Seminaar empirical legal research: microgrids

Op woensdag 23 maart (16.00-17.00) organiseert het Groningen Centre for Empirical Legal Research een seminaar over 'microgrids' met Jamie Behrendt. Het seminaar zal plaatsvinden in zaal 1315.0042.

Jamie Behrendt is sinds augustus 2021 promovenda bij het Groningen Centre of Energy Law and Sustainability. Haar onderzoek richt zich op gedecentraliseerde energienetwerken en hoe deze binnen de Europese Unie gereguleerd zouden moeten worden. Tijdens het seminaar bestaat ruimte voor vragen en discussie.

Meer informatie over het onderwerp:

As part of the European Green Deal, the European Union (EU) aims to be climate neutral by 2050: net emissions of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere by that time should be zero. This is only achievable if all actors responsible for emitting GHG act towards this aim, including electricity consumers. However, the aging centralised electricity grid has difficulties facilitating the needed innovation and effectively integrating renewable energy sources. By promoting the use of decentralised electricity systems, such as micro electricity grids, electricity users can more actively participate in the electricity market and contribute to the energy transition.

Microgrids are small-scale decentralised electricity systems which, among other things, can help to manage the efficient integration of renewable energy. This can increase the share of renewable energy in the electricity mix. Furthermore, within a microgrid, electricity consumers are encouraged to participate in the energy market, as a microgrid allows consumers (buyers) and producers (sellers) to engage in electricity transactions. Such transactions lead to mutual welfare gains to the extent that transaction costs do not outweigh their benefits. However, this is determined by the legal framework, which is currently not existing in the EU.

As microgrids don’t exist in EU law, the full potential of microgrids to contribute to the energy transition cannot unfold. The main question in this research focuses on how microgrids should be regulated in the EU in a way that minimizes transaction costs to make an effective and efficient contribution to the energy transition. This will be answered by combining a doctrinal and empirical assessment. The doctrinal analysis focuses on the possibilities of integrating microgrids in the existing legal framework, and the empirical analysis will examine how the lack of regulation for microgrids results in uncertainty and increases transaction costs.