The built environment needs to become completely sustainable before 2050. Hydrogen is seen as a suitable resource to help in achieving this goal. In a hydrogen system, the predefined high level of reliability, as stands today, affects the affordability of the system. The households are the users and payers of the system. The method used is Discrete Choce Modeling. This research identifies a gap between the Willingness To Pay (WTP) for reliability and the current cost of this level of reliability. Reliability should not be a goal on its own. The maintained level of reliability should be optimized together with the affordability of the system.

In a rapidly expanding offshore wind market, governments are evaluating their role in the support of the export of their domestic companies. This thesis looks at what roles governments utilize in the export domain of offshore wind. Four governmental roles are identified and their prevalence is rated in different stages of a novel representation of the export process. A framework of these roles and export stages is applied to the Dutch, Danish and German offshore wind sector by performing a comparative case study. The case studies are conducted using a combination of desk study and 26 expert interviews. The study finds a range of recommendations for the Dutch government to improve its promotion of exports in the Dutch sector. Additionally, the study finds a range of patterns of prevalences of governmental roles which are discussed. The instruments and roles utilized in the earlier stages of the export process are theorized to be more technology-related, the instruments and roles later in the export process are more generalizable for all export processes.

The development of energy communities across the globe is a landmark for the development of decentralized generation, supporting the transition to renewable energy sources. However, energy communities focus on households with little attention to industries or towards the development of Industrial Community Energy Systems. A central issue is the lack of understanding of how different types of financial incentives influence the development of renewable energy in such communities, as researches and policies focus only on energy production. To solve this problem, this thesis evaluated the impact of financial incentives in Industrial Energy Community Systems through economic and community metrics to compare how each policy performed under different environments. In doing so, this thesis developed a social-technical model which was analyzed through an Agent-Based Modeling Simulation to understand how the elements of such a complex system interact with the diffusion of renewable energy through an economic perspective. This research contributes to supporting the development of policy analysis on promoting renewable energy by comparing the effects of applying different types of incentives on a simulated environment.

Abstract The technical and geographical characteristics of fossil fuels have shaped interstate energy relations for decades. The ongoing energy transition leads to an increasing share of renewables in the electricity mix. Since technical and geographical characteristics of renewables differ significantly from those of fossil fuels, it is likely that renewables affect energy relations between countries in a different way. It is yet unknown how these deviating characteristics will exactly influence the international energy relations, and evidence from concrete cases is missing. This study therefore examines the geopolitical implications of wind power in the Danish electricity system. The aim is to assess how interstate energy relations shifted between 1990 and 2018, and whether these shifts can be attributed to the technical and geographical characteristics of wind power. A framework of analysis is constructed to outline the geopolitical implications in 1990 and 2018. Desk research and expert interviews are used to obtain the data. The research concludes that the implications of the transition have been rather positive for Denmark. While sometimes depending on its neighbours for electricity supply, Denmark is still able to safeguard energy security, generate revenues and gain global political influence by sharing knowledge. Further research should outline the implications for other types of renewable energy sources and focus on the geopolitical implications of wind power in other regions.

The manufacturing processes of the Dutch ceramic plants are energy intensive with high temperatures. Most heat is generated by firing natural gas, which causes CO2 emissions. According to the Dutch Climate Agreement, the ceramic plants need to abate their CO2 emissions by 2030. This study intends to provide an analysis of applicable decarbonisation options from a techno-economic perspective. The most cost-beneficial decarbonisation options are analysed by marginal abatement cost curves and evaluated by a business case analysis. The results show that in 2030 a combination of industrial heat pumps, green gas from onsite digestion and CCS are most cost-beneficial and can theoretically abate the total CO2 emissions by 96%. However, uncertainties are present and the supply of feedstock and fuels should be considered in the decision-making process. Next steps for research could be applying a socio-technical approach or a detailed case study of one or more plants.

