Development of an energy benchmarking model for municipalities to estimate the potential for establishing a renewable energy community

Abstract

In order to meet the renewable energy targets for Europe, decentralized renewable electricity generation will play a crucial role. For Austria, an important path towards increasing electricity from renewable sources and towards decentralization has been cleared in the Erneuerbaren-Ausbau-Gesetz (Renewable Energy Expansion Act) by introducing Energy Communities. In this work a detailed overview of energy communities is being provided. Based on the legal framework, energy communities are analysed from different perspectives. Building on this theoretical foundation, a model is introduced that supports local authorities in Lower Austria in estimating a municipality’s potential for establishing a renewable energy community using PV modules on the roof of typical community buildings. In a first step, the generation potential of the different buildings can be estimated. Here, parameters like roof type, building orientation, roof area, tilt angle of the roof are incorporated. In a second step, the own electricity consumption of the buildings is estimated based on the floor size and the type of the buildings. The surplus of PV generation and own demand can be used as basis for establishing a renewable energy community. In addition to the surplus calculation, the consumption of the surplus by different consumer groups and their respective consumption patterns are investigated. Annual data are not meaningful in this context as PV generation and electricity demand show different seasonal patterns. Therefore, monthly data are analysed during the different steps of the model. The model is set up for an easy usability by local authorities. The model calculation is implemented using a common spread sheet software. With the help of this work and the developed model, local authorities should be able to play an active role in increasing the renewable electricity share and support the decentralization of the energy system.