Technical-economic feasibility study of a Renewable Energy Community and participation in grid flexibility services

Climate change represents one of the most urgent and complex challenges of our time, requiring quick and targeted solution to mitigate its effects on the environment and human society. Among the many response strategies, the adoption of renewable energy sources emerges as a key solution. Renewable sources, such as solar, wind, hydropower and biomass, offer a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels, significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions and contributing to the conservation of natural resources. In this context, renewable energy communities (REC) are gaining increasing attention as innovative models of energy production and consumption. These communities rely on cooperation among citizens, to generate, share and consume renewable energy, promoting a distributed approach of energy production. This model not only promotes the optimal use of local resources, but also helps creating a strong and independent energy system. Renewable energy communities not only contribute to the reduction of carbon emissions, but also offer socio-economic benefits. They create local job opportunities and encourage active citizen participation in the management of energy resources. In addition, they promote a culture of sustainability and environmental responsibility, which is essential for meeting the challenges of climate change. The thesis begins with an overview of the current framework of REC’s especially in Italy and then analyse a real Case Study, the REC CER-a promoted by “Confartigianato Cuneo” an association of companies based near Cuneo. It has been built through a partnership with Environment Park, the company that realize the feasibility study of CER-a and where I did the internship. The diffusion of distributed renewable plants highlights some weakness of the actual power network that was designed to be suitable for the presence of big, concentrated plant and monodirectional power flows, for this reason flexibility of power network is one of the most challenging issues. The feasibility study is the starting point of the analysis performed in the thesis. The study highlights a new opportunity for the REC in participating actively to the flexibility of the distributed power network. In the Cuneo area, one of the main Italian distribution system operators (DSO), “E-distribuzione”, started a pilot project (EDGE) allowing the participation of medium-small operator in the flexibility of power network. This analysis explores how REC, in particular CER-a, can aggregate resources and participate in the flexibility of the network. Trought this case study, the thesis aims to demonstrate the potential of REC not only in producing and consuming renewable energy but also in playing a crucial role in future of energy network.