Renewable Energy Communities (RECs) have been defined as modes of collective prosumership under the Renewable Energy Directive (RED II). We evaluate the benefits offered by RECs and the barriers and enablers impacting their uptake. Germany is taken as a case study for a novel multi-disciplinary assessment of a potential REC intended as a climate-neutral, mixed-use district. We found that energy cooperatives may not be suited to form RECs, but the future may see an uptake of innovative organizational structures such as the Consumer Stock Ownership Plan. It has been shown that a high degree of prosumership can provide technical and economic benefits with maximum greenhouse gas savings of 35% and a maximum self-consumption share of 61% compared to no prosumership. The REC has a negative Net Present Value (NPV) after 25 years of operation and lacks financial attractiveness. A positive NPV is only possible by using the cost savings from prosumership to recoup the investments faster. RECs are a promising mode of citizen participation in the energy transition; however, for their application in Germany, together with the currently missing regulatory allowance of sharing energy between small-scale parties over a public grid, dedicated subsidies, one-time grants or price support for operators are needed.

Citizens are set to play an active role in the energy transition by transforming from ‘passive’ consumers to ‘active’ prosumers. Renewable Energy Communities (RECs) are envisioned as modes of collective prosumership by citizens under the Renewable Energy Directive of 2018 (RED II). A holistic understanding of RECs is essential to identify the benefits and challenges of collective prosumership. RECs have been the topic of several modelling studies, but a single model that simulates RECs from an integrated perspective—combining technical, economic and ecological analysis—is absent. Wide variability in the indicators discourages comparison of the results across studies. This article builds on the existing knowledge by proposing an integrated model to undertake a multi-disciplinary assessment of a potential REC. First, the proposed model analyses the technical possibilities of collective prosumership using energy flow analysis based on consumption and generation profiles. Second, the model evaluates the economic impacts of prosumership from two perspectives: from the consumers’ perspective (in terms of the annual cost of energy consumption) and from an investor’s perspective (in terms of the net present value of the investment). Thirdly, the model quantifies the annual greenhouse gas emissions of energy consumption (expressed in CO${}_2$ equivalent) to evaluate the ecological impact of prosumership. Lastly, a set of key performance indicators (KPIs) are proposed that can be used to interpret and compare the results of simulations and are mapped to the actors in the REC in line with their objectives. The proposed approach offers a single, replicable model that can be used to simulate RECs in the different Member States of the European Union. The KPIs can be used to compare the impact of combinations of various prosumership activities within the same REC or to compare two different RECs on the benefits offered vis-a-vis the investments incurred. The KPIs also offer insights into the aligning and conflicting objectives of the stakeholders of the REC.