The European Union (EU) has been regulating roaming since 1997, and has developed different policies aiming to promote transparency in prices and improve competitiveness across the members. With both positive and negative outcomes, the European Commission (EC) had a long learning process where different regulatory measures were introduced and modified according to the results obtained. Despite the fact regional mobile usage has been increasing since the first attempt on regulation, roaming has been limited by other factors such as wholesale and retail prices. While Europe faces challenges related to political extremism, large refugee influxes, economic stagnation, and scepticism related to European integration, the EC aimed for a tangible policy that could show the benefits of the supra-national body to the citizens. After different economic analyses commissioned by the EU showed a feasible possibility of eliminating roaming surcharges, a new step was proposed. Since mid-June 2017, mobile phone users across the European Economic Area (EEA) started experiencing a new European Union (EU) policy related to the roaming usage. The Roaming Like At Home (RLAH) policy became a milestone in the European political process towards a Digital Single Market. Mobile users were benefitted by avoiding roaming surcharges when travelling across countries of the EEA, while telecom operators were limited in the maximum prices they could charge to other foreign operators for the wholesale market. Operators were protected by fixed price caps and a Fair Use Policy (FUP) aimed to avoid abuses from users, as the differences between domestic markets across Europe are still large. The EC based the decision in a market failure of the roaming market, which needed regulation to be solved. By analysing the behaviour of the market, the prices across the Union, among other factors, the EC believed that the RLAH policy would be a correct regulatory approach to solve the market failure, while promoting a Digital Single Market across countries. However, the justification was based merely in economic values, usually obtained from a Neo-classical (NCE) or New Institutional (NIE) economic perspective. The social values behind the policy were not explicitly considered in the analysis and were not used as justification for the decision process. As different journalists, organizations and influential persons argue that the EU has become a technocratic body where the voice of Europeans is not heard, it becomes paramount to understand what is behind the European policies and if the social values are being implicitly considered by the stakeholders involved in the decision-making process. Thus, this thesis aims to answer the following research question: “How can we assess the societal values related to the implementation of the Roaming Like At Home (RLAH) policy of the European Union for the case of the Netherlands?” The report initially develops a deep analysis on the different steps and motivations of the EC related to the policy, especially in the regulations from 2007 and onwards. It aims to understand the reasons behind the regulations, and concludes that both NCE and NIE are not enough to justify the intervention, using Original Institutional Economics (OIE) for it. A discussion on the public and social values is followed, where specific definitions are used to determine what are the most important social values to be considered within the policy. With the help of experts, a short list of ten values is obtained. A stakeholder analysis is used to determine which are the actors involved in the policy, including those supra-national bodies, domestic and international lobby groups, telecom operators and regulatory bodies. By using the Best-Worst Method (BWM), a Multi Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) method which allows to determine hierarchies between non-measurable criteria, the short list of values is used as criteria for surveys performed to those stakeholders willing to answer. In order to determine the position of the Dutch population, as this report scope is limited to the Netherlands, a combination of three stakeholders is used to determine the hierarchy of the social values: the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Consumentenbond and the Bedrijfstelecommunicatie Grootgebruikers (BTG). The results of the report show alignment between the hierarchy of values of the EC and the Dutch people’s representatives, but strong differences between the latter and the regulators and telecom representatives. Although the stakeholder analysis does show alignment regarding publicly-available interests of some of the stakeholders, such as economic values, the intangible interests seen in the results of the hierarchy demonstrate a different guiding compass for each organization. The thesis also shows how the actual approach for the determination of the value of a policy is not considering the intangible values that are behind any human person or organization. It is proposed to promote thinking in “humane” markets, rather than perfect markets, and to consider non-measurable criteria to assess the final value of a policy. It also questions whether the policy values can be separated from the individual values, as there is a close relation between them; thus, avoiding considering the individual value perspective of citizens could lead to future problems in the values a policy defends. As the research faces different limitations, several future steps are proposed. Firstly, it is proposed to analyse whether the results obtained can be discussed with those representatives of the Dutch population in the parliament by comparing their expectations with the answers obtained in the BWM, aiming to analyse the representativeness of political decision-makers towards this policy. Secondly, the research also proposes using the results of the value hierarchy, and attempting to create a Willingness To Pay for values, as some of the considered ones could be measurable in an utilitarian perspective. A third proposal refers to analyse how the hierarchy of values of the policy differs across the domestic markets in Europe by using theories in transplantation of policy, aiming to overcome the geographical limitation of this thesis. Finally, a different theoretical approach could be used with the capability theory, focusing the criteria to be used in the future capabilities of the population, rather than the functionings.

The Global South is facing severe water and delta management challenges. Strong institutions are necessary to find solutions to these water challenges. To improve the understanding on institutions, development of knowledge and skills on institutions could be strengthened among local stakeholders. This process can be referred to as institutional focussed capacity development. In this study, it is explored how institutional focussed capacity development activities among local professionals in the water sector can be evaluated. An analytical evaluation framework for assessing capacity development initiatives from an institutional perspective is proposed. The framework is complemented by a step-by-step approach in which different elements necessary to identify change such as input of an intervention, the output, outcome and impact are specified. These elements are nested on an individual, organizational, and environmental level. The framework allows one to capture the relations between the elements and the interaction with the context through causal relations. To evaluate the development of institutional capacity, the framework is applied to a participatory institutional analysis project in Khulna through an illustrative case study. Moreover, the framework was validated with help of four experts. The study demonstrates that the framework and the step-by-step approach serve as an explorative analysis tool which supports in identifying the crucial elements and the relations of institutional capacity development. The framework allows us to identify different mechanisms of change caused by the process of capacity development and influenced by the contextual factors. The framework contributes to existing work by using causal relations and feedback loops to capture emergent behavior that underlies the process of capacity development. Based on the case study and expert sessions, the study proposes several recommendation to further develop the framework into a second version and to generalize the findings by application to additional cases both within and outside the water sector.

