The idea of an energy community is to get shared production equipment, such as solar panels, for an apartment building. When an energy community is established, a percentage of the share is determined for each apartment in a housing cooperative. This share determines how surplus electricity is distributed among the apartments, i.e., the members of the energy community.

In the past, electricity produced by solar panels could be used primarily as real estate electricity for shared spaces in an apartment block or a terraced house, for example, for lighting. Now, energy communities enable electricity produced by solar panels to also directly benefit the residents of individual apartments, i.e., the members of the energy community.

An energy community within a property only manages the consumption and production places of use for a single electricity connection and it only applies to energy produced and consumed within the property. The energy of the energy community is not transmitted beyond the service point of the distribution network, and it does not pass through the distribution network. An energy community reduces the need for its members to buy electricity, which increases energy self-sufficiency.

The community can only be established within the same connection, which means that all of the places of use within the community must be on the same connection.

Establishing an energy community is free and the community to be established must be in the network area of Oulun Energia Sähköverkko Oy. All of the places of use to be connected must be part of the same electricity connection. One connection may contain more than one energy community. A single place of use may belong to only one community at a time.

The benefits of an energy community

An energy community produces electricity for both a housing cooperative and its residents. Self-produced electricity is not subject to the electricity network service fee or duty on electricity, which also reduces the network service electricity invoice.

Electricity produced by personal solar power plants is completely clean local energy. It is electricity that is completely renewable and free of a carbon footprint, which reduces the carbon footprint of both the housing cooperative and its residents.

SMA or SMB distribution

When an energy community produces more electricity than it needs, the distribution of surplus electricity and revenue from sales can take place using either the SMA or SMB model.

SMA

In the SMA distribution model, surplus electricity and the revenue from its sale are directed to the place of use where the electricity was originally produced. For example, in apartment blocks and terraced houses, this usually means the housing cooperative that owns the solar panels. This requires the production place of use, the place the solar panels are located, to have a valid contract for the sale of surplus electricity.

SMB

In the SMB distribution model, surplus electricity and revenue from its sale is distributed to all the places of use of an energy community, i.e., its residents, according to mutually agreed distribution grounds. This means that the residents of the community share the revenue from the sale of surplus electricity according to mutually agreed grounds. Each resident must have their own sale of surplus electricity contract to ensure a fair distribution of revenue.

An energy community can choose the distribution model itself when establishing the community.

How does one establish an energy community in a housing cooperative?

Either a local energy community or a group of active customers may establish an energy community.

Local energy community:

• The community is represented by a single legal entity who manages all matters within an energy community on behalf of the other members.
• A local energy community cannot be established without this representative legal entity with a Business ID.

Group of active customers:

• The end users of an energy community do not act through a legal entity, but agree on their mutual responsibilities and obligations together and communicate with the network operator through their designated representative.
• A single free-form power of attorney signed by all the members of the energy community specifying the rights of the representative contact person must be submitted to the network operator.
• An energy community’s members may consist of legal entities (e.g., companies) and natural persons (e.g., private residents).

Acting as the representative of an energy community:

The customer is required to submit the power of attorney or the housing cooperative’s decision on establishing an energy community or a group of active customers.

In order to establish a group of active customers, the members of an energy community must sign and submit a single power of attorney or the housing cooperative’s decision on the matter that gives someone the right to act as a representative of the community.

A representative of an energy community is entitled to notify the distribution network operator in matters concerning the energy community on behalf of the members of the community. The representative is also responsible for ensuring that the distribution network operator always has the contractual and up-to-date information on the energy community.

In addition, the representative is responsible for informing the other end-users of the energy community about matters relating to the energy community and about possible changes in the energy community.

What to do:

The representative provides the shares of energy produced by places of use. You can find an Excel template for this at the bottom of this page. Submit the completed Excel as an attachment to the establishing an energy community form that can be found on this page.

The sum of the shares of energy must total 100.00%. The shares must be reported rounded to two decimal places (e.g., 33.33%). The shares for different places of use do not need to be equal.

Oulun Energia Sähköverkko Oy establishes the production place of use identifiers for the chosen distribution model, SMA or SMB, and sends them to the representative of the energy community. We process the establishment of an energy community within approximately 7–14 working days. The representative distributes them to each member of the energy community so that they can sign purchase contracts with their own electricity suppliers.

For more information about establishing an energy community, please contact verkkopalvelut@oulunenergia.fi.