Social and economic value in emerging decentralized energy business models: A critical review

Sophie Adams, Donal Brown, Juan Pablo Cárdenas Álvarez, Ruzanna Chitchyan, Michael Fell, Ulf Hahnel, Kristina Hojckova, Charlotte Johnson, Lurian Klein, Mehdi Montakhabi, Kelvin Say, Abhigyan Singh and Nicole Watson

In recent years, numerous studies have explored the opportunities and challenges for emerging decentralized energy systems and business models. However, few studies have focussed specifically on the economic and social value associated with three emerging models: peer-to-peer energy trading (P2P), community self-consumption (CSC) and transactive energy (TE). This article presents the findings of a systematic literature review to address this gap. The paper makes two main contributions to the literature. Firstly, it offers a synthesis of research on the social and economic value of P2P, CSC and TE systems, concluding that there is evidence for a variety of sources of social value (including energy independence, local benefits, social relationships, environmental responsibility and participation and purpose) and economic value (including via self-consumption of renewable electricity, reduced electricity import costs, and improved electricity export prices). Secondly, it identifies factors and conditions necessary for the success of these models, which include willingness to participate, participant engagement with technology, and project engagement of households and communities, among other factors. Finally, it discusses conflicts and trade-offs in the value propositions of the models, how the three models differ from one another in terms of the value they aim to deliver and some of the open challenges that require further attention by researchers and practitioners.

Banner photo credit: Alireza Attari on Unsplash