A novel universal equivalent applicable to community energy markets

Abstract

Summary With the popularization of distributed energy systems among end users, the number of prosumers is increasing, and more agents now have the ability to produce energy commodities for themselves to consume or sell. The community energy market (CEM), which comprises local inhabitants and energy‐related organizations, is shaped by the energy trade among different stakeholders within the community. In this case, a credible measure of value to judge the different types of energy is necessary to analyse the performance of the energy conversion system and determine the price of energy commodities. In this discussion, a typical multi‐energy system in a CEM is proposed as a targeted case, and physical products, energy, exergy, emergy, and currency serving as universal equivalents are compared and discussed in a case study. The results show that the superiority of low‐grade heat energy in the design of the energy system of prosumers and in terms of market value is clear. The feasibility of hot/chilled water, which is selected as a universal equivalent for multi‐energy system design and energy merchandise trade in the CEM, is emphasized. This research discusses the feasibility of low‐grade heat energy as a universal equivalent in a CEM based on house heating and cooling, which is a preliminary exploration for a proper universal equivalent in CEMs.

Les collectifs citoyens producteurs d’énergies renouvelables, acteurs économiques de la transition

“…Les travaux qui reconnaissent les spécificités des projets citoyens (en termes de statut, gouvernance, rapport au capital ou fixation des prix) se concentrent sur les hybridations entre le modèle marchand-industriel et des initiatives de l'ESS. Ils analysent les freins à leur croissance et les barrières à l'entrée sur le marché de l'énergie (Huybrechts et Mertens, 2014), ainsi que les tensions liées à l'hybridation entre logiques citoyennes et industrielles (Christen, 2016 ;Huang, 2019), soulignant la difficulté à sortir du modèle industriel.…”