NEWCOMERS: Typology of new clean energy communities

Regulatory changes in the European energy markets as well as the emergence of new technologies for Distributed energy resources (DERs)1, storage and demand response, have brought about the emergence of new energy services business models. These developments also heavily influence the development of services, which energy communities offer to their members. Some examples for new business models that influenced the business models of energy communities, mostly for electricity generation and storage, are those for peer-to-peer electricity trading systems, micro-grids and grid-connected energy storage. Decentralised or distributed generation represent one of the main advantages of new energy community business models, which also offer potential for innovative energy services (Moroni et al., 2019a; Moroni et al., 2019b; Pichler et al., 2019; Adu-Kankam and Camarinha-Matos, 2019; Nardelli et al., 2019; Scheller et al., 2018; Li et al., 2018).

In the NEWCOMERS project, the research focus lies on energy communities that have adopted innovative business models, with innovation being defined broadly to include new forms of economic, social and environmental value creation.

Business models for sustainability describe how an organization creates, delivers and captures value for its stakeholders in a way that supports a safe and just operating space for humanity and all living entities to flourish (Kennedy & Bocken, forthcoming). They have the potential to act as drivers for further innovation for sustainability in business by taking a holistic view on how business is done (Stubbs and Cocklin, 2008). Clean energy business models can be categorized as a type of sustainable business model, which brings together social, economic, and environmental benefits to the stakeholders involved. In this paper, we set out five emerging business model types adopted by clean energy communities, namely: • community micro-grids,

• innovative contracting and community products,

• community energy storage,

• peer-to-peer energy trading platforms

• community energy aggregator business models.

For each of these business models, the value proposition, value creation and delivery and value capture are described, combined with an assessment of the learning potential and the potential for wider impact in the community. The new energy business models represent a potential for new ways of incorporating distributed renewable energy resources into existing (energy) communities and empower citizens to become prosumers, active in their energy production and distribution, and to contribute to system stability and sustainability through demand response and conservation. We note the significance of different human actors/stakeholders in each business model.

These new business models have the potential to create economic, environmental, technological, political and social benefits for the community that adopts them. Value is therefore assessed in social and environmental terms as well as in economic terms.

Finally, this paper assesses each type of business model in terms of its potential for learning, within the energy communities themselves and for utilities, policymakers and wider society. Through careful analysis, this project aims to capture and disseminate some of this learning from a range of new clean energy communities.