EMPOWER - Local Electricity Retail Markets for Prosumer Smart Grid Power Services
Type
fundamental research project
Start Date
01 June 2015
End Date
31 December 2017
URI
Status
ongoing
Keywords
business model innovation
regulation
strategic renewal
smart grids
prosumers
Description
Radical changes in the way energy is produced and consumed are required, in order to meet the goals of the energy strategy 2050. The EMPOWER (local electricity retail markets for prosumer smart grid power services) research projects seeks to advance our understanding of the opportunities and challenges associated with local electricity retail markets. Local electricity retail markets are based on the insight that a significant reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and an increase of energy efficiency can be achieved through a more decentralized or local energy market, in which citizens not only actively participate in the consumption but also in the production of energy. That is, citizens become prosumers. EMPOWER is an EU-funded research project, in which actors (eg. software companies, technology providers, project developers, utilities and researchers from Norway to Malta) collaborate to investigate the underpinnings of local energy markets from different perspectives.
University of St Gallen's research team seeks to investigate the strategic transformation processes that underlie such a shift toward greater decentralization of energy production. It specifically 1. monitors and lays out the types of business models of decentralized energy production and their effectiveness (cf. interactions between utilities and prosumers), 2. provides theoretical and empirical insights on how to master the strategic transformation at the level of the firm and of the market place, 3. provides theoretical and empirical insights on the linkages between decentralized energy markets and energy policy. A specific emphasis will be laid on the cognitive underpinnings and dynamics of strategic transformation.
Leader contributor(s)
Bohnsack, René
Funder(s)
Topic(s)
business model innovation
regulation
strategic renewal
smart grids
prosumers
Range
HSG + other universities + partners
Range (De)
HSG + andere Unis + Partner
Division(s)
Eprints ID
241390
Reference Number
No 646476

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  • Publication
    Empowering Local Electricity Retail Markets through Business Modeling
    (University of St Gallen, 2015)
    Loock, Moritz
    ;
    Bohnsack, René
    ;
    Reuter, Emmanuelle
    ;
    Kunze, Christian
    Energy markets are expected to change. One interesting new market design is a local electricity retail market for prosumers. Such local energy markets provide interesting opportunities to accommodate major dynamics in the energy industry. However, business modeling for such local electricity retail markets is a challenge. Not only do emerging local energy markets differ from established markets, but they are also likely to differ among each other in regard to local regulations, local technical system set-ups, or local patterns of social acceptance. New business models for these markets can be developed for different owners - such as utilities, start-ups, or new entrants - or even for new forms of organizations, such as energy cooperatives. Within this case study students explore the emergence of a decentralized energy world as an opportunity for business modeling. Students learn about strategic issues in the energy business that shape current and future markets. They practice business modeling which accounts for the multi-level drivers that shape this market transition. The students in particular engage in business model composition for local electricity markets and compose new business models for empowering prosumers with smart grid power services and "energy managers from the hood". Ref.: 315-351-1 / 8 http://www.thecasecentre.org/educators/products/view?id=131609
    Type: case study
    URI: https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/handle/20.500.14171/107315
  • Publication
    Timing-based business models for flexibility creation in the electric power sector
    (Elsevier, 2016-05)
    Helms, Thorsten
    ;
    Loock, Moritz
    ;
    Bohnsack, René
    Energy policies in many countries push for an increase in the generation of wind and solar power. Along these developments, the balance between supply and demand becomes more challenging as the generation of wind and solar power is volatile, and flexibility of supply and demand becomes valuable. As a consequence, companies in the electric power sector develop new business models that create flexibility through activities of timing supply and demand. Based on an extensive qualitative analysis of interviews and industry research in the energy industry, the paper at hand explores the role of timing-based business models in the power sector and sheds light on the mechanisms of flexibility creation through timing. In particular we distill four ideal-type business models of flexibility creation with timing and reveal how they can be classified along two dimensions, namely costs of multiplicity and intervention costs. We put forward that these business models offer ‘coupled services’, combining resource-centered and service-centered perspectives. This complementary character has important implications for energy policy.
    Type: journal article
    Journal: Energy Policy
    Volume: 92
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2016.02.036
    URI: https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/handle/20.500.14171/104388
    Scopus© Citations 50
  • Publication
    The flexible prosumer: Measuring the willingness to co-create distributed flexibility
    (Elsevier Science, 2018-03)
    Kubli, Merla
    ;
    Loock, Moritz
    ;
    Wüstenhagen, Rolf
    Rising shares of fluctuating renewables increase the need for flexibility in the power market. At the same time, the emergence of the prosumer has created new opportunities for co-creation of distributed flexibility. As of yet, there is surprisingly little empirical analysis in terms of whether individuals are actually ready to co-create flexibility, and if so, under which conditions these resources can be mobilized by grid operators or electricity supply companies. We address this gap in the energy economics literature with three studies analyzing in total 7′216 individual decisions in a series of choice experiments with 902 study participants in three main domains of residential energy prosumption: (1) solar PV plus storage, (2) electric mobility, (3) heat pumps. We develop a novel measure of the prosumers’ willingness to co-create flexibility, and solicit their preferences for power supply contracts with varying levels of flexibility to derive implied discomfort costs. Our results indicate that current and potential electric car and solar PV users exhibit a higher willingness to co-create flexibility than heat pump users. Reaping the potential in those two domains requires taking the prosumer perspective into account when designing policy instruments and creating adequate business models.
    Type: journal article
    Journal: Energy policy
    Volume: 114
    URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421517308704
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2017.12.044
    URI: https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/handle/20.500.14171/100709
    Scopus© Citations 140