"Flexibility capital" refers to the capacity of different social groups to provide flexibility to energy systems, and thereby benefit from the energy transition. This PhD is a unique opportunity to develop a flexibility capital framework and influence academic and policy debates on flexibility and a just transition.
Decarbonising the UK's energy system requires an increase in renewable electricity, in particular to meet demand for electric heating and transport. To accommodate this, electricity use will have to become more flexible and adapt to variability in supply and grid constraints. For example, smart electric vehicle (EV) charging could be used to avoid lots of EVs in the same area charging at the same time, or to make use of cheap wind power. Or electric heat pumps could be set to turn down when prices on a time of use electricity tariff are high, saving on running costs and reducing strain on the grid.
Some people, households, companies, or communities are better placed to provide (and benefit from) flexibility than others. This could be for a range of reasons, like access to certain technologies, or having job or family circumstances that allow activities to be completed flexibly. "Flexibility capital" (Powells and Fell, 2019) offers a framework to analyse both the technical potential and the societal factors that underpin the realisation of a more flexible electricity system.
Policymakers and industry want to understand the potential of different technological configurations, market offers, and how flexibility can be reliably unlocked. Advances in digitisation and automation offer the promise of maximising flexibility with minimal inconvenience. There is also widespread recognition that the net zero transition should be as equitable as possible, both for reasons of fairness and to avoid undermining public support. This means that new flexibility solutions will need to be engineered with a broad range of participants and situations in mind. The flexibility capital concept, and its implications for a just transition, has already gained traction in research and regulation. This PhD provides an opportunity to develop further the framework and work with stakeholders to apply the framework and deliver real-word impact.
The aim of this PhD project is to develop the flexibility capital framework and provide practical tools for planning and analysing the growth of demand-side flexibility.
The project will analyse:
- what makes up flexibility capital (e.g. technical, social, and economic resources, geographic location, grid connection / capacity), and how it can be described and/or quantified
- how flexibility capital is distributed throughout the UK spatially and demographically (factoring in characteristics such as ethnicity, gender, disability, and age)
- what combinations of technologies and flexibility solutions are expected to emerge as the UK continues to decarbonise, and how these affect participation and deliver different types of value for actors at different points in the energy system
- how the potential to provide flexibility can be operationalised to the benefit of a wide range of participants, as well as the energy system.