One possibility for energy allocation in renewable energy communities (REC) based on collective self-consumption (CSC) is to apply ex-ante distribution coefficients. This study assesses 16 modes for generating static and hourly-variable coefficients, using different time resolutions and calculation methods: proportional to consumption (PTC) and numerical optimisation (OPT) to maximise the global self-consumption rate (SCR). The impact on energy and economic KPIs is analysed in two case studies in Spain, including the ARV project demo in Palma, which is composed by a school as prosumer and 159 households as consumers. PTC and OPT modes of calculation lead to favourable outcomes for the REC compared to individual self-consumption, with global REC SCR reaching 89.2% (OPT) and 88.8% (PTC) and REC economic savings increasing in 127% on average. The results provide insights into the most effective criteria for maximising the impact of CSC, raising concern about fair allocation criteria.

Read the full article from IREC here