Participation in Energy Transition - Challenges within the Scope of Smart Grids

The inclusion and empowerment of civil society and economy are considered necessary prerequisites for the energy transition that has to be achieved. This contribution shows the process of participation approaches in general as well as a use case within the scope of smart grids in particular. The objective of this use case was to determine the users’ willingness to participate in the respective project. A participation workshop was conducted using qualitative and quantitative methods. Results show that since the participants were informed about the system solution for the first time, concern about cost and security were corollary. We conclude that the workshop served rather as instrument to inform and enlighten private end-users providing a baseline to compare results of further investigations. The forthcoming challenge is to ensure an ongoing participation process to raise acceptance and willingness to participate.