Techno-Economic Assessment of Community Energy Storages, An Analysis considering the Regulatory and Economic Barriers in Germany

Abstract

With the progressive decentralization of the energy sector, community energy storages are considered an option for shaping the energy transition. This is the case as flexibilities are required to balance volatile renewable energies. The thesis addresses community energy storages with a focus on the economic operation and the regulatory framework for such storages in Germany and offers political implications for community energy storages by answering the research question “under which conditions regarding the regulatory framework and techno-economic parameters is the operation of a community energy storage in the future feasible?”. To examine the research question, the community energy system model from the German Aerospace Center has been used. In the thesis, two different ways to optimize the community energy storage were tested to maximize either profit or self-consumption within the energy community. Four different scenarios with regard to the regulatory framework were investigated, so that the impact of exemptions of taxes and levies was examined from an energy system perspective, too. The results were compared to the case without a community energy storage. Exemptions of the Renewable Energy Act surcharge can lead to distribution effects and additional costs for the rest of the society. As an alternative concept, a dynamic Renewable Energy Act surcharge was investigated. The thesis shows that an application of a market premium helps community energy storages to become profitable. Without the application of such a market premium, these storages will not be profitable by 2050 depending on the regulatory framework due to high module cost. Different sensitivities were tested, and the taxes and levies were identified to have the strongest impact on the profitability of a community energy storage. Other significant sensitivities are the storage capacity and the battery module cost. Based on the literature overview, it is recommended that a legal definition for energy storages in Germany is required to provide clarification for the role of storages. Right now, the legal treatment of storages is complex and obscure. Moreover, the conducted analysis indicates that a market premium for community energy storages in combination with direct marketing should be applicable in the future if business models with such storages are appreciated from a policy perspective. A dynamic Renewable Energy Act surcharge showed to be an incentive for the retailer to behave market-supportive. In future studies, such a dynamic concept should be tested for other taxes and levies, too.