Inclusive Householder Participation in the Smart Grid: a Case Study of Demand-Side Flexibility and Domestic Energy Storage in Practice (in NL & UK) Robin Smale, PhD candidate Environmental Policy Group, Wageningen University, NL Co-author: Sanneke Kloppenburg Presentation at conference “Energy and Society”, Leipzig, Germany September 13, 2016

Introduction Renewable energy generates a need for demand-side flexibility and energy storage In the smart grid, householders are empowered and incentivized to become ‘co-managers’ of the energy system (Strengers, 2008) New system-needs interact with established energy practices

Research question How can I reduce my energy bill in the smart grid? What smart energy management practices and flows of benefits are attached to demand-side flexibility and domestic energy storage, ...and how inclusive are these practices and flows of benefits? How can I reduce my energy bill in the smart grid? What does it take to be a good ‘co-manager’, and what do you get out of it?

Case studies: Smart Energy pilot projects Together Smart with Energy (NL) Goal alignment between an energy collective and grid manager Monitoring & time-shifting Your Energy Moment (NL) Smart time-shifting Householder  grid manager ERIC and SWELL (UK) Local demand-generation matching Domestic energy storage

From consumer to co-manager ‘How can I reduce my energy bill?’ Energy conservation (investing in energy efficiency, reducing wasteful use, daily energy saving) Generating renewable energy (solar, wind) Reflected in energy bill (80%), feed-in tariff Feed-in tariff is phased-out, dynamic energy tariffs phased-in Composition of energy costs will change due to demand for flexibility and storage Consumer  Prosumer Prosumer  Co-manager?

Information, products, services Conceptual framework Saving / conserving ‘Smart’ fuel poverty Inclusiveness Generating Energy practices Timing Storing Flows of benefits Lifeworld Grid services Information, products, services Energy system Energy conservation DREG Demand-side flexibility Energy storage

Grid services provided by households Grid services performed by householders Contributes to the grid by... Energy conservation ...reducing peak and overall energy demand Distributed renewable energy generation (DREG) ...increasing local or overall RE supply; at the cost of increasing supply intermittency Demand-side flexibility (voluntary and direct control) ...reducing peak energy demand (peak-shaving, gap-filling) Energy storage ...reducing peak energy supply and demand by charging and discharging during gaps and peaks; increasing self-consumption of RE Four mechanisms through which householders can be ‘economic agents’ in the energy system

Grid services performed by householders Incentive mechanisms Grid services performed by householders Incentive mechanisms Emphasis Energy conservation Size of energy bill is proportional to the amount of energy consumed Direct and indirect subsidies ↘ Distributed renewable energy generation (DREG) Feed-in tariff Self-consumption or local sharing → Demand-side flexibility (voluntary and direct control) Dynamic time-of-day energy pricing Reductions on energy contract ↗ (SWELL, JEM1/2, ERIC, SSME) Energy storage Storage-to-grid input Self-consumption or local sharing of stored energy (SWELL, ERIC, JEM2)

Flows of benefits Zooming in on project SWELL: Passing down timing-of-use savings to residents Locally exchanged RE instead of cheap feed-in Locally exchanged RE generated £116 for PV owners and £80 savings for non-generating consumers (March) Project SWELL’s simulated time-of-day energy tariff.

Back to the Lifeworld of householders Grid services provided by households imply the performance of energy management practices But what does it take to perform practices of conserving, generating, timing and storing?

Timing-of-use involves monitoring, and a new practical sensibility Participant JEM A: ‘But in the course of the day I also check – is the sun shining? Okay then I do the laundry now, now the sun shines. Then it [the tariff] automatically goes down. … That is the fun of the whole project’. Participant JEM B: ‘After a while I wasn’t concerned with it [the home energy management device]. It is a variable tariff, it changes every 15 minutes, but still - you learn the patterns.’

Timing-of-use involves monitoring, and a new practical sensibility Mary’s blog, ‘confessions of a deviant demand-shifter’ (SWELL) “So what have I managed? I have put the washing on in the middle of a sunny day, or at night. While I have a delay function on the washing machine, I naturally keep late hours so switching the machine on before I go to bed works quite well.” “Summer is finally here (really we have had some sun) and the days are longer. I am finding that demand shifting to match the sunshine is much easier.”

Timing-of-use facilitated by smart technologies Project SWELL: timing-of-use is facilitated by Smart-plugs. JEM: Average demand of smart laundry machines over the day.

Energy storage case study: Maslow battery Automatic Monitoring Automatic Automatic Maslow domestic energy storage devices comes paired with software that automates charging and discharging.

Overview: practices involved in providing grid services Grid service provided by household Energy practices involved? Energy conservation Daily conservation practices Practices involved in improving energy efficiency of the home through retrofitting, technology upgrade D-REG (PV) Contacting experts, calculating suitability of roof, pay-back times Having PV installed; maintenance; monitoring generation (often or rarely); ‘recalculating’ energy bills Flexibility (demand time-shifting) Monitoring, pre-programming, remote controlling Practices involved in smart retrofitting of the home Energy storage Variety of intensities of engagement & agency possible: Black box, choose a setting Monitor, exchange, relate to time-of-day tariffs

Grid service provided by household How inclusive? Grid service provided by household Equity effect Explanation Energy conservation + Subsidies in place Practice is widespread Low entry barrier Fast pay-back time D-REG (PV) - Promotion via market instruments (feed-in tarrifs and subsidies) Knowledge, agency, capital, roof required Flexibility (demand time-shifting) Active and automated demand-response potential is larger for high consumption homes Time-shifting is fun for PV owners Energy literacy, time, capital required Energy storage ++ to + Low entry barrier (little active management required) ‘Mode of circulation’ undetermined Device fits in any home Energy storage buffers rising peak energy costs for those who do not or can not time-shift their demand

Conclusion The system-need for flexibility and energy storage shapes the participation of householders in the smart grid Grid services require the performance of smart energy management practices Householders are varyingly capable or willing to participate in the smart grid ‘regime’ and to benefit from its incentive structures Domestic energy storage is less ‘demanding’ of householders than demand-side flexibility Fuel poverty implications?

Thank you Visit our project website for updates, discussion, figures, and more: www.energyinpractices.com Twitter: @Robin_Smale