The Transition to Clean Energy: Are People Living in Island Communities Ready for Smart Grids and Demand Response?

Dana Abi Ghanem,Tracey Crosbie

doi:10.3390/en14196218

Abstract

Islands are widely recognised as ideal pilot sites that can spearhead the transition to clean energy and development towards a sustainable and healthy society. One of the assumptions underpinning this notion is that island communities are more ready to engage with smart grids (SGs) than people on the mainland. This is believed to be due to the high costs of energy on islands and the idea that the sense of community and collective action is stronger on islands than on the mainland. This paper presents findings from a survey conducted to assess people’s perception of, and readiness to engage with, SG and demand response (DR) in the communities of three islands taking part in a H2020 project called REACT. The main objective of the survey, conducted in 2020, was to inform the recruitment of participants in the project, which is piloting different technologies required for SGs and DR with communities on the three islands. The results show that many island residents are motivated to take part in SG, to engage with energy saving, and are willing to change some energy-related behaviours in their homes. However, the results also indicate that levels of ownership of, and knowledge and familiarity with, the SG and DR related technologies are extremely low, suggesting that the expected uptake of DR in islands might not be as high as anticipated. This brings into question the readiness of island dwellers for the SG, their role in the deployment of such schemes more widely and the validity of the assumptions often made about island communities. This has significant implications for the design of SGs and DR solutions for islands, including devoting sufficient efforts to build knowledge and awareness of the SG, investing in demonstration projects for that purpose and tailoring interventions based on island communities’ motivations.

Highlights

In response to the global challenge of climate change, a green energy transition is needed, based on replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy sources [1,2]
To identify respondents’ motivations, we asked questions about the impact of energy bills on household expenditure, the importance of saving energy and RET’s to respondents and the different factors that might motivate them to take part in the smart grids (SGs). To address their readiness to take part in the SG, we asked questions about the technologies they have in their homes, the SG and demand response (DR) technologies they would like to adopt, their familiarity with these technologies and how flexible they are willing to be across the use of different household appliances
We introduced the H2020 REACT project that is being piloted in the three

Summary

Introduction

In response to the global challenge of climate change, a green energy transition is needed, based on replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy sources [1,2]. These alternatives, which include wind power and solar photovoltaics (PV), generate intermittent energy. To be able to power electricity provision using renewables, smart energy networks known as smart grids (SG) coupled with demand response (DR) principles are key [3,4,5]. Achieving a SG entails the engagement of users in managing peak loads, whereby they have to change their electricity consumption patterns and shift their daily activities to when demand on the grid is lower [6]. Islands are widely recognised as ideal pilot sites which can spearhead the transition to clean energy through SGs and DR technologies that enable localised and renewable energy production and the optimised management of load on the network [7,8,9], to function as “laboratories for technological, social, environmental, economic and political innovation” [8]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion