A review of Energy Communities: Definitions, Technologies, Data Management

Energy communities (ECs) have a pivotal role in the recent energy strategy of the European Union (EU). Therefore, it’s evident that the EU is now relying a lot on social innovation and citizen participation. This paper aims to give an overview of the most important aspects for the success of the EC concept and provides the needed literature resources for new entrants into the field of ECs. The newly introduced definitions for ECs, Renewable Energy Communities (RECs) and Citizen Energy Communities (CECs), are examined. Also, existing examples of ECs are mentioned and the potential benefits are analysed. Next the main technologies that are used or have the potential to be used in an EC environment are listed. Finally, the data management challenges related to some of these technologies are considered