The Governance of Urban Energy System Transition: the Case of Smart Grids Amin Dehdarian École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) / Switzerland The Governance of Urban Energy System Transition 23 June
What is the domain of this research? Why Smart Grids Matter? What is the problem? How to approach the problem? Methodology? What is the way forward? The Governance of Urban Energy System Transition 2 23 June 2014
UrbanizationClimate Change Sustainable Urban Energy Infrastructure Governance Of UES Transition Energy Conservation Reducing the Dependency to Unsustainable Energy Sources Promotion of Sustainable Energy Sources System Efficiency Improvement Renewable Energy Production Institutional/ Technological Development
UrbanizationClimate Change Sustainable Urban Energy Infrastructure Governance Of UES Transition Energy Conservation Reducing the Dependency to Unsustainable Energy Sources Promotion of Sustainable Energy Sources System Efficiency Improvement Renewable Energy Production Institutional/ Technological Development
UrbanizationClimate Change Sustainable Urban Energy Infrastructure Governance Of UES Transition Energy Conservation Reducing the Dependency to Unsustainable Energy Sources Promotion of Sustainable Energy Sources System Efficiency Improvement Renewable Energy Production Institutional/ Technological Development A framework for the governance of urban energy system transition
Governance and Dynamics The Governance of Urban Energy System Transition 6 23 June 2014 Wider Institutional Environment Independency to Unsustainable Energy Sources Financial Capability Knowledge/ Technology Transfer Renewable Energy Production Institutional Capability Technical Base Local Resources External Funding System Efficiency Energy Conservation Sustainable UES Investment Institutional Change Cultural Learning Technological changes/ Wider technical base
What is the domain of this research? Why Smart Grids Matter? What is the problem? How to approach the problem? Methodology? What is the way forward? The Governance of Urban Energy System Transition 7 23 June 2014
Why Smart Grid matters? New Paradigms: – Distributed Energy Generation (DEG) – Real-time Data (RTD) – Demand Management (DM) Smart Grid: an electricity network that can intelligently integrate the actions of all users connected to in order to efficiently deliver sustainable, economic and secure electricity supplies. The Governance of Urban Energy System Transition 8 23 June 2014
The Governance of Urban Energy System Transition 9 23 June 2014 Distributed Energy Generation Integration of Renewable Energy Systems Renewable Energy Production Real-time Data & Supply Smart Metering System Efficiency Improvement Demand Management Consumer Involvement Energy Conservation
UrbanizationClimate Change Sustainable Urban Energy Infrastructure Governance Of UES Transition Energy Conservation Reducing the Dependency to Unsustainable Energy Sources Promotion of Sustainable Energy Sources System Efficiency Improvement Renewable Energy Production Institutional/ Technological Development Smart Grids
What is the domain of this research? Why Smart Grids Matter? What is the problem? How to approach the problem? Methodology? What is the way forward? The Governance of Urban Energy System Transition June 2014
Problem Statement Cost-intensive Not market-driven Needs to policy intervention and regulation Research Question: “How policy interventions and regulations in electricity systems influence the governance of transition to smart grids in urban energy systems?” The Governance of Urban Energy System Transition June 2014
Problem Owners Strategic decision makers – Regulators, policy makers, mayors, big businesses and utility companies Practitioners – NGOs, producers, operators, distributors, etc. Researchers – Energy transition, urban planning, Complexity science, etc. The Governance of Urban Energy System Transition June 2014
What is the domain of this research? Why Smart Grids Matter? What is the problem? How to approach the problem? Methodology? What is the way forward? The Governance of Urban Energy System Transition June 2014
How to approach the problem? The Governance of Urban Energy System Transition June 2014 Urban Studies Multi-level Governance Local Policies and agency Competitiveness or growth Urban Development & Sustainability Urban Energy Infrastructure City as a complex socio-technical system Multi-level governance of a multi-actor system Policy implementation for the emergence of transition Urban level Complexity Theory Socio-technical Systems Multi-actor Emergence Sector/National level
What is the domain of this research? Why Smart Grids Matter? What is the problem? How to approach the problem? Methodology? What is the way forward? The Governance of Urban Energy System Transition June 2014
Methodology Complex system approach – City as a multi-actor and socio-technical system Transition science – Intervention of policies and regulations in order to make the transition happen in urban electricity infrastructure Agent-based modeling – Bottom-up approach, transition as an emergent phenomenon The Governance of Urban Energy System Transition June 2014
What is the domain of this research? Why Smart Grids Matter? What is the problem? How to approach the problem? Methodology? What is the way forward? The Governance of Urban Energy System Transition June 2014
Next Steps Primary analysis of smart grids, application of micro-grids and smart metering roll-out in urban areas System and Actor analysis Modeling two different levels: – Technological level – Social level: proactive and reactive actors Policy selection, analysis and intervention The Governance of Urban Energy System Transition June 2014
Amin Dehdarian The Governance of Urban Energy System Transition June 2014