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Heinz, H. 
ORCID: 0000-0002-7569-1809,
2023.
Community microgrid attractiveness - a decision-making support tool for participation and investment.
PhD, Nottingham Trent University.
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Helen Heinz 2024.pdf - Published version Download (3MB) | Preview |
Abstract
It is widely accepted that community microgrids (CMs) play an important role to support local energy transitions (e.g. Warneryd, Håkansson and Karltorp 2020; Valta, Mäkinen and Kirjavainen 2022; Behrendt 2023). To mainstream CM solutions and support a ‘just’ energy transition, it requires both the participation of citizens who will form energy communities (ECs) in microgrids and investment from sustainable investors to cover the high upfront costs of CMs. However, perceived complexities and uncertainties of CMs result in a lack of participation and investments.
The aim of this research is to disentangle the complexity of CMs through both the communities’ and investors’ perceived ‘notion of attractiveness’. This research follows the objective to develop and detail the ‘Community Microgrid Attractiveness’ Framework (CMA) as a support tool for designing attractive CM solutions that intrinsically engage and attract ECs and investors to participate and invest in CMs. Hence, this research contributes to a better understanding of what would make participation and investment attractive to drive salient engagement decisions.
First, this research developed a conceptual framework through a literature review, the CMA. The CMA reveals that attractive CM solutions for communities and investors depend on purpose and context. With this perspective, the CMA presents a) the key pillars of CM concept for decarbonisation, decentralisation, digitalisation, and democratisation; b) the roles and responsibilities for communities and investors; and c) how these elements align to create attractive environmental, social, technological, and economic benefits under the local context. Second, the CMA was then applied using a case study research design in two island settings: the Orkney Islands (UK) and the Canary Islands (Spain). For each case study, data was collected using surveys, interviews, and secondary sources.
The research results demonstrate that the CMA supports local CM designs that are attractive to both EC and investors. Attractive solutions first identify the local baseline and contextual issues, with drivers and barriers, then identify and align motivations and priorities, and finally tailor and develop business model (BM) innovations. Overall, the research highlights the need for maximising shared benefits, creating value-bundles, increasing trust, and allowing engagement with time. In conclusion, the CMA serves as a tool to support the design of attractive CM and BM solutions that drive positive decision-making of ECs and investors.
| Item Type: | Thesis | ||||||||||||
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| Creators: | Heinz, H. | ||||||||||||
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| Date: | October 2023 | ||||||||||||
| Rights: | The copyright in this work is held by the author. You may copy up to 5% of this work for private study, or personal, non-commercial research. Any re-use of the information contained within this document should be fully referenced, quoting the author, title, university, degree level and pagination. Queries or requests for any other use, or if a more substantial copy is required, should be directed to the author. | ||||||||||||
| Divisions: | Schools > Nottingham Business School | ||||||||||||
| Record created by: | Laura Ward | ||||||||||||
| Date Added: | 15 Jul 2024 15:23 | ||||||||||||
| Last Modified: | 15 Jul 2024 15:23 | ||||||||||||
| URI: | https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/51764 |
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