Are We on the Right Track? Collective Self-Consumption and Energy Communities in the European Union

To accelerate the energy transition, the EU “Clean Energy for all Europeans” package aims to strengthen the involvement of end consumers in the energy market. To this end, together with so-called “active consumers” and provisions for individual and collective renewable energy self-consumption, two types of energy communities were introduced. The EU framework, however, leaves many details of the transposition process to the national level. The corresponding directives were supposed to be transposed by the end of December 2020 (recast Electricity Market Directive, defining active consumers and citizen energy communities) and by the end of June 2021 (Renewable Energy Directive, defining renewables self-consumption and renewable energy communities). In this paper, we critically discuss major developments of the transposition, including questions of the general distinction of the different concepts, governance and ownership, physical expansion, administrative barriers and the overall integration of energy communities into the energy system. The analysis builds on country case studies as well as on previous work by the authors on the status of the transposition process throughout the EU. The paper shows that the national approaches differ greatly and are at very different stages. While basic provisions are in place in most Member States to meet the fundamental EU requirements, the overall integration into the energy system and market is only partly addressed. This concerns, for instance, the analysis of system impacts of energy communities and measures that would allow and support energy system-friendly behaviour. In addition, several practical hurdles need to be overcome. These often relate to administrative requirements such as complex registration and licensing procedures, the need for the involvement of several institutions, or difficult procedures for access to relevant data. The paper concludes that discussed barriers will need to be carefully addressed if the high expectations for the role of energy communities are to be met.