Energy Sharing: A Potential Analysis Collectively Generating and Using Electricity in the Distribution Grid: A Study on the Implementation Proposal under Article 22 of the EU Renewable Energy Directive

In order to achieve the climate protection targets for Germany, the new German government must get a great deal underway very quickly. The expansion of the renewable power supply remains central, in particular due to the expected increase in electricity demand as a result of sector coupling. This necessary speed in the implementation of the energy transition can only be achieved with the involvement and participation of citizens, on the one hand to gain acceptance for the changes, but also to achieve necessary investments from the private sector.

At the EU level, the importance of citizens has long been recognized and the previous consumers have been given the new role of prosumers in Directive (EU) 2018/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council. This means that in the future they will be at the center of the energy system and will not only consume energy alone or collectively, but also generate, sell and trade it.

The implementation of the EU's Renewable Energy Directive should already have taken place at the national level. However, joint consumption is currently only possible via the tenant electricity model, in which residents in residential buildings or ancillary facilities in the same neighborhood are authorized to supply themselves with self-generated solar electricity from photovoltaic roof systems and as the specifications are highly regulated, tenant electricity has so far led a niche existence.

The Bündnis Bürgerenergie has elaborated the energy sharing model more concretely in a concept paper and also proposed a form of sale for electricity generated in "Energy Sharing" communities. Based on this definition, the potential for energy sharing and the effects on an economic and individual level for electricity customers will be examined in more detail. For example, it determines what influence energy sharing has on the household or the energy sharing community and, on the other hand, what costs or lost revenues arise for the ecomomy as a whole. Finally, suitable instruments for counter-financing for costs incurred will be discussed.