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A just energy trading platform – or just an energy trading platform?

Panel: 5. Towards sustainable and resilient communities

This is a peer-reviewed paper.

Authors:
Marten Boekelo, DuneWorks, The Netherlands
Jordan Young, DuneWorks, The Netherlands
Sylvia Breukers, DuneWorks, The Netherlands
Ruth Mourik, DuneWorks, The Netherlands

Abstract

This paper draws attention to the challenge to develop energy flexibility platforms that are understandable, usable and equitable. This challenge merits attention given the growing recognition of the strategic potential of energy communities to create and retain value locally, and in so doing, accelerate the transition towards a sustainable energy system. ICT platforms with features like energy management services and smart energy apps are mobilized to unlock this potential. They enable access to the flexibility market, facilitate energy trade and promote community members’ engagement.

However, these platforms are also a sign and accelerator of the increasing complexity of energy provisioning. With this complexity come new uncertainties, dependencies and risks of exclusion. As part of our participation in three major EU H2020 demonstration projects for community-centred energy flexibility – Hestia, Lightness and NRG2peers – we draw on the environmental justice framework to develop a co-creative design process capable of addressing these issues. The main challenges include recognizing and designing for a diversity of users’ needs and capabilities and creating a space for communities to be able to translate their social values into flexibility business models and matching technological architecture.

In the paper, we draw on our interviews and focus groups with pilot participants to identify the issues users face. We then report on our interventions in one of these pilots, where we focus especially on a co-design workshop, through which we try to align the participatory design process with justice principles. We argue that this combination can bolster and enrich user-centred design practices, which will help ensure not only that flexibility technology is fair, but also effective. We conclude the paper by evaluating outstanding challenges in realizing that promise.

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Download this presentation as pdf: 5-263-22_boekelo_pres.pdf

Download this paper as pdf: 5-263-22_Boekelo.pdf