Overview

Working Group 7 investigates institutional and social change associated with Smart Grid deployment. Using the transition management framework, WG7 sparks international, coordinated trans-disciplinary research activity. WG7’s social science results help to complement technology-oriented Smart Grid activities. WG7 also collects and analyzes aspects of innovation studies, political sciences, institutional economics, sociology, and energy-related laws and regulations and works to make these aspects palpable for policymakers and other stakeholders. Policymakers can turn to WG7 to gain insights into the direction, efficacy, and efficiency of the energy system transition. In addition to policymakers, WG7 contributes its knowledge of non-technical aspects and the framework conditions conducive to Smart Grid deployment to other ISGAN Working Groups. Working Groups that may focus on more technical aspects of Smart Grids can turn to WG7 to see how their results address societal needs, political governance, policies, regulations, and human behavior considering the diversity of institutional structures and governance traditions of ISGAN countries.

Tasks

Working Group 7 is dedicated to three key tasks. Task 1 focuses on transition processes and pathways, with a specific emphasis on regulatory experimentation, which has been successfully explored in previous WG7 activities including regulatory sandboxes. Our goal now is to delve deeper into this topic and further its development. Additionally, we are investigating policy instruments and effective governance processes that can pave the way for decentralized energy systems in the future.

Task 2 revolves around institutional organizational models and processes for the smart grid deployment. We scrutinize alternatives to the commonly used, though not always suitable, technology readiness level system. This task also seeks to establish a unified terminology in the smart grid transition field, leading to the launch of the Smart Transitions Wiki.

In Task 3, titled ‘Structures of Institutional Change,’ we examine grid tariff structures and regulatory incentive mechanisms for Distribution System Operators (DSOs). This task maps the framework underlying the transition processes for smart grids and presents results as comparative analyses.

The structure for WG7 is outlined as follows:

Task 1: Transition Processes and Pathways

• Regulatory experimenting
• Policy instruments and governance processes

Task 2: Future Models and Translation Function

• Institutional organizational models and processes
• The technology readiness dilemma in the development of decentralized energy systems
• Energy as a service of general interest

Task 3: Structures of Institutional Change

• Tariff structures
• Incentive mechanisms through regulation

Latest publications:

Andersen, Allan Dahl, Jochen Markard, Dierk Bauknecht, and Magnus Korpås. 2023. “Architectural Change in Accelerating Transitions: Actor Preferences, System Architectures, and Flexibility Technologies in the German Energy Transition.” Energy Research & Social Science 97: 102945. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2023.102945.

Bauknecht, Dierk, Simon Funcke, and Moritz Vogel. 2020. “Is Small Beautiful? A Framework for Assessing Decentralised Electricity Systems.” Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 118 (February): 109543. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2019.109543.

Bauknecht, Dierk, and Klaus Kubeczko. 2024. “Regulatory Experiments and Their Impacts on Sustainability Transformations.” GAIA – Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society Special Issue. 44–50. https://doi.org/doi.org/10.14512/gaia.33.S1.7

Bauknecht, Dierk, Allan Dahl Andersen, and Karoline Tornes Dunne. 2020. “Challenges for Electricity Network Governance in Whole System Change: Insights from Energy Transition in Norway.” Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions 37 (December): 318–31.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2020.09.004.

ISGAN. 2019. “Innovative Regulatory Approaches with Focus on Experimental Sandboxes.” Casebook. Smart Grid Case Studies. IEA-TCP International Smart Grid Action Network (ISGAN).
https://www.iea-isgan.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/ISGAN_Casebook-on-Regulatory-Sandbox-A2-1.pdf.

Kubeczko, Klaus, Anna Wang, Dierk Bauknecht, José Pablo Chavez Avila, Mauricio Correa Ramírez, Aram An, Nicole Kerkhof-Damen, Helena Lindquist, and Magnus Olofsson. 2021. “ISGAN Regulatory Sandbox 2.0 Project: Policy Messages to the Clean Energy Ministerial.” ISGAN – International Smart Grid Action Network. https://www.iea-isgan.org/policy-messages-from-the-isgan-regulatory-sandbox-2-0-project/.

Ritter, David, Christoph Heinemann, Dierk Bauknecht, Christian Winger, and Franziska Flachsbarth. 2022. “Model-Based Evaluation of Decentralised Electricity Markets at Different Phases of the German Energy Transition.” Economics of Energy & Environmental Policy 11 (2). https://doi.org/10.5547/2160-5890.11.1.drit.

Wieczorek, Anna J., Harald Rohracher, Dierk Bauknecht, Klaus Kubeczko, Simon Bolwig, Pieter Valkering, Regine Belhomme, and Simone Maggiore. 2024. “Citizen-Led Decentralised Energy Futures: Emerging Rationales of Energy System Organisation.” Energy Research & Social Science 113 (July): 103557. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2024.103557.

Summeren, Luc FM, Anna J Wieczorek, and Geert PJ Verbong. 2021. “The Merits of Becoming Smart: How Flemish and Dutch Energy Communities Mobilise Digital Technology to Enhance Their Agency in the Energy Transition.” Energy Research & Social Science 79: 102160. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2021.10216.

Summeren, Luc FM van, Sylvia Breukers, and Anna J Wieczorek. 2022. “Together We’re Smart! Flemish and Dutch Energy Communities’ Replication Strategies in Smart Grid Experiments.” Energy Research & Social Science 89: 102643. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2022.102643

Summeren, Luc FM van, Anna J Wieczorek, Gunter JT Bombaerts, and Geert PJ Verbong. 2020. “Community Energy Meets Smart Grids: Reviewing Goals, Structure, and Roles in Virtual Power Plants in Ireland, Belgium and the Netherlands.” Energy Research & Social Science 63: 101415. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2019.101415

Veseli, Argjenta, Simon Moser, Klaus Kubeczko, Verena Madner, Anna Wang, and Klaus Wolfsgruber. 2021. “Practical Necessity and Legal Options for Introducing Energy Regulatory Sandboxes in Austria.” Utilities Policy 73: 101296. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jup.2021.101296.

Published documents from Working Group 7 are found here: