Por Rodrigo Barraza, Investigador SERC Chile – UAI

Generating our own energy is not an illusion. Research is advancing, and today we can speak of Peer to Peer (P2P) systems, which operate under a scheme of households acting as prosumers, with the capacity to generate their own electricity, whether through solar panels or as electricity consumers.

Para poder implementar esta tecnología se requiere cierto grado de inversión inicial. Primero, sería necesario equipar los hogares con dispositivos y sensores inteligentes para monitorear en tiempo real el estado de los sistemas eléctricos y térmicos y hacer estimaciones de las cargas térmicas de climatización, calefacción y agua caliente sanitaria. Luego, se tendría que implementar un sistema de comunicación resiliente y confiable entre estos dispositivos, tanto a nivel local como entre los hogares, para coordinar de manera eficiente las transacciones energéticas entre hogares. Además, se deben desarrollar modelos inteligentes para la correcta predicción del comportamiento de la generación y el consumo energético, como también modelos de blockchain para llevar a cabo las transacciones en tiempo real, lo cual requiere la intervención de expertos y asesorías especializadas. Sumar finalmente, el costo asociado a la operación del sistema, incluyendo el mantenimiento periódico de software y hardware. 

Now, despite the initial cost, in the long term, the savings in energy consumption and electricity bills, along with improvements in the profitability of distributed generation projects, would offset these higher initial costs. From an energy perspective, levels of self-consumption and self-sufficiency in communities would increase, reducing dependence on grid energy during peak consumption periods. This would benefit the transmission system by reducing its load and would improve environmental sustainability, as the P2P system allows for transactions of surplus electricity from the prosumer to a consumer at an advantageous selling price (higher than if sold to the power grid) and allows the consumer to purchase this electricity at a lower price than they would from the grid. Thus, this technology can align with local policies to improve sustainability, energy efficiency, energy decentralization, and the utilization of the vast solar resource in certain areas of the country.

A case study in Viña del Mar, conducted in a community of four households with 50% photovoltaic penetration, indicates that after implementing a P2P market that integrates smart control of residential thermal loads, the current self-consumption rate of 57% could increase to 91%. That is, currently nearly half of the generation is injected into the public grid, whereas with this technology, less than 10% would be injected. Furthermore, the current self-sufficiency rate of 27% could increase to 45%, where slightly less than half of the local demand would be met by distributed generation projects. In Chile, for this to occur, regulatory changes are required, as is a transition toward smart communities that maintain continuous monitoring and control of their energy generation and consumption. To facilitate its implementation, research and the development of pilot projects must continue to demonstrate the benefits of this technology at a local level and persuade authorities to adopt regulatory and technological modifications.