There is a pressing need for sustainable energy solutions in refugee camps. Community solar mini-grids, with their costs, reliability, and ease of installation can meet this energy need and contribute to the development and empowerment of camp residents. This research aims to answer the question of "To what extent can community-based governance approaches for solar mini-grids provide energy access in refugee camps?". A case study is conducted by applying the Institutional Analysis and Design (IAD) framework to understand the decision-making processes regarding energy provision in the Kigeme refugee camp. Desk research and expert interviews are conducted to understand the interactions between the actors, outcomes of policy decisions, and challenges of using solar mini-grids in displacement settings. The results show that giving the ownership of the system to refugee communities or a cooperative of camp residents is an ambitious goal due to political and institutional reasons. However, a sense of ownership can be created by using participatory activities during planning, design, implementation, and operation and maintenance of the system to increase the resilience of refugees and improve the sustainability of the system.

Most policies for mitigating climate change are to date orchestrated top-down, yet have not been as effective as anticipated. Recently, non-state actors (NSAs) are being considered as complementary contributors to climate change mitigation, allowing for a more bottom-up, decentralized approach. NSAs, as the name suggests, are not affiliated with the government and can range from municipalities to corporations and NGOs. NSAs are increasingly joining climate agreements such as the Science-Based Targets initiatives (SBTi).. SBTi have the potential to decrease CO2 by 2.7 GtCO2e per year, in case at least 2000 companies join. However, as NSAs commit on a voluntary basis, their actions are non-enforceable; thereby creating uncertainty, as NSAs can be steered by different institutions on different levels. By studying three cases of SBTi committed food and beverage companies, the goal of this research is to unravel the institutional interrelations and complexities that influence the participation and commitment of these companies. We use the Institutional Network analysis (INA) approach that builds on the Institutional grammar. Our study of both formal and informal institutions and their interactions reveals that the main mechanisms steering members are socio-economic constructs, such as the pressure from the larger society that in turn affect a company’s reputation.

In this thesis, the optimization of inventory management within RTI pooler networks is considered. The inventory management by RTI poolers consists of the network configurations on which the network relies, as well as the relocation schedule of RTI poolers that determines the functionality of the system.

The Netherlands currently lacks a large scale aggregation system which can unlock decentralised flexibility to improve the reliability of the electricity grid in the presence of a significant amount of variable renewable energy sources. In this reserach, the aggregator blockchain technology is perceived as an enabler for a decentralised flexibility model. It is however uncertain how the implementation of both systems fit technically and institutionally in the environment of the Dutch electricity sector. This paper analyses implications of the aggregator and blockchain technology in unlocking decentralised flexibility by considering a system integration approach. Using the comprehensive design framework, a conceptualisation of system integration in energy infrastructures, many challenges regarding the aggregator and blockchain as flexibility model have been identified. Both systems have shown to have major implications that need to be overcome to ensure successful system integration.

The transition to a circular economy requires drastic changes to the economy. A tool for macro-economic analysis of structural changes in the economy, input-output analysis, lacks dynamic features. This thesis set out to integrate dynamic features representing demand change and technological change. A conceptual model is designed that integrates agent-based models representing these dynamics with an input-output model. Demand change was incorporated as individual consumers allocating their budgets with a utility function. A recursive utility function based on the notions of prospect theory was implemented with which consumers allocated their budget over several sectors. For technological change both incremental change was incorporated by implementing the Wright curve, and innovation was incorporated which can be modelled with general evolutionary algorithms. The conceptual model is assessed with a stylised implementation in a proof of concept. The conceptual model shows the potential to replace these static assumptions with dynamic models, however a more detailed representation of product quality is required.

Market-oriented electricity sector reforms have spread across the world in the last decades, with the aim to increase efficiency and stimulate investments. In many cases the outcomes of these reforms did not met up with expectations in terms of among others pricing, social welfare and efficiency. An often mentioned reason for these undesired outcomes is that the ‘content’ (the reform, the intervention), did not match the ‘context’ (of a country in which the reforms take place). Egypt is a developing country which adopted in 2015 the New Electricity law, that laid the legal foundation to restructure its electricity sector into a competitive one. The aim of this research is to investigate what the most suitable restructuring modality is for an efficient and reliable electricity sector in Egypt, given the institutional and political-economic context in which these reforms have to take place. The research question for this research is as follows: Which restructuring modality for Egypt’s market-oriented electricity sector reforms is the most suitable for an efficient and reliable electricity supply, considering the institutional and political-economic context? The majority of the countries that reformed their electricity sectors followed the ‘standard model’ which provided a sequence and steps for implementing these reforms, and became a global trend during the 1990s. This model has been defined differently by multiple authors, but roughly follows the same steps: corporatization, commercialization, requisite legislation, an independent regulator, sector restructuring, IPPs, divestiture of generation assets, divestiture of distribution assets, and competition (wholesale and retail markets). However, after 25 years since this model has been advocated, it has not been fully realized anywhere in Africa. Instead, different varieties emerged, often referred to as ‘hybrid power markets’; a market structure somewhere between the pre-reform structure and retail competition. Several authors and organizations made an attempt to categorize these different structures. For this research, five types of restructuring are distinguished; a vertically integrated monopoly, a vertically integrated monopoly with IPPs, unbundling with IPPs, a wholesale market, and a wholesale market with retail competition. Each with different advantages, disadvantages and pre-conditions. Many studies have been conducted on the reasons for the undesired outcomes of electricity sector reform in developing countries. Among others, it was not part of broader institutional reform, there was political instability, public opposition, or not enough regulatory capacity. Most reasons are contextual factors, which justifies the extensive contextual analysis of the case of Egypt. These reasons have been translated as criteria into a framework to assess which type of restructuring fits the best with a certain context. The earlier distinguished five restructuring modalities each have a different institutional set-up, role of the state and the private sector, and therefore pre-conditions to be met in order to successfully implement this particular structure. This framework can help practitioners to assess which of the five restructuring modalities fits the best in a certain country context. This framework has been developed with multiple assumptions since criterions are interrelated, not mutually exclusive or difficult to measure. A framework like this has not been made before, so there was no previous work to build on. The criteria have been operationalized and will for this research be applied on the case of Egypt. Now that the framework to assess the case of Egypt has been developed, the technical and political-economic context was assessed. The more technical contextual analysis provided an overview of Egypt’s electricity sector (its institutional structure, the value chain and an elaboration on the proposed reforms). After this a Political Economic Analysis has been done. These two analysis combined, together with information out of interviews with experts and stakeholders, the framework with the defined criteria has been applied on the case of Egypt. After the application of the framework on the case of Egypt, it became clear that crucial pre-conditions for a competitive wholesale market are not present in Egypt. These include among others, political commitment, regulatory independence, cost-reflective tariffs, public acceptance and a good investment climate. In the long run (>25 years), a wholesale market might be possible but for the short to medium term (as stipulated in the Electricity Law) this is too optimistic, due among others to the ‘cultural’ changes within the government that have to take place. Instead, the government should focus on improving the status quo; a legally unbundled and state dominated structure with IPPs, before ‘moving on’ to the next, more competitive, type of restructuring, being a wholesale market. Improving the status quo means in this case; continuation of the subsidy reform, and the IMF reform program in general, strengthening the independence and effectiveness of the regulator, and capacity building within the involved ministries and authorities. These measures, primarily focused on the second level of Williamson’s four layer model, will take time. Longer than the timeline of the reforms as outlined in the Electricity Law. This recommendation does not imply that a competitive wholesale market cannot work in Egypt. With 100 million customers and a population growth rate of 2% per year, there are ample opportunities for private parties to invest and operate in Egypt’s electricity market. But to push now for a competitive market without the necessary pre-conditions and transparency, will delay the process (as is currently happening) and creates uncertainty among all the stakeholders that are needed to make such a market work. The literature provided multiple examples of countries where market-oriented reforms happened too fast, with undesired outcomes as a result. Liberalization is not a goal in itself. It is merely a mean to achieve the overall goal of the Egyptian government: a reliable and efficient electricity supply. Strengthening the current structure with a focus on the pre-conditions needed for a competitive market, is for now, according to this research the mean to achieve this. Discussion and suggestion for future research The developed framework can be useful for policy makers and other practitioners in the field of electricity sector reform in developing countries, considering the large amount of vertically integrated utilities in Africa alone. This framework is however the first of its kind and open for improvement and especially extensive validation. Based on the results of the research suggestions for future research are: 1. The research done is from a qualitative nature. A quantitative/modelling approach to electricity sector reform in Egypt can be valuable as well. 2. Influence of intermittent sources and decentralized production on a suitable restructuring modality and the standard model. These issues were less urgent in the early 2000s when most literature about electricity sector in developing countries was written. 3. Development of an extensive sequencing and prioritization framework for Egypt’s electricity sector reforms. 4. A framework with weighted criteria to determine a suitable restructuring modality. 5. Operationalization of political commitment for electricity sector reform.

This paper presents a new theoretical approach to design a polycentric electricity sector. The study focuses on Lebanon and its electricity sector, and tries to reform the sector using a proposed polycentric structure. The study utilises the polycentric indicators and general structure, along with organisational modes, and electricity market design variables to come up with a standardised stepwise model, i.e. “Polycentric Market Design Framework”, to design a polycentric hybrid electricity sector. This is followed by applying it to the Lebanese case.