Craft IndustryTo make this measure more effective and tailored to the specific context of your company, we recommend that you first perform an overall analysis of your energy situation.
Self-consumption refers to using the electricity that you generate on your own. This approach helps you become less reliant on the energy market and suppliers, insulating you from price fluctuations. For instance, by installing solar panels, you can produce renewable electricity that meets your company’s electrical needs, whether it’s for lighting, powering an EV-charging station, or running other appliances. Additionally, this self-produced energy can also be used to power larger systems like heat pumps.
The following article provides an overview of various self-consumption methods, highlighting their benefits and drawbacks, along with the necessary procedures, available subsidies, and relevant measures.
Self-consumption refers to the direct use of electricity generated by the company itself. By opting for this approach, you can cover part of your electricity needs by producing your own renewable energy. Among renewable energy solutions, photovoltaics (electricity produced from solar energy) is currently the most accessible for most businesses. Self-consumption is therefore a key element in the energy transition.
The self-consumption rate represents the percentage of electricity that is produced and used directly on site. The goal is to maximise this rate by aligning energy consumption as closely as possible with energy production. To do this, it is crucial to adjust electricity consumption patterns to coincide with periods of production, aiming for simultaneity between the two. Intelligent demand-side management (DSM) systems can help optimize this process by identifying the most advantageous times to use energy. Additionally, installing storage batteries allows you to store photovoltaic energy for use during non-production hours.
Self-consumption should not be confused with self-sufficiency, which involves covering 100% of your electricity needs with your own production. Achieving self-sufficiency requires designing and sizing an installation capable of meeting all your electricity demands at all times. However, since most consumers remain connected to the electricity grid, pursuing self-sufficiency can be very costly and is often not a practical or necessary approach.
If a company produces energy, it can also consume it. There are various ways of consuming or sharing your company’s production.
The electricity generated by a building is used directly by its occupants, making the energy producer and consumer the same entity. To maximize the self-consumption rate, it’s important to align energy use as closely as possible with production. If there is surplus electricity, it can either be fed into the grid or stored for later use—either in a solar battery or by powering equipment like a heat pump that charges a buffer tank. Any electricity fed into the grid is compensated at the wholesale market price for that month. During times when production is low or absent, you can draw on stored energy or rely on the electricity grid.
Collective self-consumption means sharing the produced energy:
Collective self-consumption is only possible with a single low-voltage electricity grid operator. The first two cases are exempt from the grid usage tax for shared electricity, and the third case is only exempt if the maximum distance of 100 metres is respected.
The energy is shared based on an allocation scheme to be defined between the members of the sharing group. Agreements must be drawn up with the grid operator and between the members of the sharing group to set up this distribution.
An energy community is possible in two scenarios
By law, an energy community must be set up as a legal entity. With the exception of large companies, any private or legal entity, including public organisations, is eligible. All types of business are permitted. The production plants ( possibly at national level) can be joint or individual.
Individual self-consumption
Autoconsommation collective
Energy community
When you opt for a collective self-consumption system or an energy community, by default the electricity will be shared in proportion to the consumption of the various supply points. However, it is important to know that it is also possible to allocate electricity according to different preferences. The members of the community can also devise a more complex allocation scheme, by giving priority to certain consumers or by defining the allocation percentages themselves.
There are no dedicated subsidies for self-consumption. However, this practice does reduce the amount of electricity you have to buy from your energy supplier. For information on the available subsidies for renewable energy production facilities, please consult the following measure: Installing photovoltaic panels on the roofs of your business.
I would like more information on:
I would like more information on:
