Challenges and opportunities of technology implementation in energy communities for the provision of electricity service

Facing the challenge of transforming the current energy landscape towards a more sustainable one that helps to reduce greenhouse gases, the energy transition has been considered as the main strategy for reducing CO2 emissions, in which energy communities have begun to play a key role, especially in Europe. Therefore, this paper, through a literature review in the markets that have advanced the most in the implementation of energy communities and interviews with experts in the Colombian electricity market, aims to conduct a qualitative analysis to identify the challenges and opportunities in the implementation of smart contracts to incorporate energy communities in the Colombian energy market. Although opportunities derived from energy communities are evident, such as i) environmental, with the reduction of CO2 emissions, ii) economic, related to obtaining additional income from the sale of surplus energy produced to the system and participating in the demand response mechanism; iii) social, such as mitigating energy poverty and improving the health conditions of households that cook with firewood. However, there are challenges for the implementation of blockchain and smart contracts and one of the main barriers, under the current government, is institutional, increasing legal uncertainty, which has led to a deterioration of incentives and uncertainty for domestic and foreign investors.