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INSPIRE-GRID
The INSPIRE-Grid 2015 Workshop.
Plotting a path to efficient Grid development
We all rely on the electrical power system in our daily lives, but work to develop and enhance the underlying infrastructure often arouses strong opposition in the communities affected. We spoke to Stefano Maran about the INSPIRE-Grid project’s work in developing a methodology for effective participation, which could help strengthen trust between stakeholders and system operators
The electrical grid system plays a central role in our everyday lives, providing power to homes and businesses, yet development projects often arouse intense opposition among the public. Deeper engagement with the public could help both smooth relations between citizens and electricity companies and accelerate development, a topic that lies at the core of the INSPIRE-Grid project. “The goal of the project is to make specific recommendations for the use of participation tools and processes in grid development projects,” says project coordinator Stefano Maran. The development of the grid has historically been centrally planned, yet this has often led to conflict with local citizens, concerned about issues such as the impact of a project on the landscape, or the possible health effects of a stronger electro-magnetic field. “One way of managing this type of conflict is to engage stakeholders as early as possible in the decision-making process,” outlines Maran.
Methodology
A clear methodology which takes the interests of all stakeholders into account is essential to this process. The first step in the project is to assess the needs, wants and expectations of local stakeholders, providing the foundation for the development of a methodology to manage a project consultation. “We will make some instruments available by which the interests of these different stakeholders can be expressed and taken into consideration,” explains Maran. Another key step in the project was to identify the processes available to engage stakeholders.
“We reviewed existing best practice, and we also made a decision tool available, in order to identify the most appropriate process, depending on the phase of the project, and the category of stakeholder,” continues Maran. “Then there is a need for assessment procedures, where we compare the benefits of projects to the local impacts. We aim to develop an assessment approach which allows decision-makers to take into account different points of view.”
The goal of improving energy infrastructure may be in the wider national interest, but decision-makers must also take the impact of a development project on local communities into account. While the majority of local stakeholders are unlikely to be experts on the technical aspects of grid infrastructure, their views can guide development. “We cannot ask the general public to decide the technical characteristics of the grid of course, but we can directly use the results of consultations for some project phases. We have differentiated these phases, and we have made some tools available that promote active participation,” says Maran. This could mean local stakeholders giving their views on the route of grid development for example, helping to protect the landscape and local heritage. “We have developed some tools that can enable this kind of function in an automatic way. But of course our tools do not in themselves resolve differences of opinion,” says Maran.
There may be situations in which the outcome of a consultation does not directly influence the course and general direction of a development project. While the project’s tools may not in themselves help resolve these differences of opinion,
Maran says a clear methodology can at least make the process more transparent. “It can help to make differences explicit, which is important in managing these types of conflicts. The advantage of using a structured decision-making process is that the process is, in itself, traceable, and responsibilities are clearly identified,” he points out. This also helps build trust between stakeholders and electricity companies, which is an important issue in terms of public acceptance of infrastructure projects. “A thorough consultation boosts trust between the electricity company and the public and leads to a more effective decision-making process, which is very beneficial over the longer term,” stresses Maran. are developing processes to make grid infrastructure development projects more effective and more efficient.”
This approach could also potentially be applied to other large-scale infrastructure projects, beyond the electricity grid, which share similar characteristics in terms of public opposition. In many cases where public utility infrastructure is being developed, conflicts arise between perceptions of the public interest and the communities directly affected, a context in which Maran believes the project’s research could have a wider impact. “The tools we have developed in our project could – if customised appropriately – also be used for other kinds of public utility infrastructure projects,” he says. One tool developed
Development projects
The wider goal in this research is to help smooth the progress of electrical grid development projects. While electricity infrastructure is essential to modern lifestyles, Maran says that many development projects encounter delays. “More than half of grid projects, some of which are identified as essential for reaching the EU’s energy policy objectives (Project of Common Interest), experience delays, and some are even cancelled. This shows how opposition can slow down the development of the grid,” he points out. Effective, rigorous consultation is central to engaging local people, identifying their concerns and addressing them where possible, which in the long run could help smooth the development process. “When grid infrastructure is likely to affect a group of people, we consider it right to engage these people in the decision,” stresses Maran. “We within the project is a prototype web GIS system, with added functionalities to promote stakeholder participation in grid development projects. “For instance, we have inserted in our prototype a function that allows the user to send their opinion about the landscape that should be preserved in an area that could be developed,” outlines Maran.
This research has been built on strong collaboration between the social and technical sciences, bringing together different areas of expertise to develop effective tools. Maran says this collaboration has been crucial to bridging gaps in understanding between disciplines, and developing effective recommendations for decision-makers. “This collaboration between social sciences and technical sciences has been very useful and it must be pursued further in order to improve our recommendations,” he says.
Full Project Title
Improved and eNhanced Stakeholders Participation In Reinforcement of Electricity Grid (INSPIRE-Grid)
Project Objectives
By way of an interdisciplinary approach, INSPIRE-Grid will develop stakeholder-led processes and design an expert-led European good practice guide. Methods to facilitate decision-making will be newly combined with engagement tools and tested with stakeholders from existing or concluded grid development project case studies.
Project Partners
research institutes (Ricerca sul Sistema Energetico - RSE SpA (coordinator), Association pour la recherché et le developpement des methods et processus industriels – ARMINES, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich – ETHZ, Institut für ZukunftsEnergieSysteme – IZES, Potsdam-Institut für Klimafolgenforschung – PIK, Poliedra Centri di Conoscenza e Formazione del Politecnico di Milano – Poliedra), transmission system operators (National Grid, RTE, Statnett), and the stakeholder platform Renewables-Grid-Initiative – RGI.
Contact Details
Stefano Maran, Project Coordinator FP7 INSPIRE-Grid, Energy Sources Dept. Ricerca sul Sistema Energetico - RSE Spa T: +39-02-3992.5918 E: stefano.maran@rse-web.it W: www.inspire-grid.eu W: http://www.rse-web.it
Stefano Maran
Stefano Maran has a university degree in physics, since 1988 he has been involved in research activities on environmental impacts of the electric sector. He contributed to Italian and EU projects aimed to study the integration of energy infrastructures into the environment, to develop Decision Support Systems and Web GIS, and to implement these methodologies to the integrated management of natural resources. He currently leads the Research Team “Integration of Electric Power Systems into the Environment”
