ProSumE

Purpose and Outcome

Background

At European level, the 'Clean Energy for All Europeans' package places active consumers at the core of the Energy Union strategy, advocating the possibility for consumers to produce and sell their own electricity, individually and collectively (Prosumer concept). A recent study estimates that about half of the households in Europe (around 113 millions) may have the potential to produce energy, representing a large and increasing market for innovative products  and  services.  In  Spain,  a  recent  survey  revealed  that  more  than  1  out  of  4 households (25,3%) are considering seriously the possibility to produce and consume their own energy.

At the local level, the gap between the energy prosumer demand and the existing service providers  call  for  the  development  of  innovative  prosumer  oriented  services  to  connect supply and demand. This project will provide a roadmap for the development and scaling up of prosumer oriented services at the city scale in Spain, which will be a basis for replication in other urban areas in Europe.

The decrease in installation costs, the potential of smart technology (RES, storage, control and sensors) and the recent and forcasted development of prosumers rights to support local energy production and consumption open the way to new business models in the energy sector, based on the distributed energy model, regarding residential areas as a cloud of distributed sources which give rise to the new doctrine of energy prosumers.

The dynamic growth of energy prosumers depends on the creation of good partnerships between prosumers, other energy producers and actors working in the energy sector. However, conditions still need to be put in place to enable all energy market stakeholders to reap the benefits of the growth of prosumerism. The European Economic and Social Committee suggest carrying out tests to find these solutions. Thus, this project will establish a roadmap to develop real case studies implementation at the city scale.

Local innovation network connecting demand and supply

This project proposal emerged from a local multi-actors network launched through the Transition Cities project, financed by Climate KIC. The Transition Cities project aimed at building an integrated innovation system for the transition to a low carbon economy through a Transition Thinking approach4. In Valencia city, this project supported the launch of a local energy innovation network (“Connecta Energia”) bringing together local actors from the private and public sectors, but as well from the academia and the organized civil society (”Four blades” innovation model)5.

One of the key innovation needs identified by the members of the network is the development of new business models to support the local development of energy prosumers services. This innovation network is a unique opportunity where the supply and demand side team-up to address a common challenge. On the supply side, local renewable energy service providers such as solar panel providers, energy producers (ISER renovables, Aeioluz, Avaesen, Ahinco Sostenibles) are willing to develop these services. They benefit from the support of the local administration through two municipal foundations engaged in this project, one dedicated to urban innovation, Las Naves, urban innovation center, and the other to renewable energies promotions, the Climate Change Observatory foundations. On the demand side, groups of active end-users are already looking for ways to become prosumers, for instance the local branch of the SOM Energia electricity cooperative counts already 1500 individual members organized to consume renewable energy. The ProsumE project aims at bridging the gap between existing supply and deman d at the city scale for prosumer services by continuing the work initiated in the Connecta Energia innovation network to focus on the assesment and development of the prosumers service value chain.

In terms of climate impact, in the city of Valencia, the CO2 emissions from electricity consumption represent 40 % of the total GHGs emissions of the city (1,1 Million of tCO2 in 2014) representing the second largest source of emission, and thus a key priority for the local authorities supporting this proposal. By supporting and implementing the roadmap to develop prosumers oriented services, Valencia city could achieve its climate mitigation target of reducing by 40 % its GHG emissions by the year 2030 and will provide an example for replication at European level. Results of the project will indeed be disseminated through the different cities energy and innovation networks at national (RECI, Spanish Smart City Network) or international level such as the Covenant of Mayors, ICLEI or Climate KIC city partners.
 

Objectives

The main objective of the project is to foster the activation of a local innovation cluster for prosumer oriented services development at the city scale.

Prosumer oriented services spread from the financing of the installation of the renewable energy systems to the selling of the energy produced, and can include as well the development of energy efficiency services. However, the development of prosumer oriented services is facing many barriers (Technical, Economic, Legal, Cultural, Organizational) that go beyond conventional analysis or feasibility studies and needs new collaborative and integrated approaches as the one developed in this project to bring together knowledge, know-how and stakeholders working at the same time on the demand and the supply chain for prosumer oriented services.

