More than just energy

The possibilities for generating, storing and sharing energy locally are growing. At the same time, the electricity grid is becoming increasingly congested and not everyone can invest in solar panels, a home battery or an electric car. The challenge, therefore, is not only to make the energy system better, but also fairer and more accessible.

The central question is: What if… energy reconnected us?

Three design practices

Vattenfall brought this challenge to DDF to explore new perspectives on a collective energy system. Three design practices were selected through an Open Call. Amy Goris and Celine Oomen of Greenberry focuses on inclusive solutions rooted in everyday life. Anna Kozera explores how spatial infrastructure can encourage collaboration. Kate Spierings and Asia Maria Andreolli of Ideate approach trust and relationships as a design challenge.

From individual benefit to collective value

The first phase of the energy transition mainly created opportunities for people who were able to invest early. As the electricity grid becomes increasingly congested, it is becoming clear that individual solutions do not automatically lead to a fair energy system. Sharing energy locally creates opportunities, but also raises questions: who can participate, who benefits and who bears the risks?

“The energy transition is not only about energy, but about how we can turn something individual into something collective that everyone can participate in in their own way,” says Amy Goris. For her, the research starts with people for whom participation is not a given, such as tenants and residents with limited time or financial resources.

This focus on accessibility connects the three design practices. Their approaches differ: Kozera explores how infrastructure enables or excludes collective behaviour, while Ideate focuses on trust between residents, businesses and other stakeholders.

More than a technical challenge

According to Vattenfall, many of the technical solutions already exist or are being developed. The complexity lies primarily in public support, behaviour, regulations and the willingness to reconsider existing roles. “Designers make abstract and complex challenges tangible and imaginable,” says Nadienske de Vries of Vattenfall. “They help shift the conversation from whether something is possible to how we can make it happen together.”

Within the Co/Lab, Vattenfall wants to temporarily set aside technical constraints, existing business models and established ways of thinking. This creates space to first explore which forms of collaboration are desirable and fair. This also creates a certain tension. Vattenfall is a major player in the current energy system, while at the same time exploring what other role the company could play. “Vattenfall is part of the problem and part of the solution. That makes the collaboration exciting,” says Kate Spierings. “What role can a major energy company play that residents perceive as fair and just?”

Connect first, share later?

Infrastructure shapes behaviour

Anna Kozera approaches the challenge through spatial design and her research into commoning, post-growth and climate adaptation. She does not see energy infrastructure as a neutral network. The way it is organised helps determine which relationships, ownership models and forms of collaboration can emerge. “If we approach energy infrastructure solely as a technical or engineering challenge, we risk reinforcing existing inequalities,” says Kozera.

Within the Co/Lab, she explores what happens when collective organisation is taken as the starting point rather than an addition. To do so, she combines case studies with data, interviews and practice-based research. She sees design not as a search for one perfect solution, but as a process: “Design is not a solitary activity. It is a form of facilitation that brings together ideas, voices and data.”

Making to learn

Greenberry brings a hands-on, co-creative approach. Amy Goris wants to quickly translate abstract ideas into concepts that can be tested together with residents. “For me, design power lies in making things that are still abstract or intangible visible and tangible,” says Goris. “The energy transition often focuses on systems, regulations and technology, while ultimately it is about people.” By making and testing early in the process, assumptions can be challenged. A concept does not have to provide an immediate answer; it can also raise new questions or reveal why a proposal does not work in everyday life.

The collaboration between the design practices is therefore part of the experiment itself. They bring together their methods, observations and dilemmas. Because collective energy requires not only a different system, but also different relationships between the people and organisations that are part of it.

Room for unexpected directions

So Vattenfall hopes that the process will, above all, lead to a different way of thinking and working that can help to find a final solution. “Broadening our understanding, both of the challenge itself and of how we approach it, is at least as valuable as the eventual solutions,” says De Vries.

Over the coming months, the designers will develop scenarios and concepts for a more collective, affordable and inclusive energy system at neighbourhood level. The results will be presented during Dutch Design Week (DDW). Rather than providing a blueprint, they will form a basis for further experimentation and collaboration. Because if energy is to reconnect people, it starts with creating the conditions in which they are willing to share something with one another.