Positive Energy Districts: Identifying Challenges and Interdependencies

Savis Gohari Krangsås, Koen Steemers, Thaleia Konstantinou, Silvia Soutullo, Mingming Liu, Emanuela Giancola, Bahri Prebreza, Touraj Ashrafian, Lina Murauskaitė and Nienke Maas
Additional contact information
Savis Gohari Krangsås: Department of Architecture and Planning, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), 7491 Trondheim, Norway
Koen Steemers: Department of Architecture, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1PX, UK
Thaleia Konstantinou: Faculty of Architecture, Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), 2628 BL Delft, The Netherlands
Silvia Soutullo: Department of Energy, Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas (CIEMAT), 28040 Madrid, Spain
Mingming Liu: School of Electronic Engineering, Dublin City University, 9 Dublin, Ireland
Emanuela Giancola: Department of Energy, Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas (CIEMAT), 28040 Madrid, Spain
Bahri Prebreza: Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Pristina, 10000 Pristina, Kosovo
Touraj Ashrafian: Faculty of Architecture and Design, Özyeğin University, Istanbul 34794, Turkey
Lina Murauskaitė: Laboratory of Energy Systems Research, Lithuanian Energy Institute, LT-44403 Kaunus, Lithuania
Nienke Maas: Department of Strategy and Policy, The Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), 2595 AD The Hague, The Netherlands

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 19, 1-20

Abstract: Positive Energy Districts (PED) are areas within cities that generate more renewable energy than they consume, contributing to cities’ energy system transformation toward carbon neutrality. Since PED is a novel concept, the implementation is very challenging. Within the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) Action, which offers an open space for collaboration among scientists across Europe (and beyond), this paper asks what the needs for supporting the implementation of PEDs are. To answer this, it draws on Delphi process (expert reviews) as the main method alongside the literature review and also uses surveys as supplementary methods to identify the main challenges for developing PEDs. Initial findings reveal seven interacting topics that later were ranked as highest to the lowest as the following: governance, incentive, social, process, market, technology and context. These are interrelated and interdependent, implying that none can be considered in isolation of the others and cannot be left out in order to ensure the successful development of PEDs. The resources that are needed to address these challenges are a common need for systematic understanding of the processes behind them, as well as cross-disciplinary models and protocols to manage the complexity of developing PEDs. The results can be the basis for devising the conceptual framework on the development of new PED guides and tools.

Keywords: Positive Energy District; challenges; COST Action; governance; needs; tools; market; participation; collaboration (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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