Community Energy

Community energy with smart energy flow management is a modern model for sharing electricity between several participants within an energy community. It uses local renewable sources, energy storage, predictive algorithms and data platforms to optimise the consumption, generation and storage of energy. Smart management allows buildings to adjust how they operate, spreads the load on the grid more evenly and makes each participant more self-sufficient. In the Czech Republic, this innovation is so far being tested mainly in pilot projects. While the technologies already work and are available, the administrative and contractual framework for community energy is still taking shape.

The innovation builds on the European trend towards decentralised energy and on support for energy communities (RED II, Clean Energy Package) and active customers. It contributes to climate neutrality and strengthens regional resilience and energy security. Using flexibility in energy consumption is also important for integrating renewable sources.

A smart solution with savings of up to 20%

The technology uses smart meters, sensors, battery storage, control systems, forecasting algorithms and platforms for managing energy flows. The key is the ability to measure and respond almost in real time. Standard systems at the Electricity Data Centre (EDC) provide data with a delay of 24 hours or more, but flexibility requires data with minimal delay (no more than a few minutes). The system brings PV, batteries, appliances and infrastructure together into a single control layer.

Optimised management delivers savings of up to 20%. Control solutions on the market ideally work with data intervals of a few minutes (and at least 15-minute intervals as standard). To balance the load over time, it helps to involve several types of facilities with different load profiles, such as schools, healthcare facilities, social services and administrative buildings.

Limitations of the Innovation

The main limitation of the innovation is the lack of standardisation, combined with legal uncertainty (for example, around real-time sharing). Putting it into practice is also demanding: it requires buildings to be digitally ready, electricity meters to be upgraded, and a coordination between participants and contracts between them. Pilot testing is currently key, because it will make the approach transferable to other organisations.

Prepared by ICOK, 2025