UCERS

The first energy communities in Austria show that very specific, individually tailored solutions are required in order to successfully implement and maintain them. At the moment, primarily technical and economic issues are being worked on – so far there is no knowledge of the ecological, social and economic effects of energy communities. However, since it is foreseeable that energy communities offer only minor economic advantages for the participants, these non-financial aspects are becoming increasingly important.

New models of energy communities promote the expansion of renewable energy and the involvement of broad groups of actors. The aim is to make a significant contribution to Austria’s climate neutrality by 2040. To achieve this, it is essential to force energy communities through a focus on non-technical and non-financial advantages. A set of criteria for assessing the sustainability of energy communities in Austria is currently being developed.

Development of accessible data platforms and uncomplicated tools

Three test beds in Lower Austria (Steinwandleiten and Echsenbach) and in Styria (Vorau) collect practical experience and applicable knowledge with regard to the acceptance and willingness of citizens to actively participate in energy communities. The information gathered serves as the basis for building platforms, networks and tools that support future participants in newly established energy communities. The data exchange platform creates the basis for rolling out and scaling further energy communities.

The results obtained contribute to the implementation of a manufacturer-independent and freely available online data exchange platform as well as provider-specific operating and optimization platforms, which lead to a simple rollout of energy communities throughout Austria. In detail, this means that interfaces to the respective hardware and software components are implemented in such a way that every network operator, every energy supply company and generally all participants in the energy market can dock onto the data platforms. In this way, the platforms enable the optimized operation of energy communities. The project team is also developing uncomplicated tools, such as an energy community app, with which (test) customers can participate permanently in shaping the energy transition.