How can Sweden’s housing cooperatives better participate in the energy transition? This is no easy task, as systems are fragmented and getting started is costly. In addition, the tools available are often designed for a completely different target group. ENERBridge puts the pieces together.

Energy communities enable smaller property owners, such as housing cooperatives, to participate in and contribute to the energy transition. But for this to work, building control systems, energy resources, and electricity grid operators need to be able to communicate with one another. That is easier said than done.

Today, housing cooperatives face a frustrating reality: fragmented and diverse technical systems, dependence on individual suppliers, costly start-up processes, and tools that require technical expertise most cooperatives do not have. Those who want to compare their energy use with that of neighboring buildings, optimize their heat pumps, or share self-generated electricity often encounter obstacles that are difficult to overcome.

Supporting energy communities
ENERBridge builds on experience from the collaboration with the Hammarby Sjöstad Energy Community, comprising ten housing cooperatives with approximately 1,000 apartments in total. The project now takes a comprehensive approach to the technical and business-related barriers that have slowed the energy transition for housing cooperatives.

The project is developing a scalable method, supported by artificial intelligence, to facilitate the integration and connection of data and energy resources from building control systems, regardless of supplier.

It is also developing tools that translate complex technical data into easy-to-understand measures of energy use and sustainability, tailored to users without a technical background.

Furthermore, the project is developing a concept for an open and secure data solution that is not tied to a specific supplier, can run on standard hardware, and enables artificial intelligence to be used directly in buildings. The project is also developing business models and incentives for sharing data and providing energy services within energy communities, creating clear benefits for housing cooperatives, electricity grid companies, and suppliers alike. The Hammarby Sjöstad Energy Community serves as a pilot environment and reference case for scaling the work both in Sweden and internationally.

Objectives and results
• Reduce the costs and technical barriers to connecting data and energy resources in housing cooperatives and energy communities. The aim is to make it easier for cooperative boards and residents to understand and improve their energy use.

• Enable energy services that balance the load on the electricity grid, facilitate the sharing of locally generated energy, and create demand-side flexibility.

• Develop a replicable model that can be rolled out to more energy communities, both in Sweden and internationally.

ElectriCITY leads the work on business models and knowledge dissemination and acts as a link between research, housing cooperatives, and energy communities.

The results will be shared through energy conferences, collaborative platforms and meeting places, scientific publications, and platforms such as Stockholm Green Innovation District, with the aim of reaching housing cooperatives, municipalities, and stakeholders in the European market.