MehrWertStrom 2030 - PV-Community system - Exploring a participatory pilot project with regional added value for structurally weak regions

Starting point / motivation

Since the amendment of the ElWOG in June 2017, the legal conditions are set to use the potential of multi-party houses for decentralised renewable energy generation and to share the generated electricity directly on the site between the occupants.

Contents and Objectives

The project MehrWertStrom 2030 analysis the legal, technical, organizational and economic feasibility of collectively used PV plants of multi-party buildings, based on four pilot buildings located at Waldviertel. The project provides solutions for the on-site implementation, such as guidelines for implementation, selection criteria scheme, legal operating models and applicable finance mechanism.

Methods

• Selection and analysis of four pilot buildings to prove the feasibility on site in cooperation with local stakeholders
• Technical and economic analysis of the four pilot buildings
• Innovative finance mechanism (crowdinvesting, property assessed clean energy financing)
• Development of applicable legal operating models
• Analysis and drafting of standard contracts
• Analysis and development of innovative financial mechanism: fee-based financing, crowd investing
• Selection of applicable legal operating models and financing mechanism for the four pilot building in cooperation with the stakeholders
• Design of guidelines for implementation and selection criteria scheme and dissemination of results

Results and conclusions

Decentralised PV systems are an essential element to achieve the 2030 energy targets and to create added value for economically underdeveloped regions and their communities. Based on the project results, applicable legal operating models and innovative finance mechanism for implementation have been developed. The project results, such as guidelines for implementation and the selection criteria scheme will facilitate the implementation of collective used PV plants of multi-party buildings for future interested parties.

Standardized processes to clarify metering points and billing modalities should be established by the grid operator until summer 2019. The results of the scenario simulation show levelized cost of electricity for PV of 6-9 €cent/kWh (excl. VAT), which is equal or less compared to grid electricity tariffs and thus a competitive solution. The information preparation for the user parties requires intensive preliminary work, which only seems economically viable from a minimum of approx. 30 parties/object for external project developers, but in the case of high daily power consumers, the number can be significantly less.

Outlook

The amendment of the ElWOG (§ 16a ElWOG of 2017) creates an important basis to allow the PV electricity use in multi-party houses directly on the site between the users. However, the efficient PV expansion in the residential sector can only succeed if the individual housing stock segments are covered with specific measures, in particular condominiums, municipal rental apartments, non-profit rental apartments and commercial rental apartments.

From the energy law perspective, the abolition of the self-generated electricity fee and the facilitation of micro-grids for electricity exchange between properties are important measures to achieve the energy targets 2030.

Project management

Energy Changes Projektentwicklung GmbH.

Project or cooperation partners

Energieagentur der Regionen

Energy Changes Projektentwicklung GmbH.
Obere Donaustraße 12/28
A-1020 Vienna
Tel.: +43 (1) 96 84 529
E-mail: wolfgang.wetzer@energy-changes.com
Web: www.energy-changes.com