Approaches to Social Innovation in Positive Energy Districts (PEDs)—A Comparison of Norwegian Projects

The Positive Energy District (PED) concept is a localised response to the challenges of 11 greenhouse gas emission reduction and energy transition. While member states in Europe are 12 aiming to establish 100 PEDs by 2025 under the Strategic Energy Transition Plan, a broad number 13 of PED projects are emerging in the Member States. We set the spotlight on Norway which has three 14 PED projects, encompassing 12 PED demo sites, in planning and early implementation stages, 15 extract learnings and analyse how they can enrich the concept of PEDs. We use categories of 16 challenges and requirements from the SET Plan to describe the respective approach and learning of 17 the three PED projects FME ZEN, +CityxChange, and syn.ikia in a multiple case study approach. 18 We suggest that learnings from early PED approaches can be categorised in a holistic way in terms 19 of: technological innovation, societal innovation, regulatory innovation and business model 20 innovation. The results provide valuable knowledge for further dialogue in the evolution of the PED 21 concept and offer interesting input for robust future cross-country comparisons. The insights can 22 also be expected to contribute to the early planning and development of local and regional networks 23 (PEDs in Nordic countries) and contribute to international PED concept development.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su13137362

Download: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/13/7362