Our research
Current research themes
Members of the Energy Policy Group work across a range of disciplines and policy areas. The group's work focusses on exploring the policy and governance challenges of rapidly transforming energy systems to be decarbonised, sustainable and equitable, and includes topics such as:
- Governance and policymaking at the European, national and sub-national levels
- The politics and power dynamics of energy system change
- Heat decarbonisation, fuel poverty and demand reduction
- Digitalisation and smart systems
- Energy innovation and entrepreneurship
- New business models including community energy
- Electricity market design, rules and incentives
- Network regulation and the future role of distribution network operators
Current research projects
Energy Democracy and the Politics of Energy Transition in African CountriesThis three-year ESRC/GCRF project is examining the role of energy democracy within three southern African countries: Lesotho, South Africa and Nigeria. Led by University College London and working with partner institutions in the UK and Africa, the EPG is providing insights into how policy, regulation and wider governance frameworks can foster more inclusive and democratic energy systems across multiple contexts. EPG contact: Bridget Woodman. |
Net Zero Communities (NZCom)NZCom is a project examining how local communities can meet net zero objectives while positively supporting vulnerable households and businesses. As part of this, the EPG is leading the development of local scenario narratives to articulate plausible energy futures, as a basis for exploring options for new technologies, business models and institutional arrangements. This project is led by Wadebridge Renewable Energy Network (WREN), and is funded by Western Power Distribution (WPD) through Ofgem’s Network Innovation Allowance competition. EPG contact: Iain Soutar |
Re-scaling governance for decarbonisation: co-ordinating decentralised energy systems, ESRC Postdoctoral FellowshipJess Britton holds an ESRC post-doctoral fellowship from 2020-2021 focussed on exploring how the role of local actors in energy systems is changing (with a focus on the UK), the extent to which current governance, policy and regulatory arrangements support action by the most appropriate actors at the right scale, and how action between local, regional and national governments should be best coordinated. More about this fellowship project |
Examining Offshore Wind Institutional Entrepreneurship (ExOE)ExOE sets out to explore how offshore wind industries emerge, the challenges they face, and develop insights into how these challenges may be overcome. The project addresses these questions by seeking to understand how public and/or private actors can act as institutional entrepreneurs in the creation of offshore wind industries. |
IGov 2: Innovation and Governance for Future Energy SystemsIGov argues that the GB energy system effectively runs along two streams: the conventional ‘old’ energy system and the ‘new’ entrants and non-traditional practices which are occurring around the edges of the conventional systems. Within IGov 2, we are focusing on energy system change that is happening at the moment and the different dimensions of that change, such as: business models; technology; markets; networks; ownership; the role of people; political systems; system operation; economics; social preferences, etc. We will seek to better understand the reasons for some of the changes that are occurring, the political economy context in which they are happening, and how actors across the whole energy system are reacting and adapting to this change. We want to understand the governance needs of the ‘new’ system and its actors and what the opportunities are to capture these benefits within GB. Find out more on the IGov project site |
Cornwall Local Energy Market (CLEM)The Cornwall Local Energy Market (CLEM) is a 3-year trial led by Centrica to create the UK’s first local energy market. The project will develop a local marketplace for flexible demand, generation and storage to help optimise capacity on the local distribution network and enable more renewable connections to be made across different sectors. More information about CLEM |
Intelligent Community Energy (ICE)The ICE project aims to design and implement innovative smart energy solutions for isolated territories. The project considers the entire energy cycle to deliver innovative energy system solutions. The ICE consortium brings together research and business support organisations in France and the UK and engagement with SMEs will support project rollout and promote European cooperation. |
SIM4NEXUSWater, land, food, energy, and climate are interconnected, comprising a coherent system (the ‘Nexus’), dominated by complexity and feedback. Through the five nexus themes, SIM4NEXUS aims to predict society-wide impacts of resource use and relevant policies on sectors such as agriculture, water, biodiversity and ecosystem services through a model-based analysis. Visit the SIM4NEXUS website |
Future GasThe FutureGas project, led by DTU in Denmark, is investigating the future of the Danish gas system in the context of decarbonisation. The Energy Policy Group at Exeter is providing a comparative UK case study for the FuturGas project and Catherine Mitchell has been a visiting professor at DTU over parts of the project. |
Stepping UpThe EPG are one of several partners in an EPSRC project being led by University of Manchester on the Water-Energy-Food Nexus. Current food, energy and water systems of provision are locked-in to unsustainable and insecure models characterised by centralised power structures. Faced with increasing resource scarcity and societal inequalities, a changing climate and greenhouse gas targets, there is a need for a step-change to put the UK on a sustainable Water-Energy-Food (WEF) pathway. The project will be looking at UK examples of initiatives with low impact across water, food and energy systems. It will study what does and doesn’t work to explore what constitutes good practice across the WEF nexus. Once identified it will model these low-impact systems, to interrogate if and how they could be replicated in other settings - such as a much larger scale, or within a different type of organisation. The study will involve stakeholders’ expertise within the modelling to produce data to help with decision-making that can be shared with industry, government and a wider society. The project started in October 2015 and is funded by EPSRC - Grant EP/N00583X/1. Find out more about the Stepping Up project aims and outputs. |
PhD ResearchIn addition to these current research projects, the EPG's PhD candidates are also challenging current institutions both nationally and internationally to bring forward a sustainable transformation to the current governance of the energy system. For more information on their research, visit their pages: |