Positive Energy Districts: Transforming Urban Areas into High Efficiency Districts with Local Renewable Generation and Storage

Positive Energy Districts (PED) are areas within cities that are capable of generating more renewable energy than they consume. This is only possible if urban energy end-use is very low, which requires high efficiency in the building, industry and transportation sectors. PEDs should not only aim to achieve an annual surplus of net energy, but should carefully manage such surpluses so that no additional stress is placed on the electrical distribution and transmission networks. As PEDs should become the standard for a zero carbon future, scaling is important and it is no longer sufficient to consider the grids having infinite storage capacity. Such smart energy management includes offering options for onsite load-matching, self-consumption, and short and long-term storage. Smart control and energy flexibility are required to match demand with local production, and to maximize the usefulness of PEDs on the grid at large. The transition of urban areas towards carbon neutral communities has an intrinsic multisector dimension. Not only does it embrace a synchronized development of technologies, public participation and user engagement, but also requires the development of a new economic paradigm and tailored business models.

This Research Topic aims to unravel an in-depth understanding of PED, including emission counting methods, and resilience and flexibility metrics. It hopes to develop guidance on the implementation of the necessary technical solutions on a district and infrastructure level. Such solutions should be replicated and gradually scaled up to the city level, giving emphasis to the interaction of flexible assets at a district level, and include the analysis of economic and socially just and participative solutions. Additionally, this Research Topic intends to explore novel technical and service opportunities related to monitoring solutions, big data, data management, smart control and digitalization technologies as enablers of PEDs. Furthermore, guidance should be developed for the planning and implementation of PEDs, including both technical and urban planning. This includes economic, social and environmental impact assessments for various alternative development paths.

We welcome contributions that explore the following topics related to PED:
• Modeling, simulation and optimization tools for PED planning and operation
• Local renewable generation and storage
• Flexibility, resilience and emission metrics of PED
• Urban planning concepts for PED
• Big data analytics and smart control strategies
• Innovative transportation concepts for PED
• Green industry in low carbon cities
• Case studies and demonstration projects
• Stakeholder involvement and public engagement
• Financing concepts and business models
• Social equity and inclusion in PEDs