How a group of apartments can buy heat pumps together and act as an energy community – REPLACE case study and event in North Macedonia

In the period between March and July 2022 a specially designed pre-feasibility study for an existing building was conducted: It assess the economic feasibility of a group of apartments collectively purchasing inverter heat pumps (HP) and photovoltaics (PVs) and acting as an energy community that shares electricity internally.

The study covers many details, starting with a developed methodology and definition of the criteria for building selection. Then the process of gathering data for the selected building followed. Additionally, some analysis was carried out such as a PV system analysis with PVSOL, a calculation to replace heating systems with the REPLACE calculator and a net present value (NPV) and environmental analysis. The results showed the electricity generation, CO2 and investment costs with the proposed system.

In order to disseminate those results and to present the case study, SDEWES-Skopje and KAGoP region stakeholder organised a seminar on the 31st of January 2023, as a full day event in Skopje. A total of 35 participants were present, representing different types of stakeholders, such as public sector representatives on governmental and local level, NGOs, PV companies, end-users, academia, etc. The event was structured in three parts: The first part covered 3 presentations about the decarbonization of heating and cooling sector, collective actions as a catalyst of the energy transition and collective actions for self-consumption in a building – a case study in Karposh. In the second part, digital tools in renewable heating and cooling (RHC) were presented, as well as the concept of energy sharing in renewable energy communities from a European perspective. The event was concluded with a panel discussion with four panellists and Q&A from the audience.

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