Development of a Scenarios Generation Tool for Social Energy Communities

July 19, 2024

Climate change and global warming represent an unprecedented challenge for humanity, with the energy sector accounting for approximately 25% of global emissions. To mitigate these challenges, an increased reliance on renewable energy sources is essential. However, renewable sources such as solar and wind are inherently intermittent, necessitating robust solutions for energy storage and demand management to minimize the use of fossil fuels. Social Energy Communities (SECs) offer a transformative approach by decentralizing energy management to a local level and enhancing market balance through load shifting. These communities can alter their energy consumption patterns, promoting self-sufficiency and reducing energy costs, which in turn fosters greater energy justice. This thesis leverages the energy community simulator, PROCSIM, to address the scarcity of energy communities datasets. Utilizing the CASAS datasets, it generates realistic presence and activity schedules that enhance the simulator’s functionality. Additionally, the thesis explores the extent to which SECs can contribute to energy justice by analyzing the effects of individual households' non-social consumption behaviors on community energy dynamics. The findings suggest that non-social behaviour in energy consumption significantly influences the pro-social acting members’ energy dynamics, leading to changes in activity schedules and higher levels of energy import and export.

Authors in the community:

• 

  T

  Timon Maximilian Sieme

  ist1105813

Supervisors of this institution:

• 

  A

  Amâncio Lucas de Sousa Pereira

  ist428524

• 

  H

  Hugo Gabriel Valente Morais

  ist428549

mechanical-engineering - Mechanical engineering

por - Portuguese

Instituto Superior Técnico