A Novel Peer-To-Peer Energy Sharing Business Model for the Portuguese Energy Market

Abstract

The co-evolution of techno-economic, societal, environmental and political-institutional systems towards sustainable energy transitions is largely influencing the disruptive reconfiguration of the energy sector across the globe. At the heart of this disruption is the peer-to-peer energy sharing concept. Nonetheless, peer-to-peer energy sharing business models are yet very little put into practice due to the rigid energy market structures and lagging regulatory frameworks across the globe. In view of this, this paper presents a novel peer-to-peer energy sharing business model developed specifically for the context of the Portuguese energy market, which was successfully trialed in three pilot projects in Portugal under real market conditions. All things considered, the novelty of this paper lies on an innovative approach for the collaborative use of the surplus electricity generation from photovoltaic systems between end-users under the same low voltage/medium voltage transformer substation, which resulted in direct financial benefits to them. While absent deregulation obstructs the implementation of effective peer-to-peer energy sharing markets in Portugal, such demonstration projects are essential to challenge restrictive regulatory frameworks that do not keep pace with techno-economic and societal innovations, thus helping to build the emerging consumer-centric energy regime and disrupt the old one.

Framework to Facilitate Electricity and Flexibility Trading within, to, and from Local Markets

“…162/2019. It encompassed three different low-voltage renewable energy communities, where surplus solar energy from public buildings was equitably shared among participating households [39].…”

“…Specifically, the DGEG is responsible for the compliance of most rights and duties defined in the Decree-Law; the approval of all initiatives on a case-by-case basis until December 2020; as well as the assessment of obstacles and opportunities for the publication of a report that will further promote and facilitate the development of RECs [38]. On the other hand, the ERSE is responsible for the definition of conditions and the feasibility assessment of local grid tariffs (i.e., the exemption/reduction of network access tariffs for collective self-consumption schemes and RECs, reflecting the reduced reliance on the distribution and transmission networks, as already studied in Klein et al [39]) [38]. Finally, the government official for the energy sector is responsible for the feasibility assessment of a dedicated support scheme related to the total or partial exemption of costs related to energy policy, sustainability, and economic interest (CIEG), in case these costs do not bring disproportionate burden for the long-term financial sustainability of the national energy grid [38].…”

“…As an illustration, the Community S project represented the first demonstration project to have ever trialed the concept of peer-to-peer energy sharing under real market conditions and real-life settings in Portugal [39,41,42]. The project ran between 2016 and 2018, thus predating the introduction of Decree-Law No.…”

Comparing Behavioral Theories to Predict Consumer Interest to Participate in Energy Sharing

“…One emerging strategy is energy sharing. Energy sharing provides a platform for electricity exchange between gridconnected participants in a specific region, such as a neighborhood [2]. However, energy sharing is limited to the community participants that subscribe to the service.…”

Sharing Economy in der Elektrizitätswirtschaft: Treiber und Hemmnisse

“…Zusätzlich werden die drei Fallbeispiele auf potenzielle Umweltwirkungen überprüft, bevor Implikationen im Hinblick auf eine Unterstützung der Transformation des Elektrizitätssystems abgeleitet werden. (Kloppenburg und Boekelo 2019;Pires Klein et al 2020). Aufgrund der auslaufenden Förderung erneuerbarer Energien und der geringen Vergütung von Kraft-Wärme-Kopplungsanlagen werden alternative Geschäftsmodelle wie Sharing für viele Akteure attraktiv (Nicklaß et al 2017).…”