The project team from left: Lucas Winkler BWGV, Larissa Betz, Municipal Offices, Prof. Dr. Carsten Lecon, Hans-Peter Weber OBE, Luzia Berbecaru and Jannik Rößler Aalen University of Applied Sciences, Christina Neu-feld academic staff member at the university, Dr. Karlheinz Bozem Energy expert, Prof. Dr. Anna Nagl University of Applied Sciences, Roderich Kiesewetter Member of the Bundestag, Andreas Ensinger, Über-landzentrale Wörth-Altheim.
In order to achieve the goals of the energy transition, many citizens' energy cooperatives were founded in Baden-Württemberg around 2010. A total of almost 150 community energy cooperatives are active in the (federal) state. The business models of many community energy cooperatives are geared towards feeding electricity from PV, wind and biogas plants into the public grid at a guaranteed price for 20 years in accordance with the provisions of the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG). Due to changes to the EEG and the end of the subsidy period for the first attachments after 20 years, this business model is now reaching its limits. Against this backdrop, the Baden-Württemberg state government approved an inter-university [Adjektiv] project partnership in 2020 under the management of Prof. Dr. Anna Nagl from Aalen University of Applied Sciences in close collaboration with Hans-Peter Weber, the initiator and Chairman of OstalbBürgerEnergie eG. Together with the institution of higher education in Rottenburg and the local citizen energy cooperative "Erneuerbare Energien Rottenburg eG" as well as the implementation partner, Überlandzentrale Wörth/I.-Altheim AG, solutions were developed and tested in close coordination with the energy industry management expert Dr. Karlheinz Bozem on how the business models of citizen energy cooperatives and small and medium-sized Energy companies can be further developed in a sustainable manner.
Initially, the research focused on analyzing the current situation of community energy cooperatives. To this end, 150 citizen energy cooperatives in Baden-Württemberg were surveyed. 60 citizen energy cooperatives took part in the survey. The participation rate of 40% is encouragingly high. 83% of the cooperatives that took part in the survey base their business model on feeding electricity from renewable energy attachments (RES) into the grid in return for remuneration/payment under the EEG. In terms of future challenges, 85% of community energy cooperatives expect major to medium challenges in terms of adapting their business models. In addition to the need to further develop their business models, almost 80% of cooperatives face challenges with regard to the professionalization of executive management. The majority of the cooperatives surveyed also believe that the time (98%) and expertise (87%) of those working on a voluntary basis and the enormous amount of regulation (97%) are overstretched.
Future opportunities are seen in the construction and operation of charging stations for e-mobility, district heating networks and participation in ground-mounted PV systems, among other things. In some cases, community energy cooperatives can imagine getting involved in tenant electricity and contracting projects. In order to market the electricity from self-operated or member-operated renewable energy attachments in a meaningful way, entry into electricity trading or direct marketing is also seen (approx. 80%). This is precisely where Prof. Dr. Anna Nagl from the Aalen University of Applied Sciences, the President of the Rottenburg University of Applied Sciences, Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Bastian Kaiser and energy economics expert Dr. Karlheinz Bozem see a good opportunity for the development of ecologically and economically resilient business models for citizen energy cooperatives. In collaboration, cooperation with OstalbBürgerEnergie eG (OBE) and erneuerbare Energien Rottenburg eG and under the academic leadership of the institutions of higher education, the research project objective was defined: "Through the platform-based bundling and marketing of renewable electricity generated in the region, we are creating a sustainable guarantee of success for citizen energy cooperatives and home-based renewable energy entrepreneurs."
As none of the platform applications that use artificial intelligence to meet the requirements of community energy cooperatives and small and medium-sized energy companies are available on the market at financially justifiable prices, a customized platform was developed based on the basic business model developed as part of this research project. The key features of the platform to be developed are the bundling of the renewable electricity generated, which is then to be sold to the cooperative members and/or other customers who demand electricity. Shortfalls and surpluses in electricity are to be balanced out through collaboration, cooperation with regional/local energy companies, e.g. as balancing group managers. It is considered particularly important to predict the expected production and consumption volumes as accurately as possible. In order to achieve this, forecasts based on artificial intelligence (AI) are helpful, whereby weather forecasts and calendar events (weekdays, public vacations, vacations, etc.) in particular must be taken into account. For this purpose, the expertise of Professor Dr. Carsten Lecon and academic staff member Christina Neufeld from Aalen University of Applied Sciences was used. The forecast accuracy is 0.99 on a scale of 0-1 and can therefore be described as very good. The practice-orientated, with vocational-technical orientation, testing and implementation of the developments of this research project took place at the medium-sized energy company ÜZW AG under the Management of Andreas Ensinger, authorized signatory and Technical Head /Director.
The business ideas and the platform developed were presented by the project team to citizen energy cooperatives as part of a web seminar at the Baden-Württemberg Cooperative Association. The basic platform developed in the research project is available free of charge as an "open-source solution" to all interested community energy cooperatives and home-based renewable energy entrepreneurs.
The basic version of the platform was presented as part of the final presentation at VR-Bank Ostalb eG. This allows electricity consumers (members of community energy cooperatives or customers of municipal utilities) and electricity suppliers (e.g. PV system operators) to register as customers via the platform and then purchase or supply guaranteed "green regional electricity".
In her statement, the project manager of this inter-university [Adjektiv] project partnership, Prof. Dr. Anna Nagl, points to the Skills now available at Aalen University of Applied Sciences, which make it possible to develop such sustainable solutions. According to Nagl, this expertise is not only used to develop platforms for energy companies. Rather, this technology can also be successfully applied in other business areas, e.g. in innovative transportation topics in the form of intelligent commuter apps.
For the Baden-Württemberg Cooperative Association, however, the application developed here is particularly important for citizen energy cooperatives, as it provides important impetus for citizen energy cooperatives to further develop their business models, as Lucas Winkler, the person responsible for this area, emphasized.
In his statement, Roderich Kiesewetter, Member of the Bundestag, emphasized the importance of energy cooperatives and the participation of citizens for the success of the energy transition. This project shows what is possible when interested citizens and the Universities of Applied Sciences work together effectively, he said. In addition, the current political situation in Europe shows how important a largely self-sufficient energy supply is.
For state and federal politics, the project result shows how effectively public funds can be used in cooperation, cooperative venture, partnership, collaboration between science and practice; practical experience. The basic platform developed as an "open-source application" is thus available free of charge to citizen energy cooperatives and small and medium-sized energy companies for use and can be further developed by these companies in line with their own requirements.
Energy industry expert Dr. Karlheinz Bozem was very pleased that a practice-orientated, with vocational-technical orientation, research project had succeeded in demonstrating ways in which the business models of community energy cooperatives and regional and local energy companies can be innovatively developed. This will make a significant contribution to the success of the local energy transition.
