Replication of community-based Virtual Power Plant experiments in Flanders and the Netherlands

Energy communities are increasingly experimenting with ICT systems to explore alternative ways to generate, manage, and distribute electricity. Although such socio-technical experiments are considered important drivers of transitions, many remain rather isolated events and fail to contribute to socio-technical transformation. In transitions literature, replication of experiments is considered crucial for increasing their impact, however an in-depth understanding of replication is missing. Previous studies furthermore stressed that when investigating or supporting upscaling of community-driven experiments one needs to be sensitive to their distinctive grassroots nature. This paper adopted an action research approach to explore together with Dutch and Flemish energy communities what replication of cVPP means and how it can be achieved. It shows that replication is considered as an iterative and multi-dimensional process that includes collective exploration of meanings, expansion of necessary resources and competencies, and implementation of technologies. Two different replication strategies were articulated: replication through aggregation and facilitation.