The project will build up on the pioneering work of the Transition Cities project to identify innovation opportunities among cross-actors cluster and address the following challenges:

• Carbon emission reductions at the city level to meet Covenant of Mayors commitment
• Local business and employment activation
• Sustainable financing of local energy transition
• Capacity building of local energy actors

The project will act as a catalyst to foster innovation exploring five dimensions of an energy prosumer oriented service:

• Governance: Foster the partnership among local stakeholders to share experiences, needs and co-develop solutions (WP1)
• Technical:  Assess  the  potential  of  distributed  renewable  energy  production  (PV  solar  panel)  at  the  city  level  with  existing  and  foresight technology development (WP2)
• Legal: Identify the legal context within which prosumer services could be provided and existing barriers and opportunities (WP3)
• Economic-Financial: Investigate the value chain and prosumer profiles for prosumer oriented services at the local level (WP4)
• Socio-cultural: Communicate about the potential and benefits of the prosumer model for the society to stimulate the demand (WP5)

The ultimate end-goal of the innovation is to develop the appropriate conditions for a local prosumer innovation “testbed” to emerge and help identify new business models for products and services that can be further developed in urban areas.

The project will follow an open and pragmatic approach considering different entities (either public, private or cooperative) members of the innovation network, as possible service providers and identify their advantages and inconvenient to deliver the energy prosumer oriented services or products. The type of products and service considered in this project will explore the value chain prosumer oriented services, from the financing of the installation of the renewable energy production systems to the generation and selling of the electricity, but as well considering demand side response and flexibility management going further than conventional market actors (ESCOs or aggregators).

In  order  to  develop  a  prosumer  friendly  environment  and  create  the  basis  for  the  development  of  prosumer  oriented  services  and  long  lasting partnerships between local stakeholders, different approaches will be considered:

• WP1 Project Coordination and Management: Beyond the administrative management (A1.1) and coordination of the project (A 1.2), three collaborative project steering committee will be established (A 1.3) in synergy with the members of the Connecta Energia working group including services providers from the private sectors (not yet Climate KIC members) and potential end-users, associating thus the demand and supply side along the development of the roadmap. An additional collaborative workshop will be organized to share the outcomes of the project and co-elaborate the prosumer services roadmap among the local stakeholders (A 1.4).

Lead partner: Las Naves / OCC
Duration: 6 Months

• WP2: Screening of prosumer energy production potential at the city scale. Providing a first technical assessment of the potential to supply the local electric demand through solar photovoltaic energy and a zoom on identified production “hot spots” of the city with the biggest potential for energy production to highlight business opportunity (A2.1). As well a first assessment of   economic and climatic benefit of the energy “prosumption” in selected cases (A2.2).

Lead partner: IIE-UPV
Duration: 4 months

• WP3: Best Prosumer Services Practices Analysis: to identify Best Prosummer Services Practices at the national and European scale focusing on the legal, administrative and economic drivers of their success (A3.1 Best Prosumer Services Practices (BPSP) identification).Then, we will investigate which form could this services take to be translated in the local context (A3.2 BPSP adaptation). Contribute to the definition of the road map by identifying the next step need to implement the BMPs (A3.3 BPSP recommendations)

Lead Partner: UV
Duration: 3 months

• WP4: Value chain analysis to characterize prosumer oriented services (identified in A3.1) with their costs and added value, and identify areas and activities that could be improved to foster services development (A4.2). The analyses will as well highlight the main problems and obstacles prosumers face when making their transition to self-generation and self-consumption and the legal implications of selling the electricity produced back  to  the  grid  given  the  existing  legal  framework.  Prosumer  profiles:  different  types  of  potential  prosumers  profiles  will  be  analyzed, considering different purchasing power capacities and different energy production models at residential or commercial level (individual model), but as well public or collective level, to quantify the different segments of the prosumer market (A4.2). The value chain assessment and the prosumers profiles will provide direct input to the definition of the road-map by identifying potential business unit and target prosumer groups for follow-up service development.

Lead Partner: Las Naves
Duration: 3 months

• WP5 Dissemination and Communication: through the communication of the project (A 5.1) and a prosumer information kit to stimulate the demand at the city scale, taking advantage of the main results of the project (A 5.2). The aim is to foster the engagement of potential prosumers in the learning process, targeting in priority the key actors identified in the previous stakeholders analysis performed in the Connecta Energia working group, such as building managers, neighbour’s community.

Lead partner: Las Naves
Duration: 3 months

For more information click here

Angel Perez Navaro is a Professor at the Energy Engineering Institute of the Technical University of Valencia, with a recognized experience on renewable energy and decentralized production of solar photovoltaic energy. He will be a key component of the team bringing its experience and the capacity of its institute to support the development of the project.

Corentin Girard is Environmental Innovation Officer at the Climate Change Observatory foundation of the City of Valencia, with experience on climate change innovation related project collaborating with Climate KIC in different initiatives at the local level and coordinating at the city level the local network of energy innovation, Connecta Energia.