Review and proposition of energy communities: The case study of Vitoria-Gasteiz

Abstract

Abstract In recent years, the European Union has promoted the concept of collective self-consumption and the so-called energy communities, with the aim of involving citizens in energy management and offering measures to improve energy efficiency. Spain, following the EU directives, promotes a shared use of energy, especially in urban environments. Therefore, and in accordance with this objective, this work presents the case study of incorporating energy communities including public residential buildings in Vitoria-Gasteiz (north of Spain) belonging to the public institution of the Basque Government. The aim of the study is to identify the possibilities of creating energy communities based on PV energy systems, and to analyze their feasibility considering the self-production and consumption. In addition, the possibility of including a private building rooftop of the Mercedes-Benz factory is also studied in order to produce a greater amount of energy and to be able to supply the completely electric demand of the public residential buildings. In the latter case, an economic analysis is carried out, considering the initial investment of a nearly 5 MWp photovoltaic installation, with a 2 years payback, and an environmental analysis, which shows that this photovoltaic installation would mean a saving of almost 1,600 tons of CO2 per year.