Producing and consuming your own solar electricity and sharing it locally is possible with collective self-consumption.
The organisation and management of such a project can sometimes be complex. This is why the EDF Group has developed simple and innovative solutions to optimise and facilitate your collective self-consumption projects, and to help you manage their scale.

What does collective self-consumption involve?

Collective self-consumption is a system governed by laws and regulations. It allows locally-produced electricity to be shared between producers and consumers connected to the public distribution network, within the same geographical area. Whether they are residential customers, companies or local authorities, producers and consumers can participate in a collective self-consumption operation.

Most often, the production is of solar origin and is provided by solar panels. They can be easily installed on the roofs of buildings, on car park shades, or even on the ground.

Collective self-consumption: how does it work?

Producers and consumers, located at a limited distance from each other, must come together to form a legal entity (LE). The LE is in charge of managing the operation, and also of establishing a collective self-consumption agreement with the public distribution network operator. This agreement ensures that information on the sharing of electricity consumption resulting from the collective self-consumption operation between the consumers is transmitted to the public distribution network operator.

Together, the participants in the operation define the rules for sharing the electricity produced between them. Thus, each consumer benefits from the share of local production allocated to them. Only the supply of additional energy to cover their needs will be invoiced by their electricity supplier.
A collective self-consumption operation does not require any specific equipment for consumers, who remain connected to the public distribution network.

4 good reasons to switch to collective self-consumption with the EDF Group

  • An innovative service offer

    Thanks to our digital platform, Communitiz, you can easily monitor and manage your collective self-consumption project.

  • Personalised support

    Our experts will help you set up your project and make the right choices.

  • A solution adapted to your needs

    Our solutions are modular and configurable in order to adapt to each project and type of organisation.

  • 360° expertise

    Our know-how covers all the issues surrounding your project: decentralised means of production, storage solutions, electric vehicle charging stations...

Our strengths

Watch a video presenting Communitiz!

With Communitiz, you can monitor the production and consumption of photovoltaic electricity of your project. You may also take into account changes in the scope of the operation, adapt changes in the distribution of the electricity produced decided within the LE, and comply with the legal and fiscal obligations related to the operation. All this is done easily, and on a single interface.

The platform can be made accessible to all participants, and thus encourage the creation of a real community for sharing renewable and local electricity

Solutions for the entire photovoltaic value chain

As an expert in the development of photovoltaic installations, the EDF Group supports you throughout your collective self-consumption project. From design to implementation, our teams will advise you on technical and economic scaling, the search for suitable financing solutions, and administrative procedures.

For added peace of mind, our subsidiary, EDF ENR (in French), operates and maintains your photovoltaic installations.

1 In the case of shared renewable energy. For other means of production, extraction and injection points must be located on the low voltage network.