João Mello

Abstract

Abstract
Building renewable energy communities (REC) involves investments on generation facilities (such as PV panels), technologies to provide flexibility (such as batteries), management platforms and ICT systems, as well as integrating other flexibility sources such as thermal storage or electric vehicles. The way investments are made by the REC's members and other third parties is in close relationship with the governance models of the REC in terms of energy, flexibility and costs and benefits sharing, which, in the end, constitute the overall REC's business model. This works provides a revision of the main financing mechanisms to invest on and build a REC, and of the associated governance and business models that result from the investments mechanisms selected and its implications on its day by day operation. © 2022 IEEE.

Abstract
Final consumers can be organized in collective self-consumption structures and energy communities to share and trade among them the energy they produce locally and can also be potential providers of flexibility services to the grid. However, the integration of local and wholesale electricity markets is still a matter of development, demanding innovative solutions that consider, among other things, the impact of the energy transfers from the activated flexibility on the balancing responsible parties' portfolio in the context of the wholesale settlement rules. This work proposes an innovative design for the integration of local energy markets and local flexibility markets based on the current collective selfconsumption regulation in Portugal. The main roles and contractual framework are defined and the energy transfer of activated flexibility between aggregators and retailers is tackled using regular LEM energy transfers.

Abstract
This paper proposes a real time Walrasian based market design for local electricity trading, considering the roles of the different players, the settlement procedures, and the necessary balance responsibilities with the wholesale market under collective self-consumption rules. A Walrasian mechanism based on consecutive auctions for very short delivery periods is proposed, where the auctioneer defines a price for each of these delivery periods to which peers react by generating and consuming accordingly and informing if they trade with the auctioneer or with their retailer or aggregator. This market has no energy purchase contracts, and energy is billed based on each peer's generation or consumption for each delivery period with the price defined by the auctioneer. © 2022 IEEE.

Abstract
Energy communities and self-consumption are considered as major drivers to achieve the decarbonization of the power sector, contributing to further increase the penetration of renewables, and empowering end consumers by turning them more active and flexible regarding electricity consumption. Considering the relevance of this topic and given that the corresponding legislation is recent, this paper summarizes the European Regulation on self-consumption and renewable energy communities and describes, analyses and compares its transposition to the Portuguese and Spanish national regulations. The main regulatory barriers for renewable energy communities' rollout are identified and regulatory improvements are proposed to overcome them.