Abstract
The necessity of the “green revolution” in the field of energetics is not a question anymore; however, switching the current fossil fuel-based energy ecosystem to a fully renewable-based one poses enormous challenges. The historical structure of the present, centralised energy production infrastructure, as well as the fundamentally different characteristics of the three main fields of usage (electricity generation, heating and transportation), are among the most substantial hindering factors. The future energy system has to be much more flexible in several respects, with a fundamental contribution of smaller, independent energy communities. The current study focuses on the realisation aspects of such a small-scale energy community (or micro/nano-grid), considering the suitable technological solutions as well as the cost concerns. A high number of pilot projects and case studies around the world prove that the technical feasibility of a local grid/energy community is no longer a question. The real challenge is to find the appropriate incentives and strategy to catalyse the required transition at the legislation, system operator and end-user level as well. The outcomes of the present work contribute to this goal by pointing out the application potentials of a modular, scalable microgrid system based on a currently running microgrid-realization project at the ZalaZONE proving ground.