Smart Energy Communities: State of the Art and Future Developments

Dear Colleagues,

Renewable energy communities (RECs) are collective and citizen-driven entities that own and develop projects aimed at locally using renewable energy sources. RECs are granted the right to self-consume, share energy supplies, store energy, and access markets, to pave the way for a clean energy transition, attracting investments and increasing public awareness about correct energetic behaviors. Indeed, by revolutionizing the classical model of energy generation involving a centralized power plant and transmission over long distances, RECs can potentially lead to medium- and large-scale local energy production and self-consumption, going far beyond the single-household level.

The management of the many energy (production, storage, and consumption) and information flows within an REC must be performed in a smart way in order to reach a high level of flexibility, effectiveness, and efficiency.

The aim of this Special Issue is to illustrate the state of the art and propose possible developments regarding smart renewable energy communities (SECs).

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, four main areas:

1. Local energy production and utilization

Technologies that produce on-site the energy needed by the utilities within the SEC itself and to consume that energy efficiently. This includes:

• Electrical and thermal power generation plants.
• Smart energy utilities which efficiently use the energy they need and/or are able to implement innovative operating logics (building automation systems and smart appliances).
• Electrical and thermal energy storage systems.

2. Energy flow distribution and information

• Electrical and thermal energy distribution networks.
• Communication infrastructure that enables information exchange among the various “nodes” of an energy community.

3. Energy flow management, monitoring and control

• Technologies that allow remote control of energy production, distribution, storage, consumption, and management of energy flows within the SEC.
• Technological systems that, by processing the production and consumption forecasts of local renewable sources, plan the management of plants, storage systems and the interface with the grid, implementing demand side management and demand response logics that act on programmable utilities.

4. Social, economic and legal aspects

The introduction and diffusion of SEC is leading to an evolution of the energy market and a different, less individualistic approach of citizens to the matter. It is important to evaluate the social impact of the aggregation of citizens and enterprises while forming an SEC, as well as the economic outcomes and legal implications of shifting the model of energy generation, storage and consumption.

Dr. Alessandro Lorenzo Palma
Guest Editor

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• energy communities
• power sharing
• energy storage
• energy flow management
• self-consumption
• demand side management
• demand response
• power-to-heat
• renewable energy sources