Development and Empirical Expert Evaluation of Business Models for Energy Communities

Energy communities provide an opportunity for driving and democratizing the renewable energy transition. To lay the foundation for a successful implementation in practice, there is a need to evaluate business models tailored to the context of energy communities. Using a comprehensive literature review, we identify five potential business models for energy communities and six success factors to be included as evaluation criteria to benefit the individual, the community and the provider. Within an expert survey and a subsequent validation discussion the business models are rated along these success factors. While the technical requirements still pose a high burden for the implementation of energy communities in practice, the results reveal that collective investments in renewable assets and peer-to-peer markets provide good starting points, which should be combined and extended with further smart energy services in the future.