Challenges, Opportunities and Profitability in Virtual Power Plant Business Models in Sub Saharan Africa - Botswana

The growing awareness among the various communities on dramatic climate change in the recent years and impact of fossil fuels as a source of energy which is depleting fast, has got researcher thinking on alternate sources of energy with an aim for sustainable living for the livelihood of many countries. In this context, VPP turns out to be a promising solution as a sustainable future with renewables feeding the plant. VPP is congregation of distributed resources pooled together. Not only is this system efficient with updated digital technologies in the form of Smart solutions, but also capable of providing immense benefits to consumers/prosumers. Immense benefits in the form of sustainable renewable power as a source of income makes VPP attractive to consumers, who turn as prosumers and arguably become one of the most value creators in the energy market. The plethora of R and D in VPP grid adds value to energy business while maintaining and bringing down the ill effects of CO2 emissions. This paper focuses on various aspects and business models, value propositions and the challenges in context to Sub Saharan African region - Botswana. Keywords: Virtual Power Plant, Demand Response, Demand Side Management, Time of Use, Critical Peak Pricing JEL Classifications: A12, M2

Application of Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats Analysis in Smart Grid - Virtual Power Plant for Sustainable Development in India and Botswana

A holistic view of energy stakeholders in a strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) perspective for India and Botswana is presented here. SWOT analysis is based on the themes of market resources, energy technology and invention, and energy efficiency and climate. With this analytical frame work, the article discusses the strengths and opportunities while compensating weakness and mitigating threats. The action portfolio is directed towards enabling sustainable development, alleviating poverty and stresses the importance of comprehensive energy strategy towards building a strong economic profile while minimizing carbon foot print including energy efficient systems for the virtual power plant/smart grid/distributed energy resources. Keywords: Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats, South African Power Pool, Sustainable Energy Development, Ethical Data Exchange JEL Classifications: Q01, Q5

Business models in the Smart Grid: challenges, opportunities and proposals for prosumer profitability.

Considering that non-renewable energy resources are dwindling, the smart grid turns out to be one of the most promising and compelling systems for the future of energy. Not only does it combine efficient energy consumption with avant-garde technologies related to renewable energies, but it is also capable of providing several beneficial utilities, such as power monitoring and data provision. When smart grid end users turn into prosumers, they become arguably the most important value creators within the smart grid and a decisive agent of change in terms of electricity usage. There is a plethora of research and development areas related to the smart grid that can be exploited for new business opportunities, thus spawning another branch of the so-called ?green economy? focused on turning smart energy usage into a profitable business. This paper deals with emerging business models for smart grid prosumers, their strengths and weaknesses and puts forward new prosumer-oriented business models, along with their value propositions

Dezentrale Flexibilitätsoptionen und ihr Beitrag zum Ausgleich der fluktuierenden Stromerzeugung Erneuerbarer Energien

Die Flexibilität der elektrischen Leistung ist eine wesentliche Eigenschaft elektrischer Energiesysteme, die zum Ausgleich absehbarer oder unvorhergesehener Schwankungen von Stromerzeugung und -verbrauch benötigt wird. Durch den steigenden Anteil Erneuerbarer Energien an der Stromerzeugung entsteht somit auch ein erhöhter Bedarf an betrieblicher Flexibilität. Zeitgleich sorgt der Rückbau konventioneller Kraftwerke zu einem verminderten Flexibilitätsangebot, wodurch zukünftig die Erschließung neuer Quellen betrieblicher Flexibilität notwendig wird. Neben weiteren Technologien stellen dezentrale Flexibilitätsoptionen eine aussichtsreiche Flexibilitätsquelle dar. Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit wird zunächst gezeigt, wie sich die nutzbare Flexibilität dezentraler Technologien er-mitteln lässt. Anhand eines Simulationsszenarios für das Energiesystem im Jahr 2035 kann anschließend demonstriert werden, welchen Beitrag diese zum Aus-gleich einer zunehmend fluktuierenden Stromerzeugung leisten können. Der flexible Betrieb dieser Anlagen bewirkt jedoch auch eine signifikante Veränderung der Leistungsflüsse im Verteilnetz. Im zweiten Teil dieser Arbeit wird daher untersucht, welche Wechselwirkungen zwischen der Nutzung von Flexibilitätsoptionen und der Belastungssituation der Verteilnetze besteht