Sharing Beyond Peer-to-peer Trading: Collaborative (Open) Business Models as a Pathway to Smart Circular Economy in Electricity Markets

This paper performs an analysis on emergent peer-to-peer (p2p) electricity trading markets utilizing the resource-based theory based on the sharing economy concept to identify possible opportunities for assets/data sharing amongst existing and emerging market players. First, the study introduces actors in the future electricity market and identifies their objectives. Second, valuable resources of each actor are recognized and categorized under physical and digital groups. Third, interested actors in each resource and benefits they can gain by having access to the resource are discussed. Last, a matrix of sharing opportunities amongst the actors in the electricity market is built and the current state of sharing is compared with the possibilities in the future. This paper provides and serves as a benchmark for implementing the sharing economy concept in future design of electricity markets. It highlights sharing opportunities as a means for circular economy in the electricity market. Implementing the identified sharing opportunities requires more collaborative (open) business models.