How to justify theimplementation of smart gridsfor a new neighborhood?

Abstract: Smart Grids technologies cover a wide range of applications, from energy efficiency to load adjustments. However, they still rise interrogations and doubts around their economic benefits and environmental improvements. Therefore, this thesis aims to understand and highlight the benefits of smart grids technologies applied to an urban development project of new neighborhood. For such a perimeter, it is first necessary to clearly define the smart grids considered, the stakeholders involved and the new tools that smart grids technologies bring. Therefore, this thesis highlights how, for an urban development project, the economic value of smart grids mainly lies in the reduction of infrastructure and tools to monitor and maintain energy performance of a neighborhood in its operational phase. Furthermore, the introduction of intermittent and decentralized production, facilitated by smart grids technologies, aims to extent the considered scale to tackle energy questions, from the building scale to the district scale. Therefore, new actors and governance practices may need to emerge in order to support Smart Grids technologies.