The Energy Collective

The way society perceives energy production and consumption is evolving rapidly. The massive deployment of renewable energy generation capacities and the rise of more proactive energy consumers, the so-called “prosumers”, e.g., households with solar panels and storage capabilities (residential batteries, heat pumps and electric vehicles), challenge common practices across the energy sector. This one has evolved from an integrated hierarchical structure to a more deregulated model, but still not entirely up-to-date with the ongoing transformation of the economy towards more open structures. That transformation may be facilitated by the increased presence of open and collaborative platforms as in various domains of the economy. The benefits of decentralized approaches to energy management are many, and for all actors of the energy system, including better use of existing assets, as well as increased resilience. 
The Energy Collective project envisages a future of ubiquitous energy sharing among prosumers, and among all actors of the electric energy system. In practice this translates to reshaping the current electricity market towards consumer-centric electricity markets. The project will study market design aspects, new paradigms in ICT and grid operation, as well as the institutional and societal aspects of consumer-centric electricity markets.