The energy transition roadmap set by the EU with the “European Green Deal” is gradually involving the power market. From a passive generation-load balance, the original scope of the traditional spot electricity markets is currently evolving towards a flexibility paradigm: active ancillary services, able to provide a wide range of flexibility services (i.e., demand-response, peak shaving, load shifting, balance & frequency, congestion management, etc.) are a crucial step to reach the afore-mentioned climatic goals. In this fast-paced energy context, energy communities and smart districts are increasingly emerging as an important opportunity to shift towards a renewable-based grid-forming energy production system: these new entities can be established as legal entities, empowering citizens, small businesses and local authorities to produce, manage and consume their energy, and also orchestrate joint investments in energy goods and for participation in the energy markets to cover ancillary services.
In this context, the orchestration of such complex systems becomes more and more important, involving an increased number of stakeholders with different goals and targets. Citizens that want to minimize their energy costs and contribute to the reduction of CO2 emissions, private companies that find an opportunity to increase their market share, energy services providers that want to increase their portfolio of services, public bodies particularly interested in incentivizing the development of participated solutions reducing energy poverty and carbon footprint, DSOs and TSOs interested in new flexibility markets and balancing services to maintain the grid stable, energy producers interested in using the production technologies more efficiently, HW/SW developers interested in the deployment of their solutions and finally different typologies of aggregators interested in facilitating access to services for private entities and services provision to market operators.
Energy management solutions will therefore play a pivotal role in the increasing complexity of energy communities and smart districts where configurations, types of connections, market access, dimensions, capacity differ from country to country depending on different regulatory frameworks, markets development and business models.
The primary objective of the Energy Management for Energy Communities Focus Group will be the publication of a White Paper on different management approaches and solutions available in the EU markets to provide an overview of best technologies and practices that can address the current and future complexity of these systems. To reach the goal, a specific roadmap will be agreed upon by the members of the group including an overview of the regulatory framework, a focus on EC technical configurations, a discussion on management solutions, techniques and approaches.