energy Package (CEP), the
EU gives energy communities and
citizens a clear EU legislation status.
The CEP grants: the right not to bear
disproportionately high burdens or
costs for the use of self-generated
energy; the right to access, directly
or through a third-party, the relevant
energy markets; the right to partici-
pate in public electricity trading and
the mutual exchange of renewable
energy. In short, energy communities
may produce, consume, store, share
and sell renewable energy with ease.
Although the CEP needs to be im-
plemented in all EU countries, we
already see the rst applications in
Austria, Spain, Italy, and Greece. In
Spain, for example, the local energy
community may extend self-con-
sumption to a group of people be-
yond single owners opening up new
possibilities.
On the technology and business
side, signicant improvements push
the energy community closer to true
peer-to-peer sharing while at the
same time enabling business cases
appealing to end-customers and pro-
viders alike.
Firstly, the growing number of
smart meters installed in private
homes provides crucial visibility be-
hind the meter. And with Germany
nally starting the residential rollout,
most of Europe will be covered dur-
ing the next years. Secondly, gate-
ways that connect distributed assets
like solar inverters, batteries, heat
pumps or wall boxes are becoming
cheaper and more capable every
year, making real-time control, in
theory, a plug-and-play task for the
end customer without putting the
business case in peril. In the end, a
good gateway can be as simple as an
Amazon Alexa device.
The third technology element,
however, remains a challenge. To
successfully run an energy commu-
nity, a central platform must control
decentralised energy assets, offer op-
timisation, visualisation and, ideally,
foster energy sharing. After all, al-
though denitions of what makes an
energy community vary widely, the
most basic and all-unifying function
seems to be “to share energy”.
In theory, all of the above is clear
and possible but the challenges arise
in real-life implementations. There-
fore, GreenCom Networks built up
an end-to-end energy community
showcase, based in Brunnthal, south
of Munich. The community is built
on several building blocks:
n A joint energy tariff: Electricity
consumers and prosumers share en-
ergy in the community – this means
there must be real-time matching of
production and consumption for all
members. To simplify things, all
members use the same energy tariff,
provided by GreenCom Networks.
n Integration of decentralised assets:
To help keep consumption and gen-
eration in balance, the community
integrates all kinds of different de-
centralised energy assets such as so-
lar PV systems, battery storage, elec-
tric cars, heat pumps or even
micro-CHP units. On the technical
side, this requires an extensive inter-
face driver library for all integrated
assets kept up to date and the collec-
tion and harmonising of vast
amounts of data in real-time.
n Optimisation on house and com-
munity level: To decrease costs and
emissions, the community energy
ows’ management aims to increase
self-consumption on the household
and community level. Here, machine-
learning-based optimisation, including
weather forecasts and market sig-
nals, helps smoothen energy ows in
the community. In real terms, this
means charging EVs sequentially
rather than all at once or balancing
house temperatures and heat pump
activity within a set frame to maxi-
mise the use of solar PV generated
electricity.
n Fostering customer engagement:
In GreenCom’s showcase communi-
ty, two were used to promote cus-
tomer engagement. First, everything
happening in the community is
shown live: energy ows in the
household and community can be
seen via a web or mobile app as well
as consumption, production, or re-
ports – whatever happens in the
community is instantly visible. Even
billing is calculated every minute
and fed into a precise monthly digi-
tal bill, no down-payment with cor-
rections at the end of the year. Sec-
ond, for each kilowatt-hour
produced and consumed in the com-
munity, members receive an attrac-
tive bonus. The producer gets a pre-
mium on the regular feed-in tariff
and the consumer receives a dis-
count on the regular electricity price
leading to a strong incentive for ac-
tion and participation.
Although GreenCom’s showcase
successfully proves the technical and
commercial viability of the energy
community concept, it also revealed
two challenges in establishing ener-
gy communities.
Firstly, people want to be a part of
the great transition, and sharing ener-
gy is tangible and attractive. Howev-
er, a lot of explaining is still needed
on the marketing side, and numerous
doubts must be scattered – after all,
energy communities as a concept re-
mains mostly unknown.
Secondly, although the Brunnthal
community’s IT infrastructure is
highly scalable, the hardware setup
in houses varies widely. Space in the
fuse-box may be limited, internet
connectivity in the cellar may or
may not be stable, and the local area
network may pose challenges for
stable connectivity. Here, extra effort
in harmonising the hardware works
wonders.
When considering the implemen-
tation of energy communities, it is
worth mentioning initiatives like
UP-STAIRS, a EU-funded Horizon
2020 project. Throughout Europe,
many energy communities already
exist, most of them initiated by indi-
viduals or groups of individuals who
strongly believe in the concept of
joint estate and sharing principles.
To reach a much broader audience
and build up signicantly more en-
ergy communities, UP-STAIRS
aims to boost energy communities
by helping citizens plan and estab-
lish such communities. UP-STAIRS
is establishing a one-stop-shop solu-
tion providing information, advice,
capacity building, energy auditing,
nancing, and implementation of
energy efciency and energy con-
servation solutions, as well as moni-
toring of impacts and benets.
With this approach, the UP-
STAIRS project will push for an ef-
fective and accelerated growth of
sustainable energy communities. The
necessary service model framework
will be made available through lo-
cal authorities to drive the uptake
of energy efciency and energy con-
servation measures in residential
communities.
So, is the foundation for mass
adoption of energy communities set?
Almost.
Now, the CEP regulations must be
converted into national law. There
is a chance that some country regu-
lations will undermine EU-efforts –
for example, the German EEG No-
velle shortcomings compared to EU
regulations. On the hardware side,
prices of gateways, smart meters
and decentralised assets are bound
to fall further, paving the way even
further. Regarding IT-connectivity,
control and optimisation, however,
it remains doubtful if regular energy
industry players can provide these
functionalities themselves. Here,
partnering will offer a feasible and
scalable solution.
Considering business cases and
challenges of establishing an end-to-
end community, the Brunnthal com-
munity provides valuable insights:
the energy community is working.
The chosen bonus scheme motivates
customers to produce and consume
energy simultaneously and increases
self-consumption rates. However, to-
day, the applied bonus scheme helps
stabilise the grid but is not nanced
by the grid operator.
Furthermore, the Brunnthal show-
case perfectly illustrates that while
communities are appealing, they still
require reasonable explanation and
promotion efforts. And although
connected and controlled decentral-
ised assets provide an excellent base
for optimised energy ows, the devil
may be in the detail for some houses’
setup.
Projects like UP-STAIRS will help
solve some of the challenges by in-
forming, consulting, and supporting
a framework and proven tools. And
most likely, at the 50th anniversary
of the rst European energy commu-
nity in Denmark, it will be one
among thousands.
Christian Fiesst is founder and CEO
of GreenCom Networks.
Although energy communities has been an industry buzzword for years, only recently have regulation, technology
and functioning use and business cases provided a solid foundation for mass adoption. Nevertheless, challenges still
remain. GreenCom Networks’ Christian Feisst explains.
Energy communities gather
momentum in Europe
THE ENERGY INDUSTRY TIMES - FEBRUARY 2021
13
Industry Perspective
App showing live energy
ows in a household of the
Brunnthal Energy Community.
Photo: GreenCom Networks
Feisst: The Brunnthal
showcase perfectly
illustrates that communities
are appealing but need
explanation and promotion