Program Overview

Social Value and New Energy Business Models (BENV0146)

Key Information

• Faculty: UCL Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment
• Teaching department: Bartlett School of Environment, Energy and Resources
• Credit value: 15
• Restrictions:
  • The students must have completed some energy-related modules at either UG or MSc level or have equivalent workplace experience.
  • Basic knowledge of how the energy sector is structured and functions will be assumed on entry to these courses.
  • Students without such a basic understanding will be considered on an exceptional basis conditional on completing the equivalent of 60 hours of pre-reading prior to the start of the course.
  • Where there are more students than places, priority will be given to BSEER students from the following programmes: all MSc Smart Energy and the Built Environment students will be accepted.
  • Limited spaces are reserved for students on the MSc Economics and Policy of Energy and the Environment (EPEE).
  • Limited spaces are reserved for Sustainable Built Environments, Energy and Resources MEng students.
  • All optional module spaces will be allocated on a first-come first-served basis.

Alternative Credit Options

There are no alternative credit options available for this module.

Description

Content

The module introduces students to how businesses in a future flexible energy system can develop integrated energy solutions through identifying sources of value and for stakeholders from power networks to customers to regulators and to wider society. New low carbon business models are presented including flexibility services, transactive energy, distributed storage, electric vehicles, energy data, and more.

Teaching Delivery

The module is taught via a series of 10 three-hour sessions using a combination of lectures and case-based teaching approach used in business schools. Students work in groups to develop presentations based on business cases focused on identifying value in the power system; ICT and data; local energy markets; wider benefits to society; and policy and regulation. Over each fortnight students are presented with a new case, they study the case and the literature, develop a team-based presentation, and deliver that in class. It is essential that students are willing to proactively engage throughout the term in this process. As this module assumes basic knowledge of the energy system, students must have completed some energy-related modules at either UG or MSc level or have equivalent workplace experience. They are also expected to draw on prior personal experience, and knowledge from other modules, when preparing cases and participating in lectures. This module benefits from participation from students from a range of programmes and backgrounds.

Indicative Topics

The module covers a range of possible future energy system configurations as well as options for local networks and buildings, considering the influence of different stakeholders (local government, property owners, tenants, social landlords and others) and local constraints and opportunities. The module critically assesses both the advantages and disadvantages such business models present to society.

Module Aims

The module aims to:

• Introduce students to the different forms of social and economic value that can be generated through different designs for smart local energy systems, with particular focus on the built environment.
• Teach collaborative teamworking skills through engaging students in instructor-guided, but student-led case-based seminars which focus on constructively critical collaborative problem solving.
• Convey the importance of wider social values as expressed in energy policy and regulation, as well as in other areas of the law, in determining which forms of value can be constructed from what and for whom in smart local energy systems.
• Provide the students with an understanding of the different business models that have been successfully and unsuccessfully applied by for-profit and non-for-profit organisations in this field.
• Provide the students with the capacity to constructively participate in, and critically evaluate, energy service design processes used in development of new service business models.
• Provide students with the capacity to critically evaluate different business models and understand their potential viability over the short, medium and long term under different energy transition scenarios.

Module Deliveries for 2026/27 Academic Year

Intended Teaching Term: Term 2, Postgraduate (FHEQ Level 7)

Teaching and Assessment

• Mode of study: In person
• Methods of assessment: 100% Coursework
• Mark scheme: Numeric Marks

Other Information

• Number of students on module in previous year: 19
• Module leader: Professor David Shipworth

Module Deliveries for 2026/27 Academic Year

Intended Teaching Term: Term 2, Undergraduate (FHEQ Level 7)

Teaching and Assessment

• Mode of study: In person
• Methods of assessment: 100% Coursework
• Mark scheme: Numeric Marks

Other Information

• Number of students on module in previous year: 0
• Module leader: Professor David Shipworth