From self-consumption to energy markets: Pathways to unlock energy community flexibility potentials in the Austrian framework

Following the adoption of EU directives by the European Parliament and the Council, energy communities gained increased attention in the last years due to their socially-centric governance in shaping members’ welfare in local energy systems. Although being already (economically) attractive for citizens, there are still barriers on the regulatory side locking the development of advanced business models and thus additional revenue streams for community’s members. Coordinating different energy communities beyond their individual dimensions could pave the way towards opportunities for members, stakeholder, and financing institutions. Therefore, in this paper different use cases regarding the exploitation of energy communities’ flexibility potentials are developed, including their integration in electricity markets. A top-down approach has been used to screen all the relevant options from literature and adapt them into the Austrian regulatory framework. Therefore, use cases have been framed taking into account the most promising options for internal flexibility use and/or within consolidated energy markets. In addition, different control strategies are included. The results are discussed from a holistic perspective, taking into account the interests of all stakeholders involved. The proposed use cases are further discussed, with their own strengths and weaknesses, and compared in terms of immediate applicability and potential. As a result, it is identified how EC members could already operate their flexible units in response to dynamic grid tariffs or energy prices, with no additional aggregator nor additional technical requirements. However, a community-centric control strategy would unlock potential towards more coordinated flexibility provision. The latter includes not only a better self-consumption optimization (EC-oriented), but also a better planning for day-ahead, intraday, and balancing markets (market oriented) and more transparent information exchange with energy suppliers (market oriented). However, this would require further investments and rollout of IoT and communication enabling technologies. The presence of multiple or a single supplier for EC members is also found to be an important factor.