City Research Online City, University of London Institutional Repository Citation: Hetzel, M. (2021). How technological frames transform: the case of the global microgrid industry. (Unpublished Doctoral thesis, City, University of London) This is the accepted version of the paper. This version of the publication may differ from the final published version. Permanent repository link: https://openaccess.city.ac.uk/id/eprint/26252/ Link to published version: Copyright: City Research Online aims to make research outputs of City, University of London available to a wider audience. Copyright and Moral Rights remain with the author(s) and/or copyright holders. URLs from City Research Online may be freely distributed and linked to. Reuse: Copies of full items can be used for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge. Provided that the authors, title and full bibliographic details are credited, a hyperlink and/or URL is given for the original metadata page and the content is not changed in any way. City Research Online: http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/ [email protected] HOW TECHNOLOGICAL FRAMES TRANSFORM: THE CASE OF THE GLOBAL MICROGRID INDUSTRY Mathias Hetzel A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Management Cass Business School, City, University of London for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Under the supervision of: Professor Stefan Haefliger Dr Eugenia Cacciatori Dr Daisy Chung May 2021 Do not share or distribute on any website without explicit permission of the author. Please cite as: Hetzel, M. (2021). How Technological Frames Transform: The Case of the Global Microgrid Industry (Unpublished doctoral thesis). City, University of London, London, United Kingdom. 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES __________________________________________________ 3 LIST OF FIGURES _________________________________________________ 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ____________________________________________ 5 INTRODUCTION ___________________________________________________ 6 THE GLOBAL MICROGRID INDUSTRY: EMERGENCE AND EVOLUTION 14 INTRODUCTION _________________________________________________ 15 THE EMERGENCE OF THE ELECTRIC NETWORK ___________________ 16 DISTRIBUTED ENERGY SYSTEMS, DISTRIBUTED GENERATION, DISTRIBUTED ENERGY RESOURCES, AND RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES _______________________________________________________ 28 MICROGRIDS ___________________________________________________ 32 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS _________________________________ 73 TECHNOLOGICAL FRAMES AND COMPLEXITY DIFFERENTIALS: A STUDY OF THE MICROGRID INDUSTRY AND ITS STANDARDIZATION EFFORTS ________________________________________________________ 75 INTRODUCTION _________________________________________________ 76 CONCEPTUAL BACKGROUND ____________________________________ 78 SETTING ________________________________________________________ 86 DATA AND METHODS ___________________________________________ 91 FINDINGS _______________________________________________________ 95 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS ________________________________ 112 APPENDIX _____________________________________________________ 118 TECHNOLOGY INSTITUTIONALISATION: THE INTERPLAY OF MICRO AND MACRO MECHANISMS AND FIELD-LEVEL INFLUENCES ______ 127 INTRODUCTION ________________________________________________ 128 TECHNOLOGY AS INSTITUTIONS ________________________________ 130 THE TECHNOLOGY INSTITUTIONALISATION PROCESSES __________ 132 MICRO AND MACRO MECHANISMS OF TECHNOLOGY INSTITUTIONALISATION ________________________________________ 138 THE MISSING PERSPECTIVE: TECHNOLOGICAL FIELD-LEVEL MECHANISMS OF INSTITUTIONALISATION _______________________ 143 A MODEL OF THE TECHNOLOGY INSTITUTIONALISATION PROCESS 153 DISCUSSION AND FUTURE RESEARCH DIRECTIONS _______________ 155 REFERENCES ___________________________________________________ 157 2 LIST OF TABLES Paper 1 Table 1: Overview of Considered Data Sources ___________________________ 16 Table 2: Summary of Microgrid Benefits ________________________________ 39 Table 3: Standards or Policies on Interconnection __________________________ 47 Table 4: Microgrid Business Models’ Share of Capacity ____________________ 49 Table 5: Key Actors by Country _______________________________________ 54 Table 6: Microgrid Industry: Selection of Key Players and Products ___________ 55 Table 7: Regional Differences in Microgrid Adoption Drivers ________________ 60 Table 8: Comparison of Navigant Research and GTM Data for Microgrid Adoption _____________________________________________________________ 67 Paper 2 Table 1: Complexity Definitions _______________________________________ 84 Table 2: Microgrid Definitions ________________________________________ 