Practical problems before privacy concerns: How European energy community initiatives struggle with data collection

Shary Heuninckx; Maarja Meitern; Geert Te Boveldt; Thierry Coosemans

doi:10.1016/j.erss.2023.103040

Practical problems before privacy concerns: How European energy community initiatives struggle with data collection

Shary Heuninckx, Maarja Meitern, Geert Te Boveldt, Thierry Coosemans

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

Energy communities (ECs) are increasingly put forward as one of the solutions for making the European energy system greener and more resilient, through the local production and sharing of renewable energy. In order to design and operate an efficient EC, data on energy consumption and production is needed. This allows to determine the optimal market model and the necessary investments needed for renewable assets. Unfortunately, the acquisition of energy data is often the biggest barrier for EC initiators. This paper brings together the various hurdles in data acquisition that were identified through interviews with 10 EC initiators throughout Europe. Contrary to the existing literature we found that consumers seem less hesitant to share their data than suggested, as many show little concern for data protection. The major hurdles identified are related to the physical assets, such as data gathering and smart meter installation procedures taking more effort and time than planned, as well as to the low quality of existing data. Our research shows that many EC initiators face similar but rarely mentioned hurdles, that could be mitigated and overcome easier when considered beforehand.

Original language	English
Article number	103040
Number of pages	10
Journal	Energy Research & Social Science
Volume	98
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2023.103040
Publication status	Published - Apr 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work has been funded by the H2020 project RENAISSANCE [grant number 824342 ] and the H2020 project CREATORS [grant number 957815 ] and by VLAIO in the Flux50 project ROLECS [grant number HBC.2018.0527 ].

Funding Information:
We have chosen to do our research on varied initiatives that reflect different geographical locations, EC sizes, site use characteristics, types of initiators and data collection goals. Most are part of a regional or European funded project with multiple distinct case studies that has the development of approaches to implement ECs as a goal. As we were involved in the general project management, we noticed the data collection was an aspect all of them were struggling with and decided to set up our research around this finding. The study cases were selected to reflect a varied end-user involvement and a wide geographical spread within Europe under different socioeconomic circumstances. ROLECS is a Flux50-VLAIO subsidized research project that brought companies and research partners together to investigate how ECs can be made an integral part of the Flemish energy system, by applying their knowledge in various real life cases. The RENAISSANCE and CREATORS projects received funding from the European Union's H2020 research and innovation programme and had a goal to deliver a community-driven scalable and replicable approach to implement new business models and technologies supporting clean production and shared distribution of energy in local communities. One of the interviews was conducted with a research institution that collects data for general forecasting modelling.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors

Copyright:
Copyright 2023 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

Keywords

Energy communities
Data acquisition
Data collection hurdles
Energy data
Interviews
Data sharing

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Cite this

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title = "Practical problems before privacy concerns: How European energy community initiatives struggle with data collection",

abstract = "Energy communities (ECs) are increasingly put forward as one of the solutions for making the European energy system greener and more resilient, through the local production and sharing of renewable energy. In order to design and operate an efficient EC, data on energy consumption and production is needed. This allows to determine the optimal market model and the necessary investments needed for renewable assets. Unfortunately, the acquisition of energy data is often the biggest barrier for EC initiators. This paper brings together the various hurdles in data acquisition that were identified through interviews with 10 EC initiators throughout Europe. Contrary to the existing literature we found that consumers seem less hesitant to share their data than suggested, as many show little concern for data protection. The major hurdles identified are related to the physical assets, such as data gathering and smart meter installation procedures taking more effort and time than planned, as well as to the low quality of existing data. Our research shows that many EC initiators face similar but rarely mentioned hurdles, that could be mitigated and overcome easier when considered beforehand.",

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author = "Shary Heuninckx and Maarja Meitern and {Te Boveldt}, Geert and Thierry Coosemans",

note = "Funding Information: This work has been funded by the H2020 project RENAISSANCE [grant number 824342 ] and the H2020 project CREATORS [grant number 957815 ] and by VLAIO in the Flux50 project ROLECS [grant number HBC.2018.0527 ]. Funding Information: We have chosen to do our research on varied initiatives that reflect different geographical locations, EC sizes, site use characteristics, types of initiators and data collection goals. Most are part of a regional or European funded project with multiple distinct case studies that has the development of approaches to implement ECs as a goal. As we were involved in the general project management, we noticed the data collection was an aspect all of them were struggling with and decided to set up our research around this finding. The study cases were selected to reflect a varied end-user involvement and a wide geographical spread within Europe under different socioeconomic circumstances. ROLECS is a Flux50-VLAIO subsidized research project that brought companies and research partners together to investigate how ECs can be made an integral part of the Flemish energy system, by applying their knowledge in various real life cases. The RENAISSANCE and CREATORS projects received funding from the European Union's H2020 research and innovation programme and had a goal to deliver a community-driven scalable and replicable approach to implement new business models and technologies supporting clean production and shared distribution of energy in local communities. One of the interviews was conducted with a research institution that collects data for general forecasting modelling. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 The Authors Copyright: Copyright 2023 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.",

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N2 - Energy communities (ECs) are increasingly put forward as one of the solutions for making the European energy system greener and more resilient, through the local production and sharing of renewable energy. In order to design and operate an efficient EC, data on energy consumption and production is needed. This allows to determine the optimal market model and the necessary investments needed for renewable assets. Unfortunately, the acquisition of energy data is often the biggest barrier for EC initiators. This paper brings together the various hurdles in data acquisition that were identified through interviews with 10 EC initiators throughout Europe. Contrary to the existing literature we found that consumers seem less hesitant to share their data than suggested, as many show little concern for data protection. The major hurdles identified are related to the physical assets, such as data gathering and smart meter installation procedures taking more effort and time than planned, as well as to the low quality of existing data. Our research shows that many EC initiators face similar but rarely mentioned hurdles, that could be mitigated and overcome easier when considered beforehand.

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Practical problems before privacy concerns: How European energy community initiatives struggle with data collection

Abstract

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Keywords

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