This paper starts from the observation that there is a renewed interest in small-scale electricity generation. The authors start with a survey of existing small-scale generation technologies and then move on with a discussion of the major benefits and issues of small-scale electricity generation. Different technologies are evaluated in terms of their possible contribution to the listed benefits and issues. Small-scale generation is also commonly called distributed generation, embedded generation or decentralised generation. In a final section, an attempt is made to define the latter concepts more precisely. It appears that there is no consensus on a precise definition as the concept encompasses many technologies and applications.

We study the determinants of PV adoption in the region of Flanders (Belgium), where PV adoption reached high levels during 2006-2012, because of active government intervention. Based on a unique dataset at a very detailed spatial level, we estimate a Poisson model to explain the heterogeneity in adoption rates. We obtain the following findings. First, local policies have a robust and significant impact on PV adoption, providing indirect evidence that the larger regional incentives formed the basis for the strong development of PV adoption in the region. Second, there is a strong unconditional income effect, implying a Matthew effect in the subsidization of PVs. Our third finding is however that this income effect is largely driven by the fact that wealthier households are more likely to adopt because they tend to be larger (and hence higher users), are more frequent house owners (who capture more of the benefits), or own houses that are better suited for PV. We can thus identify the channels through which wealthier households are more likely to benefit from the PV support. Finally, we identify the importance of several housing characteristics: PV adoption tends to be more likely in larger and in more recently built houses. In several extensions, we consider the determinants of the average size of installed PVs, and the differential impact of certain variables over time.

This paper assesses to what extent consumers are willing to make use of the features and capabilities offered by smart meters. Via a choice experiment households are offered the choice between a set of smart meters, described by six attributes: impact on the comfort and privacy level, functionality, visibility, cost savings, and investment outlay. We estimate a main effects conditional logit model and a main effects random parameter logit model, including interactions with sociodemographic characteristics. The results show that households have heterogeneous preferences for some attributes but not for others. The estimates are used to assess marginal willingness to pay values. From a policy perspective, our findings suggest that sufficient effort should be devoted to designing the smart metering devices and to informing households. Without careful preparation, a mandatory or voluntary roll out of smart meters risks to be unsuccessful because device characteristics do not meet consumer needs.

We study the determinants of PV adoption in the region of Flanders (Belgium), where PV adoption reached high levels during 2006-2012, because of active government intervention. Based on a unique dataset at a very detailed spatial level, we estimate a Poisson model to explain the heterogeneity in adoption rates. We obtain the following findings. First, local policies have a robust and significant impact on PV adoption, providing indirect evidence that the larger regional incentives formed the basis for the strong development of PV adoption in the region. Second, there is a strong unconditional income effect, implying a Matthew effect in the subsidization of PVs. Our third finding is however that this income effect is largely driven by the fact that wealthier households are more likely to adopt because they tend to be larger (and hence higher users), are more frequent house owners (who capture more of the benefits), or own houses that are better suited for PV. We can thus identify the channels through which wealthier households are more likely to benefit from the PV support. Finally, we identify the importance of several housing characteristics: PV adoption tends to be more likely in larger and in more recently built houses. In several extensions, we consider the determinants of the average size of installed PVs, and the differential impact of certain variables over time.

The European electricity market liberalization process started more than 20 years ago, one of its main purposes being to organize the provision of electricity and gas more efficiently by introducing competitive forces where possible and regulation where needed. Despite the fact that most Member States of the European Union (EU) have liberalized their electricity market, a European internal market for electricityone of the ultimate goals of EU energy policyhas not been realized yet. For this to be realised a number of remaining obstacles need to be removed. This paper gives a brief overview of the EU electricity market liberalization process and surveys the main remaining issues and challenges.At the retail market level, additional efforts are required to increase retail competition and to remove regulated retail prices. Also, more effort is required to physically integrate existing regional electricity markets, by removing the existing barriers between regions and countries. Building new interconnection capacity and improving the allocation procedures for cross-border capacities can help achieving this. Furthermore, the EU should increase efforts to further harmonize and integrate electricity markets and electricity market policies and to encourage the demand-side of the market to participate more intensively through demand response.