Cooperatives for demand side management

We propose a new scheme for efficient demand side management for the Smart Grid. Specifically, we envisage and promote the formation of cooperatives of medium-large consumers and equip them (via our proposed mechanisms) with the capability of regularly participating in the existing electricity markets by providing electricity demand reduction services to the Grid. Based on mechanism design principles, we develop a model for such cooperatives by designing methods for estimating suitable reduction amounts, placing bids in the market and redistributing the obtained revenue amongst the member agents. Our mechanism is such that the member agents have no incentive to show artificial reductions with the aim of increasing their revenue

Förderung des Aufbaus von Smart Grids in Thailand als Zusammenspiel von intelligenten Gebäuden, intelligenten Verbrauchern und einer intelligenten Energiepolitik

Smart grid technology can enhance renewable energy in the electricity system by integrating information communication technology (ICT) into the existing electricity network. Residential and commercial buildings can perform as a power plant with an energy design concept by integrating renewable energy and energy storage system. However, there has been relatively little focus on how to enhance the residential sector in smart grid development in the context of Thailand. This research focuses on residential buildings only. The technology assessment shows that energy efficiency measures (EEM) must be implemented to reduce the energy demand of the building. The Ice thermal energy storage system (ITES) is an appropriate energy storage system application that can provide cooling energy, which is the major energy consumer in residential building. The integration of EEM, the PV system, and the ITES system can reduce the primary energy demand by 87%, compared to the reference building without comprehensive energy concept design. The power quality assessment shows that the PV hosting capacity is limited up to 75%, which keeps the voltage level in the permissible range. The distributed energy storage system allows the PV prosumer to perform an active role by providing reactive power service to the system at the critical electricity feeder. The economic assessment reveals that the ITES is the most cost-effective investment option, where the battery energy storage (BES) system can become more attractive with incentive support and future cost reduction. The results from the consumer survey reveal that the willingness to pay (WTP) of the EEM and PV system in the detached single-family house is higher than the investment cost, which benefits both consumer and house developer. Technology is a key driver for providing the energy service to the energy system, while consumer behavior and acceptance can increase technology adoption. The Thai government should encourage the residential sector to become a smart user by taking technology, consumer behavior background, and essential energy policy into account.Intelligente Netztechnik, sogenannte Smart Grid-Technologie, kann durch die Einbindung von Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologie die Integration von erneuerbaren Energien in das bestehende Stromnetz verbessern. Wohn- und Gewerbegebäude können mit Hilfe eines Energiekonzepts durch die Integration von erneuerbaren Energien und Energiespeichern als Kleinkraftwerk fungieren. Allerdings gibt es in Thailand bisher wenig Analysen, wie man den Wohnungssektor für die Entwicklung intelligenter Netze nutzbar machen kann. Diese Forschungsarbeit konzentriert sich daher ausschließlich auf Wohngebäude. Die Technologiebewertung zeigt, dass Energieeffizienzmaßnahmen (EEM) umgesetzt werden müssen, um den Energiebedarf der Gebäude zu reduzieren. Ein thermischer Energiespeicher basierend auf Eis (ITES) ist eine geeignete Speicheranwendung, um Kühlenergie bereitzustellen, die der Hauptenergieverbraucher in Wohngebäuden ist. Durch die Integration von EEM, dem PV-System und dem ITES-System kann der Primärenergiebedarf um 87% reduziert werden, verglichen mit einem Referenzgebäude ohne umfassendes Energiekonzept. Die vorliegende Forschungsarbeit zeigt, dass die PV-Aufnahmekapazität auf bis zu 75% ausgeweitet werden kann, ohne dass Spannungsgrenzen verletzt werden. Der dezentrale Energiespeicher ermöglichst es zudem dem PV-Prosumer, durch Blindleistungseinsatz eine aktive Rolle im Stromsystem einzunehmen und Spannungsprobleme in kritischen Leitungssträngen zu reduzieren. Die wirtschaftliche Bewertung zeigt, dass das ITES die kostengünstigste Investitionsoption ist und das Batteriespeichersystem (BES) durch Anreize und künftige Kostensenkungen an Attraktivität gewinnen kann. Die Ergebnisse der durchgeführten Verbraucherbefragung zeigen, dass die Zahlungsbereitschaft für die EEM und das PV-System in Einfamilienhäusern höher ist als die Investitionskosten, was sowohl dem Verbraucher als auch dem Bauherrn des Hauses zugutekommt. Neue Technologien sind zentrale Elemente, um die Bereitstellung von Energiedienstleistungen im Energiesystem zu ermöglichen. Jedoch sind auch Nutzerverhalten und -akzeptanz wichtig, um die Verbreitung der Technologie zu erhöhen. Die thailändische Regierung sollte den Einsatz von Intelligenz im Wohnungssektor fördern und dabei Technologien, Verbraucherverhalten und wesentliche energiepolitische Aspekte berücksichtigen

Enabling Innovation In The Energy System Transition

Innovation in the electric sector has the potential to drive job growth, decrease environmental impacts, reduce rate payer costs, and increase reliability and resiliency. However, the traditional electric system was built to deliver a controlled flow of energy from a centralized location with maximum reliability and minimum cost. As both customer expectations and generation technologies change, new avenues for grid innovation are being explored. Residential customers, commercial and industrial clients, and electric utilities must all find a way to balance goals for decarbonization and social justice with maintaining a least cost, reliable power grid. Grounded in Geel’s energy system transition framework, this dissertation explores how each of these three stakeholder groups is navigating the transition to renewables. The first study tests the idea that residential customers will be more inclined to change their behavior when altruistically contributing to a greater goal. Renewed Darwinian theory was explored to question the exclusive use of financial incentives in demand response programs, with evidence that enabling altruism may influence electricity demand even more effectively than traditional financial incentives. A difference in differences approach was designed to test the impact of the Burlington Electric Department’s Defeat the Peak program on residential energy use where the incentive was a group donation to a local charity. Results suggest utility savings of over $12 in energy supply costs for every$1 they invested in the program. Financial levers, however, can be quite effective in influencing electricity demand, and may result in cost-shifting from high to low demand consumers. The second study focused on rate design for commercial and industrial customers through an analysis of the utility demand charge. For over a century the demand charge has been a primary means to recover total cost-of-service including fixed, embedded, and overhead costs. Under the current system, most small commercial and residential customers do not receive a strong direct price signal to invest in storage, load shifting, or renewables. Larger commercial and industrial customers exercise some measure of control over their loads to reduce demand charges, but with only modest benefit or value to the system as a whole. The system costs are then redistributed to all customer classes, potentially falling disproportionately on low demand customers. To investigate, a regression analysis was conducted with cost and market characteristics from 447 US electric utilities. Results suggest that demand charges predict a significant degree of variability in residential pricing, confirming suspected cost shifting. Redesigning the demand charge could open up new markets for renewable energy entrepreneurs and lower grid costs and customer rates, supporting goals of decarbonization while also achieving reliable least-cost power. In the third study, an iterative approach was employed to understand why some utilities lean into the energy system transition while others take a more conservative stance. A database of 170 US electric utilities was constructed including a qualitative assessment of Integrated Resource Plans for renewability orientation. Institutional resource-based theory was utilized to take a striated approach to understanding firm heterogeneity, identifying factors at the individual manager level, firm level, and external environment that can influence a utility’s energy supply characteristics. Independent variables in a simultaneous regression analysis included CEO gender and tenure at the individual level, ownership structure and firm age at the firm level, and the impact of policies and state rurality at the inter-firm level. Results indicate that a significant amount of a utility’s commitment to the renewable energy transition can be predicted based on these firm characteristics

Smart Regulation for Smart Grids

Climate change and security of supply policies are driving us towards a decarbonization of the electricity system. It is in this context that smart grids are being discussed. Electricity grids, and hence their regulatory frameworks, have a key role to play in facilitating this transformation of the electricity system. In this paper, we analyze what is expected from grids and what are the regulatory tools that could be used to align the incentives of grid companies and grid users with what is expected from them. We look at three empirical cases to see which regulatory tools have already been applied and find that smart grids need a coherent regulatory framework addressing grid services, grid technology innovation and grid user participation to the ongoing grid innovation. The paper concludes with what appears to be a smart regulation for smart grids.Regulation, innovation, electricity, grids, transmission, distribution