Renewable energy communities should have flexible tariffs.
This was stated by a research team from the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) which demonstrated that, to make energy communities more effective not only for the members that constitute them but also for the central network, they should receive special tariffs.
Renewable energy communities (CER) are groups of citizens who come together to self-produce and self-consume energy from renewable sources. Since last April, in our country it has been possible to request incentives financed by the PNRR, which provide a non-repayable contribution of up to 40% of the eligible costs, aimed at communities whose plants are built in municipalities with fewer than 5,000 inhabitants, and an incentive tariff for 20 years on renewable energy produced and shared throughout the national territory.
According to a recent study published in the scientific journal Energy Policyin order to guarantee greater protection for CER members and therefore a widespread diffusion of the same, with consequent greater environmental benefits, they should be supported by adjustments to network tariffs. In fact, CERs, by their nature, are decentralization tools, which help increase local capacity and reduce pressure on the network. This flexibility can contribute to the improvement of the energy system.
The research addresses two questions in the case study. First, why should energy sharing communities receive support? Second, how can policymakers provide support that is aligned with network costs? This compromise highlights the need for policies that provide support by ensuring that energy sharing communities contribute to the overall energy transition.
Energy sharing establishes a system in which locally generated electricity is allocated and billed among participants. This allows them to pay a reduced price for the electricity they consume locally, rather than the standard retail price. This incentivizes self-consumption and encourages the integration of local renewable generation units. Through this structure, energy sharing communities have the potential to facilitate grid management. By responding to local production and price signals, participants can engage in demand response behaviors, such as peak shaving (reducing the maximum level of consumption) and peak shifting (shifting peak consumption to non-peak periods ), which can relieve pressure on the network during peak periods.
For example, if a condominium has installed a photovoltaic system on the roof, the energy produced is divided between the apartments based on each one’s consumption. Residents pay for local electricity at a lower rate than the main grid. During the hours of greatest solar production, residents use household appliances such as washing machines or air conditioners, shifting consumption towards periods of high generation and reducing the load on the public grid.
This type of management is not an additional burden on the network; Indeed, energy communities provide a valuable contribution to the energy system. The research highlights that implementing grid rate adjustments for energy communities would necessarily require a higher self-consumption rate, as well as shiftable loads.
The need to reduce peak loads will become an increasingly pressing issue as electricity demand increases and will place further pressure on system operators, requiring significant investments in grid infrastructure.
