Hester Huisman wins one of the Sustainable Society PhD grants

PhD student Hester Huisman has won one of the Sustainable Society PhD grants. She received the grant to answer the research question what affects active consumer participation in the retail electricity market. Every year, Sustainable Society (the University of Groningen network organisation in the area of sustainable development) awards 8 grants of 2000 euro to UG PhD students to stimulate PhD projects that are explicit contributions and/or solutions towards societal and sustainability challenges.

Energy markets

In her research, Huisman takes on an interdisciplinary approach to analyze consumer behavior in energy markets to foster the energy transition. Energy markets are dynamic markets where regulators, energy suppliers and consumers mutually influence each other. While regulators often base their policies on micro-economic theory, energy suppliers base their actions on marketing theory. She will combine both literature streams in her research.

Huisman looks forward to using the grant: “I am truly honoured that I received the Sustainable Society PhD grant to increase the impact of my research. My research contributes to the knowledge of and solutions towards a major societal challenge: the energy transition. Within the energy transition, EU member states strive to replace the use of fossil fuels by renewable energy sources, which causes challenges to manage the balance of the electricity grid."

Next to sustainability concerns, a 'perfect storm' of market, geological and political factors result in extreme energy prices for consumers and tensions regarding security of supply. The dynamic nature of energy markets make the energy transition a complex challenge, while pressing problems such as climate change and energy poverty require urgent actions.

Huisman: "This grant helps me to gain and share insights in both academic fields and enables me to elevate my research to find creative and effective solutions for the energy transition.”