Exploring the adoption in transitioning markets: Empirical findings and implications on energy storage solutions-acceptance in the German manufacturing industry

Abstract

While the household perspective on acceptance of Renewable Energy Technologies has been of interest to many researchers, the organizational perspective has been neglected in certain areas. Even though, especially the industry, as one of the main energy consumer, is of critical importance along the way of transforming the energy system to Renewable Energies in Germany. The distributed character of the Energy Transition in Germany demands for further flexibility being introduced to the grid. This study therefore examines the acceptance of electric Energy Storage Solutions among the German manufacturing industry. Based on quantitative data from a sample of 101 German manufacturing companies, the article analyzes the general awareness about Energy Storage Solutions, possible acceptance factors and perspectives on new business models for the adoption and diffusion of Energy Storage Solutions in an industrial setting. The research presented lead to the development of an acceptance typology and the identification of certain user-types of Energy Storage Solutions in the sample. The results show that organizations in the sample display general knowledge about Energy Storage solutions but do not have in-depth knowledge about modes of deployment.