How to utilize energy communities in the future in Finland

Abstract

Energy communities play an important role in making the shift to fully green electricity production easier. Energy communities are considered as one of the key components for achieving the EU's energy transition by 2050.The purpose and goal of this thesis was to increase knowledge about energy companies at Tietoevry as a basis for development of new solutions in the energy sector. At the same time the thesis gathered information on the current state of energy communities in selected EU countries and how energy communities could be utilized in the future in Finland. The objective was to study the definition of energy communities, benefits, challenges, and what is the current status of existing energy communities in Finland and in the selected EU countries and what kind of business models could be used with energy communities. The thesis was done for Tietoevry Oyj.

The research method of this thesis was qualitative research with literature review. The research was conducted by utilizing electronically accessible analyses, reports, legislation, websites and other sources. Results related to the research subject and research question were achieved through document analysis. The thesis explored an overview of energy communities in Finland and in the selected top six EU countries. Based on that overview, a summary of potential actions to improve energy community utilization in Finland was presented. Improvement actions were divided into six different categories. Those categories are financial aspects, energy system model-ling, increasing knowledge, software systems, acting with new roles and geographical location. The thesis also presented what kind of business models could be used with energy communities and how energy communities in Finland could generate more revenue in the future.

The research results showed that it is obvious that changes in current legislation are needed so that the number of energy communities in Finland can be increased. The only improvement that can be implemented immediately is related to knowledge sharing.