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Flexibility of demand-side technologies

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October 2019 to September 2022

Project team

Stefan Thor Smith

Samuele Lo Piano

This project analyses how existing demand-side technologies (DST) can change patterns of energy demand.

Flexibility of demand-side technologies

This project investigates the interactions between demand side technologies, flexibility and everyday life using an agent-based model that captures both spatial and temporal variation in energy demand by relating it to human activity. The model forms the basis for understanding how uptake of different demand-side technologies  (e.g. household batteries and vehicle-to-grid electric vehicle storage) can influence the flexibility associated with timing and location of demand. In so doing, the project addresses assumptions as to what extent demand-flexibility can be associated with technology at different scales within energy distribution networks.

What we are asking

  • How does flexibility scale with technology uptake across a network?
  • How do social and technology temporalities combine to affect flexibility?
  • Do technologies that provide spatial flexibility in demand matter?

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