c. Generation for own need/use
In most cases, a prosumer will use their own generated electricity primarily to fulfill their own current electricity needs, before selling the surplus back to the grid, to another market participant, or to store it. However, we need to clarify whether generation for own need, in addition to being a common feature of prosumption, is also a requirement for prosumption.
Some definitions of the prosumer concept presume that the use of the generated electricity for own need is indeed a precondition to be qualified as a prosumer.(1) For example: Eurelectric, Prosumers: an integral part of the power system and the market (Eurelectric 2015), 5; Nikolina Sajn, ‘Electricity prosumers’ (2016) European Parliament Briefing PE 593.518. However, this condition does not hold up in practice. For example, a prosumer can engage in energy storage for arbitrage purposes, by storing energy when the price is low and releasing energy when the price is high. In such a case, the primary purpose of the storage is engaging with the markets, rather than fulfilling a personal need.
Usually, the prosumer actions will be undertaken as an additional activity. However, new technologies make it possible for market players to use prosumption as a primary activity. In principle, these enterprises will be covered by the definition of the prosumer. If this type of prosumption were not allowed, the potential role of prosumers in increasing competition in the electricity market would be greatly diminished.(2) Lavrijssen and Carrillo Parra (n 13) 1211