Key information

Project title: Influence factors and implications of the attitudes of household electricity consumers regarding the development of the renewable energy sector in Romania (CONSURES)
Project code: PN-III-P1-1.1-PD-2016-1864
Total budget: 249 551 lei (54 000 euro)
Project duration: 24 months (2018-2020)
Funding body: Unitatea Executivă pentru Finanțarea Învățământului Superior, a Cercetării, Dezvoltării și Inovării (UEFISCDI)
Host institution: Alexandru Ioan Cuza Unversity of Iași, Romania
Project manager: Dr. Alexandru MAXIM

Description

The project seeks to investigate the willingness of Romanian consumers to make financial sacrifices in order to benefit from the advantages of renewable electricity (RE) production and to identify factors that may positively influence this behavior. The project objectives are aimed at: determining the Romanian household consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for the development of the RE sector, identifying the factors influencing their WTP and determining the environmental and retail market impact resulting from the development of the RE sector. The research methodology will include a discrete choice experiment, a survey of over 1000 consumers and in-depth interviews with experts. The project will produce at least 5 conference papers, 2 articles in Web of Science journals, 2 seminar presentations and 1 web page. The research will represent the most comprehensive analysis of the Romanian household electricity consumer market to date. It will contribute the development of choice experiment methods and will have practical applications for energy companies, governmental authorities and marketing and energy experts.

Objectives

The project will accomplish three objectives:

O₁ Determine the willingness to pay of Romanian household consumers for the benefits associated with the development of the ERS sector.

O₂ Identify the factors influencing the willingness to pay of Romanian household consumers for the development of the ERS sector.

O₃ Determine the environmental and retail market impact resulting from the potential development of the ERS sector based on the preferences of household consumers.