A review of socio-technical barriers to Smart Microgrid development

Smart MicroGrids (SMGs) can be seen as a promising option when it comes to addressing the urgent need for sustainable transition in electric systems from the current fossil fuel-based centralised system to a low-carbon, renewable-based decentralised system. Unlike previous studies that were restricted to a limited number of actors and only took a mono-disciplinary research approach, this current review adopts a multidisciplinary, socio-technical approach and addresses the factors that have been hindering the development of SMGs and considers how these barriers interact. This study contributes to the body of literature on the development of SMGs by mapping and discerning technical, regulatory, market, social and institutional barriers for different types of actors, including technology providers, consumers, Distributed Generation (DG) providers and system operators, based on information derived from laboratory reports, demonstration pilots, and academic journals. In addition, attention is paid to how these barriers interact based on real-life experimentation. A holistic picture of barriers and their interaction is presented as well as recommendations for future research.