Themes
The Academic Collaborative Center for Climate and Energy is working on three overarching themes. The themes have in common that they contribute to a smart and social energy transition. Smart in the sense of driven and supported by technological solutions, but at the same time also social, i.e., taking into account the societal dimension of the transition.
For each theme, several work packages are being developed in co-creation with practice partners.
Our 3 themes:
Theme 1: Market design and laws & regulations
In this theme, we consider what kind of market design and laws and regulations are required for a smart and social energy transition.
Work Packages:
- The role that (battery) storage can play in distributing limited space on the power grid (congestion management) and what this means for regulation.
- The opportunities that decentralized energy hubs offer for the energy system and what obstacles, e.g., legal or economic, exist for the further development of such local multi-party energy collaborations.
- The type of tariff structure that can encourage efficient energy use by network users and greater flexibility. How should these tariffs be regulated?
- The question of what legislation for the electricity, heat, and hydrogen markets should look like. In particular, this concerns regulating the networks, protecting consumers, encouraging participation by prosumers and consumers in energy markets and ensuring supply security. By prosumers we mean consumers who generate (part of) their own energy.
Theme 2: Governance and participation
Governance and participation are needed for a faster, smarter and social energy transition. What types and forms are helpful?
Work Packages:
- Several Innovative forms of participation, such as citizen forums and local ownership, with which to experiment to create support or avoid resistance. In addition to new forms of participation, there are proven successful forms that can be scaled up.
- How roles and responsibilities of governments, market participants and other players can be reorganized so that they contribute to accelerating the energy transition.
- The question of how the claims that different transitions and tasks (energy, water, food, housing) make on space are aligned or integrated.
Theme 3: Digitalization and data
How can digitalization and data contribute to a smart and social energy transition?
Work Packages:
- (New) rules and practices needed to ensure responsible use of energy data in light of, for example, privacy concerns, data protection, and security risks.
- (New) business models and market designs that can be developed in view of digitalization of the energy market and optimal use of data for the energy transition.
- How digital technologies can be used to reinforce citizen participation in the energy transition and democratize the energy system.