Grid management and modeling of local balancing in Renewable Energy Communities

Details

Supervisors

Agrell, Per Joakim

Faculty

Louvain School of Management

Degree label

Master [120] : ingénieur de gestion, à finalité spécialisée

Abstract

It is now more than three decades since it became technologically possible to convert solar and wind energy into consumable electricity. A large integration of Distributed Energy Resources has encouraged the creation of frameworks for trading electricity in a decentralized fashion and provided the consumers with the technology and empowerment to become active producers of energy. The integration of these DER thereby fosters the emergence of Renewable Energy Communities (RECs) that empower their members to produce and consume Renewable Energy locally. This thesis presents an overview of the main social, economic and environmental benefits of Renewable Energy Communities as well as flexibility and demand response integration through Smart Grids. Furthermore, the thesis analyses the European and national regulations that foster the development of such local energy communities. With a view to testing the outcomes of the literature, a simulation model of a Renewable Energy Community is deployed within this research. The results of the model are analyzed in detail before comparing them with the theoretical highlights in the discussion section. To conclude, it seems appropriate to first provide the main managerial recommendations arising from this research, then the similarities between the findings and the literature, before formulating the critiques of the model. Finally, some improvements for future work are suggested.