13.01.2024
NRG2peers project successfully concluded
Renewable energy allows citizens and communities to play an active role in the energy system. Energy communities are an important instrument for achieving the EU’s objectives of ensuring a fair energy transition, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing the use of renewable energy sources. In November 2023, after 39 months, we have concluded the Horizon 2020 project NRG2peers. The project focused on supporting the uptake of a next generation of European peer-to-peer energy communities, i.e. enhanced peer-to-peer electricity exchange or trading. The project involved 15 organisations from five European countries (Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain) and was led by the Dutch organisation HUYGEN INGENIEURS & ADVISEURS B.V.
The project also involved nine pilot communities from four European countries, which, as well as being embedded in different national regulatory frameworks, were also at different stages of operation – some were still in the planning phase, while others, for example, have had several years of experience with the smart grid. One such example is Schoonschip, the “most sustainable floating neighbourhood in Europe”, located in Amsterdam. They are also situated in diverse socio-economic contexts – some include public housing units, while one has no households at all. For the sole purpose of ethnographic research, i.e. qualitative research on lifestyles, habits and practices related to energy production and use, the NRG2peers project also includes the Slovenian energy community of Luče, which was created as a demonstration pilot in the Compile project (Horizon 2020).
One of the project activities led by IRI UL in the NRG2peers project was qualitative ethnographic research in pilots, involving both community members and representatives of organisations that play an important role in the development, management and operation of community energy projects (policy makers, housing managers, municipalities, electricity distributors and suppliers, equipment suppliers, etc.). IRI UL established the methodology and led the NRG2peers project’s people-centred development approach.
Based on the findings of the project’s comprehensive research, which included an analysis of the legal and regulatory framework in the participating countries, the development of recommendations for action and an analysis of the opportunities for the development of a flexibility market and new generations of energy trading or flexibility communities, it is clear that there is both an interest and a need to address the challenges of congestion on the distribution grid and the integration of renewable sources of electricity. At the same time, there are of course many uncertainties in this area: the legal framework is complex and evolving, the market for flexibility services is not yet mature at the level of DSOs, in some countries there are no clear business models for the successful creation of more advanced forms of energy communities, and in many countries the supporting environment is not yet sufficiently consolidated and diversified. Experience from European energy communities shows that such projects are not yet common, and that political will, legislative flexibility in the form of a regulatory sandbox that allows and supports experimental projects, as well as the willingness of enterprises to try out new business models, are important for their success.
The NRG2peers project has produced, among other things, recommendations for policy makers and recommendations for the development of energy communities. All materials are available on the NRG2peers project website. In addition, the partners have developed a set of tools to support the creation and upscaling of energy communities, including peer-to-peer communities, namely:
- the Readiness Level Indicator Tool to assess the readiness to trade in energy communities
- the NRG2peers Advisory App
- and an open data solution providing access to energy community data.