Headline: How Ordinary Citizens Can Optimise their Energy Consumption: New Publication on Interactive Exhibition

Smart grids are an important building block of the Energiewende. The share of strongly fluctuating feed-ins from renewable energies is increasing and many small producers are also generating electricity from decentralised installations like solar panels on the roofs of their homes. To adapt to these new requirements, the distribution grid needs to become ‘smarter’ by integrating information and communication technologies into the process of supplying electricity. This makes it possible to manage demand in an innovative way. To heighten citizens’ awareness of the current changes, the Baden-Wuerttemberg Foundation’s mobile science exhibition “Expedition N” – where the letter ‘N’ stands for the German word for sustainability – has been touring the South-West of Germany since September 2010. IASS Director Ortwin Renn and Senior Fellow Ilan Chabay advised the Foundation on the original concept of the exhibition and on a comprehensive reworking of it in 2013. In an article recently published in the journal Energy, Sustainability and Society, they and some other colleagues describe how the exhibition is motivating citizens to reflect more on how energy can be used in a more sustainable way.

As lead author Huijie Li from the University of Stuttgart points out, “The smart grid enables more flexible interaction between electricity suppliers and consumers as well as facilitating private electricity generation. In this way, everybody can make a contribution to the Energiewende goals.” But without consumer engagement, the smart grid will remain a mere technical concept. “A survey has shown that citizens have heard far less about the smart grid than the Energiewende. They have only a vague idea of what it is and are unclear about its advantages and disadvantages,” explains Li. The exhibition fills this knowledge gap.

One of the exhibits is the interactive ‘grid game’, where visitors to the exhibition can get a feel for how the future smart grid would work in practice. Up to six players engage in a game in which five players manage the use of energy appliances in their own virtual household, while one player turns a crank handle to provide the power that the other players’ actions require. Very quickly the players discover that without the means to coordinate their use of energy, their demand for energy can become too great and they encounter a blackout. The players can then test a strategy for a ‘smart’ energy system that helps them coordinate their use and decrease the peaks of energy demand. So they need to agree on when each device is supposed to run in order to avoid large electricity surpluses as well as blackouts due to network overload.

The game simulates what will, in future, be the reality: in the smart grid, energy providers can determine in real time just how much electricity a consumer needs at a given moment and deliver the exact amount required. Informed consumers can actively contribute to optimising the electricity supply system as a whole. The smart grid also informs consumers better as to their electricity use and supports them in adapting their consumption, particularly at times when overall demand is high.

In addition to presenting these kinds of exhibits, the exhibition offers various events geared to specific target groups, including lectures and discussions. To date, around 470 000 people have visited “Expedition N” and more than 80 per cent of them gave it the thumbs up. “In designing this exhibition and game, our intention was to stimulate the visitors’ interest and curiosity so that they are actively seeking information and ideas of importance to them,” says Ilan Chabay. The more the general public understands and supports this development, the quicker the transition to a modern, low-carbon energy supply can take place. With its balance between presenting information and offering opportunities for experimentation and reflection, role-playing and quizzes, “Expedition N” contributes to a more sustainable energy supply.

Li, H., Chabay, I., Renn, O., Weber, A., Mbungu, G. (2015): Exploring smart grids with simulations in a mobile science exhibition. - Energy, Sustainability and Society, 5, 1, 37.