What is innovative about this project?
- Project Planning & Management: Regulatory framework
- Social Innovation: Developing different models of co-ownership or shared ownership of accommodation or certain utilities.
The project is a result of a regulatory sandbox to test renewable energy incorporation in the network and explore potential grid optimisation through the creation of the first Slovenian energy community. The project showed the benefits that arose by less strict Distribution System Operator (DSO) regulations. Changes in the national energy law are being introduced as a result of lessons learned, together with new subsidies for the installation of photovoltaic and storage batteries.
Local Partnership
- Company: Petrol, Etrel
- Municipality: Municipality of Luče
- Housing provider: Owner-occupied
- Other: Laboratory of Energy Policy at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering of the University of Lubjana, residents of Luče
The Energy Community of Luče is a pilot of the Horizon 2020 COMPILE, which aimed at showing the potential of energy islands for decarbonisation of energy supply, community building and creating environmental and socioeconomic benefits. The pilot took place in Luče because of the specific conditions of the area (rural low voltage network with a weak and unstable connection to the medium voltage grid) and because a local champion contacted the Laboratory of Energy policy to get support, after receiving a rejection letter from the Distribution System Operator (DSO) when asking to install additional PV panels. The Laboratory of Energy Policy coordinated the project that involved different stakeholders, including locals and the Slovenian energy company, Petrol Group. Initially, the regulatory framework allowed the installation of maximum 1 Kw. After several negotiations with the DSO, the consortium obtained a regulatory sandbox and was able to install 11 Kw per house (102 Kw in total). Despite not being part of the consortium, the R&D team of the DSO also invested some capital into the project.
The planning phase was led by the Laboratory of Energy Policy and Petrol, who involved residents by organising meetings where the core idea of the project was presented and where they concretely explained what they wanted to do by looking together at the rooftops, at the households’ energy consumption and bills. Residents also received technical support when buying the PVs, and Petrol offered them some guarantees in the case things would have not worked out as planned. Petrol was the responsible for the implementation of the project, together with Etrel that installed the EV charging point.
Key Facts
- Year of construction: 1980
- Renovation period: the project started in October 2018 and finished in October 2022. The installation of PVs and the connection to the grid took place in 2019
- Area of intervention (m²): N/A
- Number of dwellings (before/after): 9
- Housing typology: single-family homes
- Housing tenure: owner-occupancy
- Number of residents: around 50
- Shared facilities: nine e-charging points (one for each house)
Financial information
- Funding sources: Horizon 2020 project, photovoltaic panels paid by residents, contribution by DSO
- Total cost of renovation (€): around 500.000€ (community battery 350.000€, PVs 100.000€, and home batteries around 20.000 or 30.000€)
- Subsidies received (€): 5.43 mio. € from EC (total for COMPILE project)
- Rent before and after renovation (€/month): no rent
- Energy bill (€/month): lower overall
Context
Luče is a village of around 400 inhabitants of which the majority are elderly people or young families working in the agricultural sector or in eco-tourism. Given its isolated position in a mountainous area, residents of Luče experience frequent power outages caused by overhead lines and falling trees.
Goals
- Establish an Energy Community to increase the self-sufficiency and security of supply of the local energy system containing residential and commercial buildings
- Improve network conditions resulting in many socio-economic benefits for the community such as the operation of local agricultural business.
- Stimulate the interest of citizens in energy and climate topics, establish trust in local energy community and local RES production while becoming the first Energy Community in Slovenia.
- Test and analyse different scenarios such as the inclusion of very high grade of RES production on a microgrid level
- Prove that issues related to the reliability of supply on microgrid level can be successfully addressed with energy management of Local Energy Communities.
Interventions
- Establishment of the first Slovenian self-sufficient Renewable Energy Community.
- Installation of 102 kW PV panels.
- Installation of a community battery (150 kW/333 kWh) that can operate in island mode and supplies energy if there is a network outage.
- Installation of 5 household batteries.
- Installation of EV community charging point for 9 vehicles.
- Integration of Home Energy Management System that connects Ev chargers, Pvs, home batteries and, heat pumps and that optimises the energy consumption at the house level (but it can also communicate at the larger collective level).
- Integration of Micro-grid control.
- Provision of emergency supply with community battery to mobile communications to enhance community safety during crises.
- New ways to provide ancillary services to the DSO/TSO with fair remuneration to all actors involved (currently under discussion in Slovenia).
- Community engagement workshops.
- Energy sharing with the elementary school of the village.
Impact
- Besides the significant savings on the energy bills, residents, together with their neighbours, started to be more engaged and concerned about their energy consumption.
- The acquired autonomy in the provision of energy made them less vulnerable to network outages and provided a shield during the energy crisis due to the war in Ukraine.
- The project demonstrated that the grid could support additional renewable energy sources and that existing grids can be utilised more efficiently.
- The Slovenian legislative framework that regulates the competences of DSOs is also changing, as DSOs will soon be allowed to pay for ancillary services on the distribution system levels, such as the ones provided by energy communities.
- A new subsidy programme that offers 500€ for installed PVs and batteries and 50€ per Kw for installed PVs has been put in place.
Advice to future “Lighthouse Districts”
- When initiating on a project that combines different technical devices, it is important to ensure that all components work together smoothly. This is easier when selecting a single provider that can offer everything from PV systems to electric vehicle chargers and home batteries. By doing so, incompatibilities between devices that can cause delays and added expenses are avoided.
- It is also crucial to keep an ongoing dialogue with the residents involved in the project. This is easier when there is a local champion who is trusted by the community and that is willing to take up some responsibilities, such as serving as a point of contact for inquiries and updates at the local level.
- When embarking in EU projects, it is a good practice to dedicate a long time to the planning and to consider all the different factors that could affect or hamper its execution, especially when applying for large investments and when collaborating with companies. Keep in mind that successful projects need to have a clear societal or environmental scope, and not constitute an end in itself.
Sources
https://www.compile-project.eu
https://main.compile-project.eu/sites/pilot-site-luce/