Evaluating Cost Allocation Methods in Energy Communities: an assessment framework based on Fairness and Efficiency
The energy transition, driven by pressure from climate change, dependence on fossil fuels, and a growing social awareness of environmental sustainability, places Energy Communities (ECs) as a key vehicle to democratise the energy system and accelerate this transformation. ECs enable groups of prosum...
| Autor: | |
|---|---|
| Tipo de recurso: | tesis doctoral |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2025 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universidad de Burgos (UBU) |
| Repositorio: | Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Burgos (RIUBU) |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:riubu.ubu.es:10259/11084 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10259/11084 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Energy Communities Cost Allocation Fairness Efficiency Local Energy Market Game Theory Comunidades Energéticas Asignación de Costes Justicia Eficiencia Mercado Energético Local Teoría de Juegos Transición energética Energy transition 5312.05 Energía 1203.26 Simulación 1207.06 Teoría de Juegos 3322.01 Distribución de la Energía |
| Sumario: | The energy transition, driven by pressure from climate change, dependence on fossil fuels, and a growing social awareness of environmental sustainability, places Energy Communities (ECs) as a key vehicle to democratise the energy system and accelerate this transformation. ECs enable groups of prosumers to cooperate in local energy exchange, generating added economic value in the process. However, their successful implementation faces several challenges, such as the fair and efficient allocation of the costs and benefits generated by that cooperation. The scientific literature has explored various cost allocation methods. However, there is a lack of a unified framework to evaluate and compare them systematically. Concepts like fairness, efficiency, and stability are fundamental for the social acceptance and long-term sustainability of ECs, but their definitions in the literature often lack precision and objectivity. The main objective of this thesis is to design and validate a methodological framework for evaluating cost-allocation methods within Energy Communities. Our working methodology adopts a dual approach, combining rigorous theoretical analysis with data-driven simulations. We define an EC archetype that leads to the formalisation of a local energy-market (LEM) economic model based on a market clearing algorithm and a cost/benefit allocation algorithm within the community. We evaluate several families of cost-allocation methods: Price-Based (PB), RuleBased (RB), Surplus-Based (SB), and Game-Theoretic (GT). To overcome the subjectivity of traditional principles, we establish a set of eight desirable properties with precise, objective mathematical formulations: parity among equals, disparity among unequals, pareto efficiency, beneficial individual participation, rank correlation between costs and overconsumption, smoothness, environmental friendliness, and beneficial group participation (stability). |
|---|