Exploring acceptance of decentralised energy storage at household and neighbourhood scales: A UK survey

P Ambrosio-Albala,P Upham,C.S.E Bale,P.G Taylor

doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2019.111194

Abstract

Effective deployment of Distributed Energy Storage (DES) will depend in part on public attitudes and acceptance at both community and household levels. Here, we present the results of an exploratory survey to understand prospective public acceptance of DES technologies at household and community level in the UK (N = 949). The research design draws on previous qualitative technology acceptance work that was undertaken to inform the survey. We show that while the level of awareness of DES among the UK public is still very low, initial evaluation of information on domestic and neighbourhood battery storage is positive and evokes positive feelings that are significant predictors of positive attitudes. Moreover, the UK public has strong expectations about the technology, its benefits and its management. In particular, the results point to a bounded and place-based role for altruism: that people are more likely to accept energy storage facilities in their neighbourhood if they are for the benefit of that same neighbourhood. The results help us to understand public expectations of the technologies and the institutions relevant to decentralised energy design and deployment by commercial and public sector actors, as well as having implications for policy design and communication strategies.

Highlights

There is increasing interest in the role that distributed energy storage (DES) for both electricity and heat might play in a future energy system (Bale et al, 2018; Dodds and Garvey, 2016; Taylor et al, 2013)
The theory of planned behaviour (TPB) has been applied in a very wide range of contexts and is based on the premises that people are more likely to intend to undertake a behaviour if they believe: (a) that this will have an outcome that they view as positive; (b) that significant others will approve of that behaviour; and (c) that the behaviour will be effective in achieving the outcome
We explored Willingness to have a battery system installed in their local area/community based on benefits in two different scenarios: (i) when benefits were direct to the community as local projects; and (ii) benefits exclusively for individual households (Appended Table A16)

Summary

Introduction

There is increasing interest in the role that distributed energy storage (DES) for both electricity and heat might play in a future energy system (Bale et al, 2018; Dodds and Garvey, 2016; Taylor et al, 2013). DES at both community and household levels offers new opportunities for citizens, enabling the production, consumption and storage of locally produced energy (Koirala et al, 2016, 2018). It can help with electricity network congestion and provide various sys tem services. As energy storage can be integrated at different levels of electricity supply grids, it is able to provide valuable services across the energy chain so benefitting users at different levels and the system as a whole These services include the potential to reduce the level of curtailment of distributed renewable technologies (Sidhu et al, 2018), such as solar PV and the provision of flexibility services to distribution grids, such as low voltage substation and network reinforcement, and voltage management (UKPN, 2018). Based on a survey of the literature (Parra et al, 2017), highlight a number of ad vantages that CES could bring over single-home systems, including: enhanced performance of battery systems due to smoother electricity demand profiles resulting from aggregation of household loads, a reduction in the required energy and power ratings of the storage system in terms of kWh/home and kW/home, and potential economies of scale from to the use of larger systems

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion