Conceptual Modeling in Support of Economic and Regulatory Viability Assessment - A Reality Check on the Example of Developing an Energy Community

This paper offers an assessment of the extent to which conceptual modeling can be used for a conjoint assessment of regulatory and economic viability of new projects in the electricity sector, with a particular focus on developing energy communities. To this end, we establish a set of challenges resulting out of a confrontation of, on the one hand, the observed relevance of conjointly assessing the regulatory and economic viability for electricity sector projects, and on the other hand, the fact that no dedicated efforts exist which explicitly target such a conjoint assessment. Then, using a realistic scenario we show how two selected conceptual modeling languages can be used for a conjoint assessment: Legal GRL, for regulatory viability, and e \(^{3}\) value, for economic viability. Finally, we discuss lessons learned from our experience, among others, a need for a taxonomy for energy sector specific regulation and the use of value network patterns.