Research project ‘Flexible Energy Communities’ awarded funding by NWO

On 21 March 2022 NWO announced that the research proposal ‘Flexible Energy Communities: Coupling e-mobility and energy communities (FlexECs)’ was selected as one of the four projects to be funded under the call ‘Energy Transition as a Socio-Technical Challenge’. The project is led by a consortium consisting of Wageningen University and Research, Technical University Delft, and the University of Groningen with two faculties, namely the Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences and the Faculty of Law, i.e. the Groningen Centre of Energy Law and Sustainability (represented by Dr. Lea Diestelmeier and Prof. Martha Roggenkamp).

The consortium will conduct interdisciplinary research on the synergies between energy communities and electric mobility. Energy communities are considered as one of the cornerstones of the process of energy transition but its success is, amongst others, limited by the availability of sufficient grid capacity. This project investigates whether electrical vehicles can provide opportunities for energy transport outside the existing grid, and thus broadening the range of possible energy communities. A PhD researcher and a (part time) post-doctoral researcher will be appointed to investigate the legal aspects of the development of energy communities and the role of electric vehicles therein.

An important awarding requirement was the need to involve private and/or societal partners in the project. Trip Advocaten and Heliox (a company providing charging solutions for electric vehicles and led by NSELP alumnus Michael Colijn) will participate in the legal work package of the project. It is expected that the project will be launched mid-2022.

This article was published by the Faculty of Law.