Towards a fair revenue distribution of a Renewable Energy Community through a proportional energy consumption model application

In recent years, the frequency of extreme events such as floods, droughts, and heat waves has been increasing due to climate change. To mitigate and reduce the devastating effects of these phenomena, finding a common solution that directly involves citizens in the energy transition process is crucial. In this context, the European Union, through the Green Deal, has set the ambitious goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, and, through the REPowerEU plan, covering at least 42.5% of total energy consumption with renewable energy sources by 2030. The renewable energy communities, introduced by the EU Directive 2018/2001, represent a key tool for achieving these European targets. Renewable energy communities are based on a bottom-up business model as they directly engage citizens and facilitate the expansion of renewable energy generation. Moreover, in several countries, including Italy, economic support schemes have been introduced to incentivize the development of these energy-sharing configurations. This paper analyzes a specific fair revenue distribution model among community members, taking the renewable energy community in Benevento (Southern Italy) province as a case study. The analysis highlights how variations in user types and energy consumption impact individual contributions. This underscores the need for an economic distribution model with a dynamic and flexible structure, allowing adaptation to different configurations. Therefore, the used algorithm should incorporate specific parameters that account for the different operating conditions, such as the presence of third-party producers, prosumers, and high-energy consumers, as well as solidarity-based objectives, such as addressing energy poverty. All these factors are crucial, as the implementation of an inaccurate economic distribution model could favor some users at the expense of others and, at the same time, promote environmentally and energetically unsustainable behaviors.