Energy Community published Policy Guidelines on prosumers

The Energy Community (EnC) Secretariat has issued Policy Guidelines on the Grid Integration of Prosumers to help self-consumption schemes become fully operative in EnC Contracting Parties.

The majority of EnC Member States lacks comprehensive legislation in relation to small-scale renewable plants for self-consumption.

The Policy Guidelines defines the “prosumer’’ as an electricity consumer that produces part of his or her electricity needs from his or her own power plant and uses the distribution network to inject excess production and to withdraw electricity when self-production is not sufficient to meet his or her own needs.

“The Guidelines provide a set of recommendations of good practice for all important aspects that have to be considered to make self-consumption schemes fully operative in EnC Contracting Parties. They are a product of an initiative of ECDSO-E, an informal group bringing together Energy Community Distribution System Operators,” the Secretariat said in a statement.

The Policy Guidelines consists of eight sets of recommendations. First set is on Legal and Regulatory, second on Technology and Capacity Criteria, third on Self-consumption Commercial Schemes, fourth on Excess Energy Treatment, fifth on Grid Costs, sixth on VAT and other Taxes and Levies, seventh on Imbalance Settlement and eighth on Grid Connection.

Suitable model for consumers and states

Electricity consumers are interested in an on-site generation due to increasing retail electricity prices and decreasing technology cost. On the other hand, self-consumption is an additional tool to match renewable energy targets, which is beneficial for the system or the state.

The Policy Guidelines compile the conclusions of the study Distributed Generation for Self-Consumption, Key Aspects, and Recommendations of Good Practice produced under the cooperation platform of ECDSO-E, with a focus on recommended practice for small installation of “prosumers” connected to the distribution network.

In July 2015, the European Commission published the working document Best Practices on Renewable Energy Self-consumption building on lessons learned from projects in the European Union Member States on the new schemes promoting market integration of variable renewables using self-consumption of electricity.

“The Policy Guidelines take into account the recommendations of the Commission Staff Working document to the extent possible, which were integrated with those of the ECDSO-E study,” the document noted.