The Strategic Role of Batteries in Energy Communities

Maximizing Collective Self-Consumption Through Intelligent Storage

Renewable energy communities are multiplying across Belgium and Europe, driven by the desire of citizens, businesses, and local authorities to regain control of their energy production. However, a major challenge persists: the mismatch between solar production and consumption.

Photovoltaic panels mainly produce between 10 AM and 4 PM, while consumption peaks occur early in the morning and evening. Without storage solutions, a large portion of this precious solar energy is sold back to the grid at low prices, while electricity is purchased at premium rates during peak hours.

Battery storage changes the game dramatically, allowing locally produced energy to be stored for optimal consumption timing. At WeSmart, we support 7 projects in battery management and optimization in 2024-2025, and the results are clear: 25 to 35 percentage point increase in self-consumption and substantial savings for all participants.

In this article, discover how batteries are transforming energy communities into truly autonomous and intelligent systems.

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Why Integrate Batteries into an Energy Community?

The Problem: Desynchronized Solar Production and Consumption

In a typical solar installation without storage, production follows the sun's curve:

• 10 AM-4 PM: maximum production, but often low consumption
• 6-9 AM and 6-10 PM: consumption peaks, little or no solar production
• Night: no solar production, grid electricity consumption

This structural mismatch limits the collective self-consumption rate to 30-40% in most projects without storage. The rest of the produced energy is:

1. Injected into the grid at often paltry buyback prices (€0.03-0.08/kWh depending on regions)
2. Economically lost, since electricity will be purchased later at grid rates (€0.25-0.35/kWh)

The Solution: Intelligent Batteries Serving the Community

A battery integrated into your energy community acts as a temporal reservoir:

✅ Storage of solar surplus produced during the day

✅ Automatic redistribution during demand peaks

✅ Real-time optimization based on weather and consumption patterns

✅ Maximization of self-consumption by keeping energy within the community

Concrete result: our battery-manage and optimize projects regularly achieve 60 to 75% collective self-consumption, compared to 30-40% without storage.

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WeSmart's 7 Battery Management Projects: Measured Results

Our 7 recent battery installations cover different types of projects: residential condominiums, commercial sites, business parks, and mixed buildings. Each configuration is unique, but all share similar and measurable benefits.

Example 1: Greenbizz.energy in Brussels - 100% Autonomous Business Park

Greenbizz.energy is an energy community located in a business park in Brussels, bringing together 11 SMEs around a shared solar installation of 356 kWp. This project perfectly illustrates the strategic role of a battery in a commercial context.

Project Characteristics

• Location: Brussels, Belgium
• Type: Collective energy community for SMEs
• Participants: 11 companies (Buildwise, Citydev.brussels, Gudule Winery, L'amère En Fût, Poppy, Snappies, and others)
• Solar production: 356 kWp installed
• Annual production: ~206 MWh/year
• Collective consumption: ~161 MWh/year
• Self-consumption rate: 100% (thanks to storage and optimization)
• Managed surplus: ~45 MWh/year stored and redistributed

Measured Economic Impact

With the integrated battery controlled via our Nexgen platform, Greenbizz.energy achieves exceptional results:

• Maximum collective self-consumption: 100% of produced energy consumed locally
• Zero grid resale at a loss: all production is valued within the community
• Estimated annual savings: €8,000 to €12,000 for all participants
• Battery return on investment: 7-9 years (with Brussels regional subsidies)

"Greenbizz.energy, managed via the WeSmart platform, allows us to efficiently share our photovoltaic production with the SMEs in our park. It's an excellent example of collaboration between technological innovation and responsible entrepreneurship."

— Luc De Weerdt, CEO, Brussels Greenbizz SA

Example 2: Sibelgas Groene Energie - Batteries in Every Municipality

Sibelgas Groene Energie represents a unique model of multi-municipal battery storage deployment. This ambitious project by the Sibelgas network operator covers several municipalities in the Brussels periphery: Grimbergen, Machelen, Meise, Vilvoorde, and Wemmel.

A Decentralized Deployment Model

Unlike a centralized project, Sibelgas made the strategic choice to install one battery in each participating municipality, creating a distributed energy storage network.

Project characteristics:

• Geographic coverage: 5+ municipalities in Flemish Brabant
• Total solar production: ~245 kWp distributed across different sites
• Model: Decentralized batteries at the municipal level
• Centralized management: Coordinated control via the WeSmart platform

Advantages of the Multi-Municipal Model

This decentralized approach offers several advantages:

1. Increased resilience: A failure at one site doesn't affect other municipalities
2. Local optimization: Each battery adapts to its municipality's specific consumption profiles
3. Territorial equity: Each municipality directly benefits from its own storage
4. Scalability: Easy addition of new municipalities to the network

This innovative model proves that batteries can adapt to complex institutional contexts, while maintaining unified management through the intelligence of our platforms.

