Positive energy districts aim to tackle energy poverty and injustice by generating local, decentralised, innovative energy ecosystems, and empowering consumers. 

Funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network programme, the Smart-BEEjS project is studying and supporting cities and communities in their goal to produce more energy than they use. 

It considers policy, technology and the needs of society and citizens to explore how to transition to local, carbon-neutral systems of energy production that meet the needs of all energy consumers. 

The project complements the EU’s Strategic Energy Technology Plan, which aims to establish '100 positive energy districts by 2025 (baseline 2015) and 80 % of electricity consumption to be managed by consumers in 4 out of 5 households'.

The EU has used the Strategic Energy Technology Plan to transfer power to consumers, by decentralising the energy eco-system by establishing “100 positive energy districts by 2025 and 80% of electricity consumption to be managed by consumers in 4 out of 5 households”. 

The SMART-BEEjS recognises that this requires the systemic synergy of the different stakeholders, balancing attention towards technological and policy oriented drivers, citizens and society needs, providers and technology capabilities and value generation system synergies in order to deliver the transition without leaving large parts of the population behind. 

Smart-BEEjS covers all angles of this eco-system, to train a generation of transformative and influential champions in policy design, techno-economic planning and business model innovation in the energy and efficiency sectors, mindful of the personal and social dimensions, as well as the nexus of interrelation between stakeholders in energy generation, efficiency and management. 

Objectives of Smart-BEEjS

Five objectives have been set to develop:

• a practical tool that popularises the evidence based knowledge of the relationships between socio-economic factors and citizens’ practices, enabling citizens to become active promoters of PEDs;
• strategies that can positively influence citizens towards sustainable behaviour patterns, which will be used to advise at city/town council level;
• a methodology for systemic planning of infrastructure investments that can be recommended at city/town level in order to transition towards PEDs, by designing a systemic modelling approach combining techno-economic aspects and pathways toward the creation and sustainability of PEDs;
• an evidence-based policy and incentives pathway for tackling energy injustice and poverty, by an effective design of policy implementation at PED level;
• a user-based value generation tool that initiates user-centric business models and value proposition designs exploring PEDs, without the need for subsidies

Smart-BEEjS is a consortium of 8 universities and research centres under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions, Innovative Training Networks (ITN). The core consortium is supported by 16 non-academic entities, in the United Kingdom, Italy, Portugal, Austria, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain and Switzerland.

The project trains 15 PhD students using an innovative doctoral training programme. The training programme incorporates three dimensions: 

1. Deep training in their individual subjects. 
2. Systemic thinking and engagement with the needs of citizens and communities as well as experts from different disciplines promoting the development of Positive Energy Districts (PEDs).
3. Reflection of the impact of our research and realisation of opportunities from outcomes for supporting a Human-Centric energy transition.

Partners

• THE NOTTINGHAM TRENT UNIVERSITY
• ACCADEMIA EUROPEA DI BOLZANO
• TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITAET WIEN
• Iscte - Instituto Universitário de Lisboa
• INSTITUTO TECNOLOGICO DE CANARIAS,S.A.
• UNIVERSITAT BASEL
• WAGENINGEN UNIVERSITY
• RWI - LEIBNIZ-INSTITUT FUR WIRTSCHAFTSFORSCHUNG e.V.
• Independent Transport Commission
• MUNICIPIO DE TORRES VEDRAS
• Greenvision Energy Ltd
• RUHR-UNIVERSITAET BOCHUM
• STADT FRANKFURT AM MAIN DER MAGISTRAT
• AGENZIA PER L'ENERGIA ALTO ADIGE -CASACLIMA
• REGIONE LOMBARDIA
• POLITECNICO DI MILANO
• STADT WIEN
• CONSULTA EUROPA PROJECTS AND INNOVATION SL
• STICHTING AMSTERDAM INSTITUTE FORADVANCED METROPOLITAN SOLUTIONS(AMS)
• INNOGY SE
• UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI TRENTO
• CENEX - CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE FOR LOW CARBON AND FUEL CELL TECHNOLOGIES
• Nottingham City Council
• National Energy Action

Start date: 1 April 2019 - End date: 30 April 2023

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 812730.