Objective
The Energy Management Centre (EMC) strengthen SDU’s position in business and economics research applied to the energy sector. It aims to become an agenda setter with respect to both private companies and public authorities within Denmark and Europe.
Background and relevance
As a result of CO2 emissions and global warming, it has become essential for societies to increase their knowledge about how to reduce the use of fossil fuels. Other areas where more knowledge is needed have been identified by the European Council (in May 2013). They list the following challenges: (i) diminishing energy-related investments, (ii) high energy prices, (iii) low security of energy supply.
The importance of energy as a societal challenge finds, inter alia, its expression through prominent placement in research calls like the Horizon 2020 and policies like the Paris Agreement. However, so far, the main focus of research has been on technical/engineering aspects and the social science perspective has only played a minor role. The EMC would be of a high local relevance since Esbjerg City Council has identified energy as a key area in its Vision 2020 long-term plan. Esbjerg also brands itself as the “Energy Metropolis”.
Aim
EMC carries out research with respect to social science issues of energy production, transmission/distribution, end-user consumption, and policy; thereby embracing the sub-fields of management, marketing, innovation and economics. The centre will have a unique position within the energy research community especially in the area of quantitative studies of consumer behaviour and market design. Furthermore, EMC makes students employable in the changing energy markets and provide knowledge to firms that allows them to operate more efficiently. Since EMC is a unique research unit based on social science and interdisciplinary research questions and methods, it is a goal of the centre to quickly develop into an important agenda setter.
Currently, researchers are involved in the following energy research projects:
- Local energy monopolists’ response to threat of more stringent regulation (research project Magnus Söderberg).
- Cross-subsidisation between unregulated heating and regulated electricity markets (research project Magnus Söderberg).
- Quantification of the economic damage as a result of the ‘1970s price cartel’ in the international uranium market (research project Magnus Söderberg).
- Nordic Energy Transitions: Past, Present and Future – Nordic network building (workshop activities Brooks Kaiser).
- Economics of Energy storage systems (PhD project Viktor Racz/Niels Vestergaard).
- Understanding buyers’ purchasing behaviour in the Business-to-business and Business-to-consumer electricity market (postdoc project Yingkui Yang/Hans Stubbe Solgaard).
- Offshore Wind Denmark (research project Tove Brink).
Affiliated researchers:
Professor Brooks Kaiser (contact person)
Professor Oliver Schnittka
Associate professor Tove Brink
Associate professor Jens Fyhn Sørensen
Associate professor Yingkui Yang