Enhanced Autonomy and Resilience

Beyond financial aspects, batteries bring reinforced energy autonomy:

1. Protection against price volatility: less dependence on the grid during tariff peaks
2. Local energy reserve: capacity to absorb production and consumption variations
3. Contribution to grid stability: peak demand smoothing, beneficial for the grid operator

According to the Walloon regulator CWaPE, energy communities with storage actively contribute to the energy transition and stability of the Belgian electricity grid.

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How WeSmart Intelligently Optimizes Your Batteries

Artificial Intelligence and Weather Forecasts

Our technology doesn't just "blindly charge and discharge" the battery. We use a predictive and intelligent approach via our three complementary platforms:

1. QuickScan: Optimal Sizing

Before any installation, our AI-powered analysis tool evaluates:

• The technical feasibility of your project
• The precise sizing of the required battery (capacity in kWh)
• The return on investment according to your consumption profile
• Available subsidies and grants in your region

Result: a personalized recommendation in less than 5 minutes.

2. Nexgen: Management and Optimization

Once installed, your battery is continuously controlled by Nexgen thanks to:

• 48-hour weather forecasts: anticipation of solar production
• Machine learning: analysis of your community's consumption habits
• Tariff optimization: priority discharge during peak hours
• Multi-flow management: coordination with EV charging stations, heat pumps, etc.

3. EMS (Energy Management System): Real-Time Control

For monitoring and real-time operational control, our EMS platform offers:

• Instant visualization of energy flows (production, consumption, storage)
• Direct battery charge level control
• Intelligent alerts in case of anomaly or required maintenance
• Automatic recommendations to optimize performance
• Detailed history of achieved savings and avoided carbon impact

This triple approach (analysis → optimization → real-time control) ensures that every kilowatt-hour produced and stored is maximized.

Transparent Monitoring for All Participants

Each member of your community can view in real-time via the EMS interface:

📊 Battery charge level (percentage and available kWh)

⚡ Energy stored and returned minute by minute

💰 Savings achieved (comparison with/without battery)

🌱 Avoided carbon impact (kg of CO2 not emitted thanks to self-consumption)

This total transparency strengthens participant engagement and satisfaction, a key success factor we observe in our 44 active solar installations across Belgium and France.

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The Future of Energy Communities: Storage and Intelligence

The 7 batteries we have installed in recent months are just the beginning. Energy storage is becoming a standard in high-performing energy communities, transforming simple production sharing into a truly intelligent and autonomous ecosystem.

Trends We Observe

1. Second-life batteries: reuse of electric vehicle batteries for stationary storage (30-40% cost reduction)
2. Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G): use of electric car batteries as temporary community storage
3. Hydrogen storage: for large installations, complementarity of lithium batteries (short-term) + hydrogen (long-term)
4. Advanced AI: even more precise consumption forecasts through machine learning

Toward Local Energy Autonomy

Our vision at WeSmart: 100% autonomous energy communities, capable of:

• Producing their own solar electricity
• Storing surplus in intelligent batteries
• Sharing energy fairly among participants
• Controlling in real-time via AI to optimize each flow
• Progressively freeing themselves from grid price volatility

This transition is already underway. Greenbizz.energy in Brussels is living proof: 100% collective self-consumption thanks to the combination of solar production + storage + artificial intelligence.

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Conclusion: Batteries, Pillar of Collective Self-Consumption

The benefits of batteries in energy communities are now proven and measurable:

✅ +25 to +35 percentage points of self-consumption on average (or even 100% like Greenbizz)

✅ 40 to 60% savings on the collective energy bill

✅ Property value enhancement: a competitive advantage for your building

✅ Environmental impact: each self-consumed kWh avoids 0.2 kg of CO2

✅ Autonomy and resilience in the face of energy crises

Your Project Deserves Personalized Analysis

Each energy community is unique. The optimal battery size depends on:

• Your solar production (installed kWp)
• Your consumption profiles (residential, commercial, mixed)
• Your budget and available subsidies in your region
• Your objectives (maximize self-consumption, resilience, profitability)

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Ready to Evaluate Your Project's Storage Potential?

🚀 Launch Your Free 5-Minute Assessment

👉 Free QuickScan: AI evaluation of your project with battery sizing

📊 Discover Our Intelligent Platforms

👉 Nexgen: management and optimization of your energy community

👉 EMS: real-time control of your energy flows

💬 Contact Our Team of Experts

Need personalized support? Our energy engineers are at your disposal to:

• Analyze your project in detail
• Present a live demo of our platforms
• Advise you on available subsidies and grants
• Connect you with our partner installers

📧 contact@wesmart.com

📞 +32 (0)2 588 18 25

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The future of energy is local, shared, and stored. With WeSmart, you have all the keys to access it.