Collective self-consumption

We dedicate this article to one of the most recently regulated forms of self-consumption, which is beginning to gain popularity: collective self-consumption.

One of the things that the past year 2020 has taught us is the importance of self-management of difficulties and challenges, and the solidarity and need to work with others to overcome challenges.

Sometimes, collaborating with others makes things easier, and with photovoltaic self-consumption it is the same. The collective self-consumption modality brings us some advantages and benefits that we can already take advantage of. With this modality, which did not appear as a specific figure until the approval of the Royal Decree 244/2019, several consumers can be associated with the same generation facility or facilities. This effectively generates advantages when it comes to amortising the investment, in addition to the fact that the outlay per owner will be lower.

It is a type of self-consumption that is particularly suitable for residential buildings, business parks and residential areas, such as villages or housing estates. It is a very interesting option to cover the energy consumption of public buildings associated with town councils, or to supply energy cheaply and sustainably to irrigation communities.

As we have already mentioned, RD 244/2019 regulates the administrative, technical and economic conditions for self-consumption of electricity. To take advantage of collective self-consumption, which, like individual self-consumption, has its different connection modalities, it is necessary to comply with a series of requirements. The following summary table explains the possible modalities for collective self-consumption and their main characteristics:

The three conditions for connecting via public grid, at least one of which must be met, are:

  • All consumers must be connected on the low-voltage side of the same transformer substation.
  • The distance between the meters of the generation installation and the consumption is less than 500 metres and they are all connected on the low voltage side.
  • That both the generation facility and the consumption are in the same cadastral reference (they must share the first 14 digits).

In addition, all associated consumers must belong to the same self-consumption modality. The allocation of the energy produced to each of the associated consumers is carried out in accordance with fixed distribution coefficients that have been agreed by all participants through a Distribution Agreement.

Collective self-consumption is undoubtedly a powerful tool to advance in the transition towards a more sustainable and participatory economy, with clean energy from renewable sources.

If you want to know more about collective self-consumption in detail, we recommend the IDAE’s Professional guide to processing self-consumption (Spanish).

If you have any doubts or queries about collective self-consumption, or if you have a project in mind, do not hesitate to contact Intergia, we will be happy to help you!