Long-term assessment integrating social acceptance

Abstract : Long-term assessments are needed by decision-makers and energy companies to help them determine the future of the energy system. Today, long-term scenarios are built to help build a path toward the decarbonation of our energy system. These scenarios tend to be based on rational elements, whereas less rational elements can have a strong impact on the successful accomplishment of the energy transition. One crucial aspect is the way that stakeholders interact with energy projects. For example, on the one hand, local opposition can hinder or block some projects, while on the other hand, community-led energy projects can promote the energy transition. Although these interactions (generated by different stakeholders) move in opposite directions, they all contribute to the successful development of the energy transition. These reactions are called social acceptance. As social acceptance is crucial for the possible evolution of our energy mix, and therefore for the scenarios we establish to represent these evolutions, it is vital to integrate this topic into long-term assessments. As a result, we can take this social factor into account when thinking about the energy transition and help build more reliable energy transition scenarios. This study proposes several methods to include social acceptance in long-term energy system models, such as the TIMES/TIAM-FR.he TIMES / TIAM models