Towards a new generation of EU peer-to-peer Energy Communities facilitated by a gamified platform and empowered by user-centred energy trading mechanisms and business models.

Project Information

NRG2peers

Grant agreement ID: 890345

DOI

10.3030/890345

Project closed

EC signature date 13 May 2020

Start date 1 September 2020

End date 30 November 2023

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Secure, clean and efficient energy

Total cost

€ 1 998 436,25

EU contribution

€ 1 998 435,25

Coordinated by

HUYGEN INGENIEURS & ADVISEURS B.V
Netherlands

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - NRG2peers (Towards a new generation of EU peer-to-peer Energy Communities facilitated by a gamified platform and empowered by user-centred energy trading mechanisms and business models.)

Reporting period: 2022-03-01 to 2023-11-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The problem being addressed by NRG2peers is the need for the co-creation, strengthening, and widespread implementation of the new generation of peer-to-peer energy communities in the EU. This includes enhancing the attractiveness, practicality, reliability, understandability, and desirability of these communities through a holistic and user-centered approach. NRG2peers aims to support the uptake of energy communities that increase energy efficiency and integrate a higher share of renewable energy, while empowering end-users in energy decision making and fostering sustainable and decentralized energy systems. Additionally, the project addresses regulatory barriers and aims to improve contractual conditions to ensure a prosumer-friendly environment. Overall, NRG2peers seeks to stimulate and enable the development and adoption of peer-to-peer energy communities that contribute to global energy and CO2 emission savings, involve a wide range of stakeholders, and promote investments in sustainable energy. Peer-to-peer energy communities, as supported by NRG2peers, are important for society for several reasons: Increased energy efficiency, Integration of renewable energy, Empowering end-users, Supporting a prosumer-friendly environment and supporting a sustainable and decentralized energy systems development. The overall objectives of the NRG2peers project are:
1. Stimulating and enabling the co-creation, strengthening, and widespread implementation of the new generation of peer-to-peer energy communities in the EU.
2. Enhancing the new peer-to-peer energy communities to be more attractive, practical, reliable, understandable, and desirable through a holistic and user-centered approach.
3. Making the new energy communities easily accessible for a minimum of 10,000 residential customers and a wide range of stakeholders.
4. Demonstrating that collectively organized peer-to-peer energy-related actions are financially viable and attractive at the community level, by testing the NRG2peers approach and evaluating outcomes of ongoing complementary P2P/energy trading projects.
5. Assessing the achieved energy- and non-energy-related impacts in strategic categories, such as energy savings, triggered investments in sustainable energy, and improvement of regulatory barriers and contractual conditions.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Work Package 1 (WP1) focused on providing organizational infrastructure and management for the NRG2peers project. Several deliverables were achieved, including data availability and sharing, internal monitoring reports, monitoring of pilot community results, publication of public results, and the review of procedures for data deposition.
Work Package 2 (WP2) aimed to explore peer-to-peer energy trade and community self-consumption in four EU countries. Deliverables in this package provided a state of the art review, baseline for research, analysis of perspectives from energy community members, and country-specific guidelines for implementing energy communities.
Work Package 3 (WP3) focused on developing a Readiness Level Framework and assessing the legal and regulatory aspects of energy communities. Key deliverables included the digestion of theoretical concepts, a set of indicators for assessing readiness, and the creation of national roadmaps for supporting energy communities.
Work Package 4 (WP4) involved the development of the NRG2peers platform and related tools. This included the Readiness Level Indicator Tool, the NRG2peers Advisory App, and the Open Data Solution. Deliverables in this package covered the development and usage guidelines for these tools.
Work Package 5 (WP5) aimed to assess the applicability and effectiveness of the NRG2peers tools in pilot communities. Deliverables included an action plan, factsheets of pilot sites, exploration and validation of the platform, and stakeholder assessments of the digital tools.
Work Package 6 (WP6) focused on communication, dissemination, and market uptake of NRG2peers results. Deliverables included the development of a visual identity package, a website, a communication and dissemination plan, analysis of business models and exploitation strategies, and an overview of regulations and ecosystems related to energy communities.
Work Package 7 (WP7) was dedicated to ethics requirements and compliance. Deliverables included justification for the processing of sensitive personal data, a manual for research execution in accordance with ethical standards, and an ethics report from the project's Ethics Advisory Board.
Overall, the NRG2peers project made substantial progress in various aspects of peer-to-peer energy communities, including infrastructure, research, tools development, assessment, communication, and ethics compliance.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The NRG2peers project has not only delivered exceptional results in achieving its energy efficiency and sustainability goals but has also demonstrated the adaptability of its platform and tools across diverse European communities. The successful integration of behavioural strategies, renewable energy initiatives, and operational optimizations underscores the project's holistic approach to fostering positive change.
The NRG2peers platform has demonstrated significant success in driving energy efficiency and sustainability across diverse European energy communities. Through rigorous testing and validation in carefully chosen ecosystems, the platform achieved the anticipated direct impact of a 24% average energy savings. Levels 1 and 3 contributed 16%, emphasizing behavioural-based energy savings, while Level 2 added an extra 8%, focusing on operational energy savings through community-level optimization. The integration of Levels 1 and 3 proved successful, with real applications and actual data validating their effectiveness in translating behavioural changes into project ecosystems.
As the NRG2peers platform continues to evolve, addressing feedback from stakeholders and refining tools for enhanced accessibility, the NRG2peers project paves the way for a future where community-driven, sustainable energy practices become integral to our global energy landscape.

NRG2peers has developed a framework so that Energy Communities can assess how prepared they are in e