Unlike electricity production, which is centralised and mutualised throughout the territory, heating production is mainly decentralised and is specific to every dwelling.
The non-dilution question appears at two different levels: at the centralized-versus-individual level and between the individual heating solutions. First, dwellings connected to district heating networks are very unlikely to rely as well on individual heating devices. Secondly, we can ask ourselves if a dwelling investing in a particular individual heating solution (such as a gas boiler) is likely to add another heating equipment.
Taking into account, or not, this particularity will influence the MILP formulation (by adding non-dilution constraints) and therefore possibly influence the global results of the optimisation.
This poster assesses the potential impact of non-dilution (on a simplified electricity-and-heat optimisation model) and addresses the following questions:
Does the non-dilution affect the optimisation results? To what extent?
Should the non-dilution be taken into account? In which context?
description: In the perspective of making Europe a carbon-neutral continent by 2050, emission reduction measures should be supported by informed decision-making. This study proposes a methodology to use open energy system models to evaluate the marginal GHGs abatement cost curve associated with several abatement scenarios up to 2050, with a case study focused on Italy. Sectorial and sub-sectorial analyses are also provided to assess the role of different technologies in the decarbonization process. The maximum marginal cost (associated with the -90% emission reduction target in 2050 with respect to a reference scenario) is approximately 2500 €/t. The power sector turns out to be the cheapest sector to decarbonize (~ 100 €/t), while the transport sector (and the cars sub-sector specifically) the most expensive (~ 800 €/t). A carbon tax computed based on the obtained abatement cost is proposed as a possible policy implication, highlighting that a level higher than ~ 100 €/t should allow halving emissions by 2050 with respect to the reference, while a -90% reduction would require carbon pricing at levels near to 600 €/t.
• genre: poster
• title: Modelling Alternatives for integrated PtX infrastructure between Denmark and EU
• presenter: Alberto Alamia (Aarhus University)
• description: The project investigates investment opportunities in Danish hydrogen (H2) and CO2 infrastructure, aiming to support the production of green fuels within the framework of a comprehensive, sector-coupled European energy system. Employing the PyPSA-Eur framework, we model the European transition towards 2050, identifying the least-cost energy systems aligned with climate targets. Previous research have underscored the tendency for the cost-optimal energy optimization to exhibit extremes in the solutions, where any slight advantage can favour a specific technology. To mitigate this artifact of the optimization process, we identify so-called near-optimal alternative scenarios. While these solutions may incur a slight increase in costs, they reveal the design flexibility inherent in the energy transition. To achieve this, we apply a modified version of the Modelling All Alternatives methodology recently proposed at AU, offering a refined perspective on sustainable pathways within the evolving landscape of European energy systems.
• link to the code repository: Project start Jan 2024, Github not available yet
description:
This work proposes a methodology to compare energy and material supply risks (SRs) using energy system models (ESMs) with multi-objective optimization (MOO) to analyze possible trade-offs between them. Indeed, on the one hand, the transition to renewable energy technologies is decreasing the fossil fuel import dependency that many countries have been suffering until today; on the other hand, such technologies are much more mineral-intensive than fossil-based ones. The proposed methodology involves the consistent definition of the SR for a reference energy system (that is described in terms of technologies and commodities) as two separate objective functions to be used in a MOO, that include risk indicators both at commodity and technology level. The trade-offs between system material and energy SRs, costs, and CO2 emissions were studied through MOO optimization for a case study developed within the open-source TEMOA framework, providing insights about technology competitiveness in terms of energy security.
description: Forecasting complex dynamical phenomena in settings where only partial knowledge of their dynamics is available is a prevalent problem across various scientific fields. While purely data-driven approaches are arguably insufficient in this context, standard physical modeling based approaches tend to be over-simplistic, inducing non-negligible errors. In this work, we introduce the APHYNITY framework, a principled approach for augmenting incomplete physical dynamics described by differential equations with deep data-driven models. It consists in decomposing the dynamics into two components: a physical component accounting for the dynamics for which we have some prior knowledge, and a data-driven component accounting for errors of the physical model. The learning problem is carefully formulated such that the physical model explains as much of the data as possible, while the data-driven component only describes information that cannot be captured by the physical model, no more, no less. This not only provides the existence and uniqueness for this decomposition, but also ensures interpretability and benefits generalization. Experiments made on three important use cases, each representative of a different family of phenomena, i.e. reaction-diffusion equations, wave equations and the non-linear damped pendulum, show that APHYNITY can efficiently leverage approximate physical models to accurately forecast the evolution of the system and correctly identify relevant physical parameters.
description: Interarea (or wide-area) oscillations are a complex and dangerous phenomena in power systems. They are difficult to model and simulate, even for AC systems with relatively simple synchronous machines. The large development of power electronics devices, required for every wind and solar piece of equipement, add to this complexity.
