Building upon the successes of the first ISGAN initiative on the topic in 2019, the project has resulted in four key Policy Messages to the Clean Energy Ministerial and the wider international energy community. The project was selected to share these results as an official On Demand Side Event of the 12th Clean Energy Ministerial meeting, hosted by Chile.

The Policy Messages have been co-created by experts and practitioners from ministries, regulatory bodies, and research institutions in 15 countries on 3 continents through a unique knowledge sharing process combining international knowledge exchange workshops with stakeholder dialogue at the national level.

The focus questions that guided the international dialogue included: how sandbox programmes can be integrated into longer-term energy transition strategies; the legal preconditions and exemption laws to enable sandbox programmes; how to coordinate between different stakeholders in programme implementation, and how to design evaluation processes for policy learning.

As it is necessary to be quick, regulatory changes will often lag, what is identified as preferable pathways, but these changes could be accelerated through Regulatory Sandboxes, which are able to verify effects of new regulatory instruments before actual implementation.

All energy systems, whether vertically integrated or deregulated, have some sort of regulatory or market oversight. Some of these regulations have been long established and originate from stem out of initial structures created around the turn of the 20th century. However, as the electricity grid transitions towards a more decentralized structure, with deepened engagement of end-users (including consumers) and involvement of a wider variety of other stakeholders and service providers, there is a need to enable testing of new regulatory structures that can better support integration of advanced smart grid technologies and business models.

This casebook provides detailed information on planned or implemented Sandbox Programs for Australia, Austria, Germany, Italy and The Netherlands. An overview of the previously well documented program in the UK is provided as well.

Hawaii is included as an example of another form of regulatory experimentation. In this case, one US state is experimenting with a performance-based method for tariffs which, if successful, can be rolled out as a regulatory innovation to other US states or other countries. The main focus of the casebook however is laid on experimenting to achieve the above mentioned innovation goals by means of sandbox projects.

The purpose of this report is to give an account of a collaborative International Smart Grid Action Network (ISGAN) project on public support and funding to Smart Grid Research, Demonstration and Innovation (RD&I), with focus on the use of Key Performance Indicators(KPIs).

The objective of Annex 2 is to assess outstanding examples of current case studies, develop and validate a common case study template and methodological framework, and then develop in – depth case studies using this framework. The template is currently the “Case Book” to contain
descriptive information. The common frame work for case studies will allow comparison and contrast of policies and technologies adopted in different regulatory, legislative, network (grid), and natural environments. The overarching aim is to collect enough information from case studies around the world to extract lessons learned and best practices as well as foster future collaboration among participating countries. The Consumer Engagement Case Book reflects one way that ISGAN brings together experts and stakeholders from around the world to increase the awareness of consumer engagement in the field of smart grid.

Customer engagement and empowerment offers opportunities to save energy for customers and to operate the grid in a more efficient and reliable way for grid operators. Grid operators want to shift or reduce energy consumptions during times of peak consumptions, so they have  engaged and empowered customers to do that by proposing some benefits.
Cases of customer engagement and empowerment in this book share lessons learned in developing and deploying these technologies to  stakeholders.

The International Smart Grid Action Network (ISGAN) creates a mechanism through which stakeholders from around the world can collaborate to accelerate the development and deployment of smarter electric grids.
This report summarizes an international event organized by ISGAN; the National Smart Grid Mission; the Ministry of Power, Government of India; and the Central Power Research Institute, titled “Knowledge Exchange on Distributed Generation, Microgrids, and Smart Metering.” This report describes the programme of events and gives a summary of conclusions from an interactive knowledge exchange workshop and public conference that took place 13-15 November 2017 in Bengaluru, India, with 100 participants of which c. 20 international experts.

The purpose of this report is to give an account of a collaborative International Smart Grid Action Network (ISGAN) and the 21st Century Power Partnership (21 CPP) project focusing on
Mexico’s path towards smart grids and grid modernization. This report describes the programme of events and gives a summary of conclusions from an interactive knowledge exchange workshop and public conference that took place 17–19 August 2016 in Mexico City.

Each case presented has its own unique set of characteristics and drivers, which is indicative of the diverse range of motivating drivers for smart grid and AMI globally.

The lessons learned and best practices presented in the six case studies included in this case book provide qualitative insights into the potential costs and benefits of advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), and the associated business cases for investment. Each case presented has its own unique set of characteristics and drivers, which is indicative of the diverse range of motivating drivers for smart grid and AMI globally. It follows then that the specific costs, benefits and business cases vary from case to case. Still. there are a number of best practices and common themes emerging from these cases that are likely to be useful for any jurisdiction investigating or deploying AMI.Those common best practices and insights are presented here.

It should be noted that these six cases represent only a portion of global experience in considering and deploying AMI. In addition, AMI is only one system of technologies among a broad menu of options that can constitute a “smart grid.” Some countries consider an AMI a prerequisite for their smart grid, while others have dismissed the importance of AMI to grid modernization. Additional cases have been solicited or are under development that will enlarge global understanding of the role AMI can play as one possible component of smarter electricity networks worldwide.

These case studies are based on a diverse range of technologies and under specific market rules. They incorporate various program and policy mechanisms and include information on costs and the associated business cases for investment. Each case presented has its own unique set of characteristics and drivers, which is indicative of the diverse range of drivers for smart grid and DSM.

The cases are at very different stages throughout the world. While some countries have completed first rounds of pilots and are building on lessons learned, the others are at earliest stage of these initiatives. The size, customer class, choice of technologies deployed, specific costs, benefits and business cases vary from case to case. Still, there are a number of best practices and common themes emerging from these cases that are likely to be useful for any stakeholder investigating or deploying Demand Side Management. Those best practices and insights are presented here.

The key findings are a synthesis attempt of the broad range of the approaches tackled by the different smart grid demonstrators described by the 12 cases. It highlights the main lessons learned and best practices shared by the participating cases. These lessons learned mainly concerns technical approaches, customer engagement and market establishment.