Co-locating PV and BESS in an energy community of commercial and industrial prosumers

Energy communities (ECs) have strong potential to improve the integration of renewable energy and support regional climate targets. The novelty of this paper is in evaluating the role of co-located photovoltaic (PV) and battery energy storage system (BESS) in enabling EC of commercial and industrial prosumers. The study found that the co-located PV and BESS enabled improvement of the local utilization of PV production, further reducing the need for purchasing electricity. Consecutively, the BESS also reduced the grid feed-in of the electricity, reducing the income from the PV production. In conclusion, a PV-only system in the case area would promote a stronger investment case, than a PV-BESS system. On the other hand, BESS could be used for added technical and social benefits, such as improving energy independence in the EC and increasing the role of energy end-users in the energy transition.