A plan empowering energy consumers by giving them an active market role through RES energy sharing is part of a broader European Commission proposal for a new market model, to be presented this week.

All households, small and medium-sized enterprises and public-sector entities will be able to participate in RES energy sharing as active consumers, according to the Brussels proposal.

Such consumers, teamed up in groups, will be able to share energy produced by RES units based on private agreements, within an installed capacity limit of 100 MW.

The plan would also permit representatives to undertake the installation, operation, metering and maintenance of RES or storage facilities on behalf of energy-sharing consumer groups.

According to the Brussels proposal, active consumers who either own or rent a power generation facility will have the right to share excess generation and empower other consumers to do the same, or to share renewable generation or storage through co-owned facilities, either directly or through third parties.

RES energy sharing will enable collective consumption of self-generated or stored energy that is fed into the grid by active consumers who operate collectively, the proposal notes.