88 Table 3: Conferences and Events _______________________________________ 94 Table 4: Non-standardization as a Barrier to Microgrid Adoption _____________ 97 Table 5: Rationales for justifying Non-standardizability _____________________ 99 Table 6: References to ‘One Microgrid’ Phrase __________________________ 101 Table 7: Types of Microgrid Systems __________________________________ 104 Table 8: Early Studies of Modular and Containerized Microgrids ____________ 105 Table 9: Frame Transformation _______________________________________ 107 Table 10: Representative Evidence for the Pro-Standardization Frame ________ 109 Table 11: Key Content of Technological Frames and their Complexities _______ 110 Table 12: Representative Evidence for Variations in Pro-Standardization Frames 111 Table A1: Overview of Interviewees with Background and Position held ______ 120 Table A2: Representative Evidence for Increasing Market Complexity through Business Model Diversification ___________________________________ 123 Table A3: Representative Evidence for the Increasing Complexity in the Energy Industry _____________________________________________________ 124 Table A4: Representative Evidence for Increasing Microgrid Complexity ______ 126 Paper 3 Table 1: Technology Institutionalisation Mechanisms _____________________ 151 3 LIST OF FIGURES Paper 2 Figure 1: Complexity Differential between Technological Frame and Technology & Market Complexity _________________________________________________ 96 Figure 2: Growing Complexity Differential _____________________________ 106 Figure 3: Growing Complexity Differential leading to Frame Transformation in 2018 ________________________________________________________________ 106 Figure 4: Microgrid Systems and Frame Resolution _______________________ 113 Figure 5: Market, Technology, and Frame Complexity _____________________ 114 Figure 6: Curvilinear Relationship between Frame Complexity and Benefits ___ 116 Figure A1: Increasing Complexity of the Energy Industry __________________ 118 Figure A2: Increasing market complexity with shift from single to multi-entity ownership and operation ____________________________________________ 119 Paper 3 Figure 1: The Multi-Level Technology Institutionalisation Model ____________ 154 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This PhD would not have been possible without the help and encouragement of numerous people. I am grateful to everyone who has contributed to the successful completion of my PhD journey. First and foremost, I would like to thank my supervisors Professor Stefan Haefliger, Dr Eugenia Cacciatori, and Dr Daisy Chung for their professional support and guidance. This PhD thesis has been an ambitious project that I could not have realised without their professional advice and uninterrupted support. Further, I am deeply thankful to Adib Naslé for his expert advice and invaluable time. I would also like to thank Malla Pratt and Abdul Momin of the PhD admin office as well as Professor Richard Payne and Dr Ian Daniell for their continuous support. Throughout my PhD, I was surrounded by great colleagues and friends who have played an essential part in the successful completion of this project. In particular, I would like to thank Alessandro, Edwin, Mislav, Mustafa, Stephan, and Szilvia for making the PhD office an enjoyable and collaborative environment. Finally, special thanks go to my parents, Sonya, and all my family who are the biggest source of my strength as well as Daniel and Jonas who always provide me with encouragement. Mathias Hetzel London, UK September 2020 5 INTRODUCTION Global economic growth is based on a system that faces several sustainability challenges (Markard et al., 2012; Smith et al., 2010). Our industrial infrastructure, built on fossil fuels, is aging, antiquated, and requires substantial transformations (Rifkin, 2011). There is broad consensus that the economic narrative needs to be transformed to reflect these concerns and allow for sustainable energy generation. The role that technology plays for both economic growth (Acemoglu, 2012: 546) and the transition towards a more sustainable use of resources is substantial (Jacobsson & Bergek, 2011). Over the last decades, global warming resulting into an increasing frequency and severity of natural disasters (Hughes, 2015; Wang et al., 2016) has emphasised the importance of sustainable and resilient electrical power systems (Gilani et al., 2020). Microgrids are a central building block in increasing the resilience, reliability, and sustainability of power networks. Microgrids, smaller localized grids, have been defined as “electricity distribution systems containing loads and distributed energy resources…that can be operated in a controlled, coordinated way either while connected to the main power network or while islanded” (Marnay et al., 2015a).