Authors:
Stephan Cejka
1
;
Franz Zeilinger
1
;
Argjenta Veseli
2
;
Marie-Theres Holzleitner
2
and
Mark Stefan
3
Affiliations:
1
Siemens AG Österreich, Vienna, Austria
;
2
Energieinstitut an der Johannes Kepler Universität Linz, Linz, Austria
;
3
AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, Vienna, Austria
Keyword(s):
Energy Community, Privacy, Blockchain, Clean Energy Package, Energy Transition, Energy Efficiency.
Abstract:
The European Union’s Clean Energy Package introduces two kinds of energy communities, namely the Renewable Energy Community (REC) in the Renewable Energy Directive of 2018 and the Citizen Energy Community (CEC) in the Electricity Directive of 2019. They aim for local improvements of energy efficiency, increasing integration of renewable energy sources, and a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, to be achieved by jointly producing, temporarily storing, sharing, consuming, and selling locally generated energy. Households and individuals shall thus be enabled to take an active part in the energy transition. When utilizing blockchain technology for the implementation of such energy communities, as proposed in current research projects, a focus must be laid on the technology-inherent area of conflict with privacy issues, especially since data on households’ energy consumption count as personal data.