Consumer and Community in the Future Electricity Network: an Insight from Smart Grid Projects in Europe

Integration of growing shares of renewable energy sources into the electricity networks have resulted in the need for electricity network upgrade through pervasive deployment of information and communication technologies. Having power sources close to the consumer premises and exploiting the potential of smart metering infrastructure may lead to consumers’ empowerment and energy savings. Therefore, the consumer should be approached with clear engagement strategies in the early stages of the technological system development. The analysis of European smart grid projects points to an increasing interest in consumers and communities as focal players for the success of the future electricity system. This necessitates characterization of the consumer as well as the community from what concerns values, beliefs and goals that are culturally and geographically located. In this context, this contribution presents and discusses some EU smart grid projects with a focus on consumers and on their interactions within the community. The abstract also demonstrates successful consumers’ engagement strategies in large-scale deployment of smart metering systems at national level, highlighting the need to address social needs and concerns at an early stage of the technological system development.

MENGOLINI Anna Maria;  VASILJEVSKA Julija; 

2015-09-18

University College London (UCL)

JRC90419

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/steapp/isngi/proceedings,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC90419,   

http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1469416/,