(A) study on the effects of smart grid deployment and consumer acceptance

Abstract

Smart grids are becoming a mainstream technology, with solutions providing power networks with a valuable set of potential tools to deliver electricity efficiently, reliably, and safely. Major countries such as U.S., China, Japan, Germany, U.K., etc. are competitively promoting smart grid industry to take the lead in the rapidly growing smart grid market based on technological competitive advantages. Korea also carried out the Jeju smart grid pilot project (2009.12~2013.5) to develop a framework for a national smart grid policy and make inroads into overseas markets, and is preparing for an upgraded smart grid project which will be implemented from 2016 to 2025. Smart grid industry, which have experienced a surge in investments worldwide since 2009, have been focused mainly on the technology development and feasibility study, technological standardizations, and advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) deployment. Smart grids change energy value chain as well as consumption behavior in the electricity industry. We will face various challenges in terms of regulation, public policy, and the social acceptance of smart grids beyond building physical infrastructure. However, these issues in the research on smart grids have been overlooked. This dissertation tries to fill the gap that exists between physical infrastructure development and social support systems in the smart grid industry. The main objective of this research is to identify how smart grids affect the energy industry and what challenges are ahead in accordance with the smart grid deployment. This dissertation is composed of six chapters and the first chapter is an introduction. The second chapter reviewed smart grids related future signs through the text mining. The results showed that data and software-centric keywords stood out in bold relief and people were interested more in economics of smart grid projects. It was also identified that the roles of consumers were emphasized and cyberattacks on the electrical grid were warned. This result implies that the value creation based on consumer needs and data utilization is emphasized and cyber security should be more enhanced for the successful smart grid deployment. Following this comprehensive document review, the third chapter examined the effects of ICT convergence on the energy industry in terms of the value chain and suggested the requirements for successful ICT convergence in the energy sector. Energy consumers are turning into prosumers and influential stakeholders. In addition, the importance of data has been highlighted and the influence of platforms has been expanded. With these changes come along, various market participants appear, and at the same time businesses that do not adapt to these changes are at risk in terms of their market power. It can be seen that these changes demand efforts to encourage consumer participation into energy market, rational mechanism of energy data sharing, and setting up of an efficient regulatory system. Chapter 4 quantitatively investigated the effects of smart grids on electricity supply and demand with regard to electric vehicle management. The outcomes of analyses showed that the peak load increase caused by the spread of electric vehicles can be reduced by smart grids. However, this chapter also showed that increasing the share of power generation from clean and economical energy sources to levels greater than that of the minimum load would allow electric vehicles to become an eco-friendly means of transportation. Chapter 5 examined how residential consumers perceive the smart grids and what factors influence their acceptance of the smart grid services through a survey of electricity consumers in Korea. Since there are few studies on the policies from the perspective of the smart grid users, this chapter will contribute directly to the development of the strategy to ensure a greater acceptance of the smart grids. Chapter 6 is a conclusion.