SPONSORED CONTENT - DV Solutions - Building Relationships With The Federal Fo...
Lightning Talk - Energy: How Can Smart-Grids Help for Climate Mitigation?
1. Decarbonizing ENERGY: lighting Talks
Prudence Dato (University of Basel)
How can Smart-grids help for climate mitigation?
2. Renewable Energy is great for climate but come with challenges
Intermittency and unpredictability
Reliability and security of energy systems
3. Smart grid can help but raise new problems
Smart-grids technologies are
solutions for reliability and
security of the energy systems
Smart grid can generate
rebound effects
Figure1: Smarter electricity systems
Source: IEA, 2011
4. Is a Massive rollout of smart meter a good solution?
When the household is equipped with smart grid
technologies:
• Can the electricity consumption increase?
• Can the household’s welfare increase?
5. GHG emissions can be higher with smart grids
Smart meters can lead to more grid electricity
purchase:
When the discrepancy between the fixed tariff and the
(higher) expected tariff with smart meter is small.
Possibly high GHG emissions if fossil fuels hold a
significant share in grid electricity mix.
6. smart meter can be welfare worsening unless it is subsidized
Smart meters can lower household’s welfare:
The incremental benefit from installing a smart
meter may not be sufficient to cover its cost.
However, a full subsidization of smart meter
deployment is less likely to reduce HHs’ welfare.
7. Regulative measures can be required for nationwide deployment of SM
Nationwide deployment of smart meters can call
for regulative measures:
Regulation of tariff with smart meter
Full subsidisation of smart meter deployment.
Editor's Notes
SG and the consequences of demand-side management for HHs have recently received a lot of attention in the academic literature and in the media.
Ambitious objective for smart metering roll-out to at least 80% by 2020 (EU Commission, 2012):
But not considering some important economic aspects
According to the IPPC, Human activities are mainly responsible for climate change. Most specifically, the energy sector represents more than two-thirds of all anthropogenic GHG emissions.
Energy transition is one of the solutions to fight climate change: via Decentralized electricity generation.
Problems: Renewables are intermittent and unpredictable
New challenge: reliability and security of energy systems.
Good news: Smart-grids (SG) technologies provide solutions
to deal with this new challenge
and help promoting the integration of renewable energy (RE).
While SG technologies massive rollout for demand side management are intended to reduce electricity, this may also induce rebound effects with more electricity purchase and less welfare…
Is a Massive rollout of smart meter (SM) a good solution?
When the household (HH) is equipped with (i) solar panels (rooftop), (ii) storage device, (iii) smart meter, and has flexibility in feeding (resp. purchasing) electricity to (resp. from) the grid (via net metering),
What are the consequences for the electricity consumption?
Is installing a smart meter welfare improving for the HH?
Smart meters can lead to more grid electricity purchase:
When the discrepancy between the fixed tariff and the (higher) expected tariff with SM is small.
This is not the case in Hong Kong with low electricity price (GBP 0.075 per kWh).
But the reverse could apply for countries like the UK where electricity prices are high (GBP 0.15).
Tariff regulation with smart meter is required, dynamic pricing may not be sufficient:
Reduce expected tariffs in countries with currently low electricity price.
Increase expected tariffs in countries with currently high electricity price.