Alliander is facing manufacturability issues as a regional grid manager: the expansion and reinforcement of grid infrastructure cannot keep up with the rapid developments in the energy transition. Alliander foresees that, in order to deal with these issues, demand reduction or a higher energy awareness among citizens is inevitable, but notes that many grid managers are not (yet) inclined to consider this option.
Alliander asked Common Futures to investigate how energy awareness among users can contribute to solving the manufacturability issue and what role Alliander can play in this. Energy awareness is defined here as: consciously dealing with the development of energy supply and demand, including possible limitations to the security of energy supply, in relation to social costs and benefits. Part of this is redefining security of supply and the agreements society wants to make in this respect.
In answering these questions, Common Futures conducted interviews with experts and policymakers, organised a workshop with experts within Alliander, and analysed policy and developments in surrounding countries and the EU. In consultation with the experts, Common Futures developed a list of electricity-saving options for four groups of regional grid users: households, large offices, retail and small industry. Examples from this list include:
- Promoting the use of an electric bike (100 km/kWh) instead of an electric car (8 km/kWh).
- Adjusting room heating standards (e.g. 19 °C instead of 21 °C in winter).
- Amending legislation around the possibility of scaling down non-essential use (e.g. appliances connected to one particular group in the fuse box).
This exploration showed that there is a link between demand reduction and the need for grid reinforcement, but that further analysis into the impact of individual electricity-saving options on infrastructure expansion demand is needed. The findings of this project therefore prompted a follow-up study.
