Energy communities' impact on grids : Energy community embedment increasing grid flexibility and flourishing electricity markets

Energy communities have an agenda beyond simply generating electricity or heat from renewable sources. It encompasses environmental, technological and economic aspects of a low-carbon economy by addressing social equity issues. The deployment of energy communities supports the paradigm that society's growth must also occur locally by promoting investment in distributed energy resources and democratising the energy industry. Climate change and the current energy crisis, along with a hike in electricity prices, have aroused community interest in using local renewable energy sources and creating energy communities. European Union policymakers have adopted legislation to support energy communities in taking responsibility for the energy transition. Still, the challenges and opportunities of deploying such communities are numerous and manifold, from legislation, organisation, socio-economic, market structure, and system-technical to citizen engagement. Therefore, we must ensure that the fair transition to a low-carbon economy happens in a way that avoids displacing energy communities. Despite the rapid development of technologies that energy communities are experiencing today, technical issues still exist in various forms, mainly known as grid-related challenges. The distributed energy resources that they promote change the electricity landscape. Since the beginning of this century, even if the electricity sector has experienced profound changes driven by extraordinary technical development (e.g., digitalisation and communications), market rules following new regulatory proposals and policy decisions have overwhelmed the technical ones. For this reason, the traditional structure of power grids needs to be readapted. The emergence of distributed energy resources and the introduction of energy communities to promote integration exacerbate the need to adapt the power grid architecture. Consolidating an appropriate architecture considering the entire power grid - i.e., from the big power plants through the transmission grid, the distribution grid with the distributed energy resources to the consumers and prosumers - is imperative to propel the energy transition realistically. Distribution and Transmission System Operators could experience many technical challenges in guaranteeing the security and quality of supply after the large-scale implementation of energy communities, which extensively promotes the integration of distributed resources. To overcome this, research and innovation are necessary to introduce fully integrated energy communities, enabling the desired flexibility and resilience. The latter are crucial for grid operators and society facing the energy crisis and climate change. The current economic processing in the power industry is a mixture of market activities and contracts that do not support the flourishing of viable, fully integrated energy communities. The existing market structure dates back to when electricity was mainly generated in large power plants, fed into the transmission grid, and distributed to customers. The players in the electricity market are limited to large electricity producers, consumers, and energy suppliers, which are few. Fully integrated energy communities will be able to thrive in a market structure that allows all players to participate, regardless of their size. Three overarching themes are essential for initiating and sustaining an energy community initiative: trust, motivation, and continuity, which impact their governance or self-governance. Each country offers a wide choice of different legal forms of organisations for a newly created entity, which leads to a wildly grown landscape. These energy communities are generally limited to a certain redistribution of cash flow. Their upgrade to fully integrated EnCs, which supports the demand response process at distribution and transmission levels, will require solid organisation forms and business cases. The top-down approach to introducing energy communities in the energy landscape would be driven by appropriate legislation and measures to overcome grid-related challenges. However, creating and strengthening citizens' awareness is essential for developing a low-carbon social norm. This will take time, which should be considered in all implementation processes. The new role of energy communities represents both an opportunity and a challenge for DSOs and, consequently, for TSOs. They can unlock active consumers' flexibility potential and more effectively integrate distributed renewable resources and new technologies, such as rooftop photovoltaic facilities, electric vehicles or batteries, etc. In contrast, energy communities must fulfil all related duties and responsibilities when acting as suppliers, active customers or any other existing market role. They must act on equal terms with other market players

Rural laboratories and experiment at the fringes: A case study of a smart grid on Bruny Island, Australia

This paper examines the possibilities for significant energy innovation in rural locations in developed countries. It thereby questions the dominant framing of energy experiments and ‘living labs’ as urban. We discuss findings from empirical research with a rural community on Bruny Island, Australia, where a 3-year research project (2016–19) – CONSORT – funded by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), is underway with approximately 35 householders trialing a new residential battery storage and photovoltaic energy system. Bruny Island has a problem of peak demand for electricity during tourist periods, and a back-up diesel generator is currently used to supply electricity during peaks. An alternative solution is being trialled through CONSORT: household-level battery storage, which can be drawn upon by the utility to supply the grid as required. In this paper we explore two energy geography issues: first, how global and national energy challenges are manifesting on Bruny Island through the CONSORT project, and, second, the ways in which the particular sociotechnical context of Bruny Island has influenced the CONSORT project, creating tensions as well as opening up opportunities for energy innovation.Funding for the research and development of this paper was provided by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) , through the CONSORT project (2016–19). The research was also informed by an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship grant held by Lovell (ARC grant no. FT140100646 ). The authors would like to thank the broader CONSORT team for their input via conversations at project meetings and through personal email communications. Thank you also to the Bruny Island residents for their valuable time and insights. One way in which global energy concerns and issues have translated into policy action in Australia is through the establishment of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) in 2012 [64] . ARENA can be seen as an expression and outcome of growing Australian government concern about, and interest in, innovative energy solutions. The core objectives of ARENA are “to improve the competitiveness of renewable energy technologies”; and “increase the supply of renewable energy in Australia” [65] . ARENA has federal government funding of AUS$250 million per year for ten years, totaling approximately AUS$2 billion until 2022, to support projects that help meet these objectives [65] . The Bruny Island CONSORT project is one of sixty renewable energy technology projects funded by ARENA during 2016–2017 [66] . Significantly for our analysis here, learning and knowledge sharing is embedded into the ARENA operations, whereby its “knowledge sharing role is set by law and all ARENA-funded activities are expected to include a knowledge sharing component. The knowledge is used to develop renewable energy technologies that are best suited to Australia ’ s diverse geography as well as the energy needs of our households and businesses” (ARENA website, undated; emphasis added). We note here the objective of ARENA to develop renewable energy that is widely applicable, to the ‘diverse geography’ of Australia, with ARENA funding a number of other projects like CONSORT that similarly attempt to provide solutions to manage rural, decentralized electricity [67,68] .Peer-reviewe