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Renewable Energy Communities in Islands: A Maltese Case Study

Author

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  • Alexander Micallef

    (Department of Industrial Electrical Power Conversion, University of Malta, MSD 2080 Msida, Malta)

  • Cyril Spiteri Staines

    (Department of Industrial Electrical Power Conversion, University of Malta, MSD 2080 Msida, Malta)

  • John Licari

    (Department of Industrial Electrical Power Conversion, University of Malta, MSD 2080 Msida, Malta)

Abstract

Renewable energy communities are considered as key elements for transforming the present fossil fuel-based energy systems of islands into renewable-based energy systems. This study shows how renewable energy communities can be deployed in the Maltese context to achieve higher penetration of residential-scale photovoltaic systems. Case studies for five renewable energy communities in the Maltese LV distribution network have been analyzed in detail. A novel community battery energy storage sizing strategy was proposed to determine the optimal storage capacity at each energy community. The main objective of the community battery storage in each REC is to minimize the reverse power injection in the grid (minimize the total reverse energy and reverse peak power values), as well as to reduce the peak evening electricity demand. The optimal sizes for communal BESSs were determined to be of 57 kWh (EC 1), 55 kWh (EC 2), 31 kWh (EC 3), 37 kWh (EC 4) and 10 kWh (EC 5), respectively. The community storage systems were observed to reduce the overall impact of all five energy communities on the grid infrastructure. Power system simulations were performed for a typical spring day to evaluate the impact of communal BESS placement on the node voltages for all five energy communities. The results showed that the community storage was more effective at reducing the node rms voltage magnitudes when deployed at the end of the respective energy communities, rather than at the beginning of the community. During peak generation hours, reductions of up to 0.48% in the node rms voltage magnitudes were observed. This contrasts with reductions of only 0.19% when the community storage was deployed at the beginning of the energy communities.

Suggested Citation

  • Alexander Micallef & Cyril Spiteri Staines & John Licari, 2022. "Renewable Energy Communities in Islands: A Maltese Case Study," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-21, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:15:y:2022:i:24:p:9518-:d:1004271
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Felice, Alex & Rakocevic, Lucija & Peeters, Leen & Messagie, Maarten & Coosemans, Thierry & Ramirez Camargo, Luis, 2022. "Renewable energy communities: Do they have a business case in Flanders?," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 322(C).
    2. Alexander Micallef & Cyril Spiteri Staines & Alan Cassar, 2022. "Utility-Scale Storage Integration in the Maltese Medium-Voltage Distribution Network," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-20, April.
    3. Herenčić, Lin & Kirac, Mislav & Keko, Hrvoje & Kuzle, Igor & Rajšl, Ivan, 2022. "Automated energy sharing in MV and LV distribution grids within an energy community: A case for Croatian city of Križevci with a hybrid renewable system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 191(C), pages 176-194.
    4. Daniele Menniti & Anna Pinnarelli & Nicola Sorrentino & Pasquale Vizza & Giuseppe Barone & Giovanni Brusco & Stefano Mendicino & Luca Mendicino & Gaetano Polizzi, 2022. "Enabling Technologies for Energy Communities: Some Experimental Use Cases," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-26, August.
    5. Dimitris Al. Katsaprakakis & Antonia Proka & Dimitris Zafirakis & Markos Damasiotis & Panos Kotsampopoulos & Nikos Hatziargyriou & Eirini Dakanali & George Arnaoutakis & Dimitrios Xevgenos, 2022. "Greek Islands’ Energy Transition: From Lighthouse Projects to the Emergence of Energy Communities," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-34, August.
    6. Robin Sudhoff & Sebastian Schreck & Sebastian Thiem & Stefan Niessen, 2022. "Operating Renewable Energy Communities to Reduce Power Peaks in the Distribution Grid: An Analysis on Grid-Friendliness, Different Shares of Participants, and Economic Benefits," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-18, July.
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    Cited by:

    1. Kris Scicluna & Brian Azzopardi & Kurt Spiteri, 2023. "Power Quality Analysis for Light-Duty Electric Vehicles: A Case Study in Malta," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(15), pages 1-13, July.

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