The decentralisation of energy generation can provide multiple benefits. From passive consumers to active participants in the local energy system, this transition allows individuals and businesses to play a role in the energy system.
The EU-funded eCREW project will coordinate the implementation of an innovative scheme of household cooperation in energy management. Specifically, it will develop community renewable energy webs (CREWs) allowing households to optimise energy efficiency and reduce expenditures. It will test the community webs on households, establishing approximately 200 webs with 15 000 participants. The system will be set up in such a way as to ensure that monetary benefits from the community renewable energy webs are distributed among the prosumers, traditional consumers and administrative entities.
The innovative schemes that eCREW will coordinate and support are Community Renewable Energy Webs (CREWs), in which households jointly exploit household-level electricity generation and battery storage capacities and optimise energy efficiency and expenditures. The key purpose of CREWs is to support the transition of passive consumers to active participants in the local energy system through informed decisions and collective actions.
In eCREW, three energy companies from Germany, Spain and Turkey (Lighthouse Communities) will roll-out the eCREW approach to their clients. A strong and divers Follower Community made up of entities from Germany, Austria, Spain, Italy, Turkey and Greece will test the applicability of eCREW approach and will conduct the necessary studies. Together, 240,000 households will be enabled to join a CREW during the project runtime, establishing about 200 CREWs with 15,000 participants, saving at least 13 GWh/year.
Cooperation within a CREW is facilitated through the provision of an award-winning smart phone app (PEAKapp), exploiting smart meter data to stimulate an increase in energy efficiency and the uptake of local renewable electricity generation.
The administration of the CREWs, including the billing of consumption and generation, is covered by electricity retailing companies which are thereby transformed into holistic service providers called Community Administering Entities (CAEs). In this approach, administrative burdens are relieved from the households, who are then free to focus their efforts on making the most out of their participation in a CREW.
Monetary benefits from the eCREW approach are distributed amongst prosumers, traditional consumers, and the CAE through an innovative split-incentives contract applied in the project. The financial arrangement is tailored to ensure that the eCREW approach is financially viable and attractive for all participants and allows a non-discriminatory participation of all households.
Keywords: Energy behaviour, energy transition, renewable energy communities, local energy generation
