EREF Press Release
Solar POWER GENERATION AND CONSUMPTION RESEARCH PROJECT EXAMINES SOLAR POWER PROSUMER CONCEPTS
IN THE EU
Brussels, 1 October 2018
The EU-funded research project PVP4Grid presents a first assessment containing fundamental observations on the individual and collective use of locally generated solar power. The report differentiates between three prosumer concepts – individual self- consumption, collective use of a photovoltaic system within a building and solar power supply at neighbourhood level – and examines the respective regulatory framework conditions.
According to the study, individual self-consumption, i.e. when the system operator (producer) and electricity consumer are identical, is legally possible in all of the countries examined. Five of the eight countries allow the shared use of a photovoltaic system within the same building, while this is expressly forbidden in Belgium, Italy and Spain. Solar power supply at neighborhood level, making use of the public power grid, is so far only legally permissible and economically feasible in two of the countries examined, namely France and the Netherlands.
“The analysis of existing framework conditions in the individual countries forms a significant basis for the continuing work of PVP4Grid. The aim of the international project is to make a contribution to the development of improved prosumer concepts and the spread of consumer-friendly solar power,” according to Carsten Körnig, Executive Director of BSW- Solar, which coordinates of the project.
The potential that the various prosumer concepts have for photovoltaics also depends on the respective funding mechanisms that are in place. For older small-scale PV systems that receive remuneration for the solar power they feed into the grid at higher rates than the
current electricity price for final consumers, individual self-consumption naturally plays only a minor role. The study examined the legal and political framework conditions in Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal and Spain.
With the new provisions in the revised renewable Energy Directive and Governance Regulation for the 2020-2030 period, the EU has recognized that citizens are active and central players on the energy markets of the future. Increased transparency and better regulation give more opportunities for civil society to become more involved in the energy system and respond to price signals.
EREF Director Dr. Dörte Fouquet calls on the European Council to support for the new Energy market design maintaining priority dispatch and exemption from balancing responsibility for small-scale renewable energy projects in order to protect prosumers from disproportionate financial and administrative burdens. She emphasizes that “the market design regulation must be coherent with or even enhance the provisions of the new Renewable Energy Directive and Governance Regulation. Fostering the uptake of new business models supports innovation, local jobs, local revenues and the competitiveness of Europe’s small and medium businesses across all sectors.”
In addition to the extensive English-language study, PVP4Grid also published reports in the individual countries’ respective languages that depict the situation in each country, as well as an English summary of these reports. This material is available on the PVP4Grid website: www.pvp4grid.eu/pv-prosumer-concepts/
For more information on this matter, please contact
Dr. Dörte Fouquet Dirk Hendricks
EREF Director EREF Senior Policy Advisor
doerte.fouquet@eref-europe.org dirk.hendricks@eref-europe.org