Energy communities

Could citizen energy communities potentially span multiple countries?

It will depend on the actual regulatory frameworks of the individual member states. The directive states that member states may provide for cross-border participation in energy communities.

What differences do you make between the internal topologies in energy communities (e.g. central/de-central)?

We offer different variants and customization to the exact use case, e.g. by integrating decentral peer-to-peer trading or an automated optimization for the whole community.

Which EU directives govern energy communities?

Energy Market Directive (EMD 2019/944/EU) and Renewable Energy Directive (RED 2018/2001/EU).

Which law will govern energy communities in Germany?

There are currently no explicit plans of the German government, therefore specific implementation is unclear. However we expect it to be in the EnWG as well as the EEG.

What type of energy community do you expect to become dominant ?

Of course a community that is supported by XENON technology ;) Jokes aside we are convinced that a consumer centric approach will be crucial. If benefits are not obvious to end users we will not see widespread adoption.

What is meant exactly by "manufacturer independent"?

We integrate various protocols from different manufacturers and then provide an abstraction layer. We are able to monitor and control devices from different manufacturers in one project with one edge device (gridBox) and optimize this system.

Can XENON read live energy data from the individual smart meters installed in the community?

Yes! That is a core feature.

Do consumers benefit from current wholesale prices or do fixed prices per kWh apply?

This depends on the community but given that the EU aims for more active participation and in light of the recent rise in time of use tariffs we expect to see many communities with variable prices.

Is it possible to configure custom sharing rules within a community with XENON?

Yes.

Will utilities also play a role in this system?

Yes, most probably.

Are there already energy communities?

There is a range of energy community projects. See for example our SmartQuart project or CER Magliano Alpi in Italy.

Is it necessary to connect or integrate smart meters provided by regulators?

Whether a connection to the smart meter is beneficial depends on the use case. If only monitoring or visualization is required for the energy community, the data could be collected from a smart meter backend. However, if you want to do real-time optimization, integration to a smart meter or the installation of an additional meter is often beneficial.

When do you expect energy communities to be common practice in Europe?

Examples show that there already are projects in place and we expect a fast uptake.

Can the gridBox disaggregate live meter data into appliance based consumption?

We monitor, control and visualize energy flows from devices like EV charging stations, heatpumps and storage or PV systems. We also take into account the household consumption for optimization. Though we do not yet disaggregate towards white goods within the household.