Design and Operational Indicators to Foster the Transition of Existing Renewable Energy Communities towards Positive Energy Districts

Renewable energy communities occupy a critical position in catalysing the energy transition within urban areas, while simultaneously making substantial contributions towards the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals outlined in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015. Positive Energy Districts are also gaining momentum, emerging as a concept of growing interest among researchers and urban planners. Renewable energy communities and positive energy districts are both expressions of sustainable urban energy forms, yet there is the need to evaluate if a renewable energy community could be considered a positive energy district and under which conditions this transition will occur. To this end, a holistic framework examining the transition from existing renewable energy communities to positive energy districts is proposed and characterized by focused indicators, serving as critical instruments to conduct a tailored evaluation and characterization. Results demonstrate that the transition can be achieved by increasing the renewable energy installations in the area by 20 %.