Performance Metrics For Renewable Energy Communities

Abstract

Energy communities have been defined in recent European directives and are being integrated into the Italian regulatory framework. They present themselves as an innovative entity in the national and international energy landscape capable of contributing to the energy transition process through locally produced energy, its self-consumption and sharing with energy community users. Local energy communities are considered an empowerment tool for end users who take charge of the distributed production and management of the energy asset, but in order for the energy asset to be put to its best, most efficient and effective use, it is necessary to develop key performance indices that are also easily understood by community members, whether they are elderly, young people, private companies, public entities, etc., and to which it is immediate to react with proactive behaviour in order to maximize their economic benefits, which, of course, translate locally into environmental and social benefits. In this context, the manuscript presents some performance indices that can be used to achieve the above goals. An energy community case study is discussed to show the purpose and usefulness of the proposed metrics.