A simple and efficient method to allocate costs and benefits in energy communities

Purpose: Define a simple and efficient method to allocate costs and benefits in energy communities, and characterize some of its key properties. Design/methodology/approach: The approach is theoretical. We define an algorithm to allocate costs and benefits in energy communities, and derive some of i...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Gonzalez Asenjo, David, Izquierdo, Luis R., Sedano, Javier
Format: article
Publication Date:2023
Country:España
Institution:Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
Repository:UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC
Language:English
OAI Identifier:oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/395272
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/2117/395272
https://dx.doi.org/10.3926/jiem.5514
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Power resources
Energy consumption
Cooperation
Cost
Consumers -- Attitudes
Industrial efficiency
Energy community
Prosumer
Allocation
Costs
Fairness
Efficiency
Fonts d'energia
Energia -- Consum
Cooperativisme
Consumidors -- Actituds
Eficiència industrial
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Economia i organització d'empreses
Description
Summary:Purpose: Define a simple and efficient method to allocate costs and benefits in energy communities, and characterize some of its key properties. Design/methodology/approach: The approach is theoretical. We define an algorithm to allocate costs and benefits in energy communities, and derive some of its formal properties using mathematical reasoning. We also compare the proposed algorithm with several alternatives. Findings: The proposed algorithm is simple and it ensures that the resulting distribution of costs and benefits is (i) beneficial for every member of the community, (ii) efficient, (iii) fair (in a formally defined sense), (iv) smooth (small changes in the consumption or in the generation of energy cannot lead to big changes in the allocation of costs and benefits), and (v) environmentally friendly in the sense that the individual allocated cost is a strictly increasing function of individual consumption. Research limitations/implications: The properties of the proposed algorithm are satisfied for a specific type of energy community that is defined in the manuscript. Practical implications: The algorithm is easy to implement in any energy community. Social implications: The algorithm is highly relevant for any community of prosumers who are willing to exchange energy internally. It guarantees a number of desirable properties that are formally defined in the paper. Originality/value: We prove that a simple algorithm to allocate costs and benefits in energy communities guarantees the fulfilment of several desirable properties