WOLF-I aims at gaining a deeper understanding of the role of IBRs (Inverted-based resources) in the damping of interarea oscillations and develop methods and tools to design POD (power oscillation damping) controllers for new devices.
title: Self-sufficiency for European countries in the transition towards a net-zero energy system: Exploring the role of alternative solar photovoltaic configurations
description: In the wake of the gas crisis, European countries are focusing on building a more renewable energy system while increasing their energy self-sufficiency. Using the open source and sector-coupled model PyPSA-Eur, we look at how the energy transition path would differ if each country aimed to produce a certain share of its demand. As solar has proven to be a major resource for achieving self-sufficiency, we also implement alternative solar PV configurations including tracking, east-west facing PV panels, and combinations of these technologies with different inverter sizes in the model. The results will also quantify what growth rates for renewable capacities are needed in every country to pursue a self-sufficient renewable energy system, and how achievable are they in the light of historical experience.
description: One barrier to wide-spread adoption of open-source energy system models for professional use cases is trust in the results of these models. Comparison against other models can be useful, but it is not fully satisfactory since the results are usually not exactly the same and it can be hard to say why this is the case. Open certification process aims to augment the comparison based approach by creating a wide ranging set of small ‘system tests’ where the correct answer is known. Each model that wants to participate in the open certification process will then run an automated comparison to check the functioning of the features the particular model supports. The open certification process is supported by ‘interoperable energy system data specification’ and data transformation tools to decrease the effort needed to integrate a model with the certification process.
Description : The transition to a 100% renewable energy mix is a real challenge in islanded Microgrids, which are traditionally equipped with diesel generators to ensure a reliable supply of electricity. The solution can consist in the introduction of long-term seasonal energy storage in the form of hydrogen, coupled with short-term battery storage (HESS) to ensure the quality and reliability of electricity supply, while limiting the cost. For this purpose, our study consisted in setting up and developing various energy management strategies applied to these HESS microgrids and evaluating them. These strategies can be based on simple rules, predictive methods or stochastic dynamic programming. We have implemented 2 rules based strategies in the open-source sizing optimization tool Microgrids.jl . We present the adopted modeling approach, a review of the advantages and drawbacks of these 2 strategies and their performance.
description: This study aims to devise a modeling approach to investigate the interconnections among self-declared energy practices, actual electricity consumption and external factors such as socioeconomic and cultural factors that influence residents’ lifestyle and energy behavior in remote communities. It is exemplified on a case study in Raqaypampa, using RAMP to shed light on the multifaceted relationships shaping the lifestyle and energy behavior of the community members. The findings highlight the dynamic interplay of individual practices, consumption patterns, and broader contextual factors, providing understanding of energy dynamics in this remote setting. These insights can potentially allow policymakers to design electrification initiatives tailored to the community’s unique needs and preferences, involving selection of appropriate energy technologies and ensuring accessibility based on daily routines.
description: HeatPro is a tool box to generate customized heat demands. You can generate hourly losses for given parameters like external temperature, depth, … . You can disaggregate monthly or yearly heat consumption into hourly using different functions. The tool box will also evaluate supply and return temperatures. The tool box aims to permit a highly customizable workflow pipeline from inputs and timeseries to hourly district heating states that can be used for R&D purpose.
optional link to the code repository: comming asap
A tool providing a methodology for evaluating the sustainability of biogas/biomethane production types, tools for deriving datasets needed for potential assessments from geospatial and agricultural data, and a calculator for computing the final potentials. The aim of this set of tools is to calculate biogas potentials based on the currently available sustainable substrate base and to project future changes in production potentials. Additionally, a set of models are described to showcase some possible applications with biogas/biomethane as the dispatchable energy source in RES dominant energy system.
Biomethane, with all of the complexities surrounding its environmental friendliness, remains poorly understood and utilized in energy planning. On the other hand, with intensifying energy transitions efforts, biomethane policies across Europe are becoming increasingly more ambitious and at times even bloated, jeopardizing policies seeking to protect biodiversity and sustainable agriculture. The aim of our tools is, on the one hand, to propose a clear and comprehensible framework for evaluating biomethane production sustainability and, on the other hand, to educate the energy planning community about the benefits and challenges of utilizing this particular energy source in future systems.
Tool providing a methodology to evaluate the locations most suitable for rapid RES development according to REPowerEU policy. Location mapping based on prioritizing artificial and built surfaces (such as rooftops, parking areas, waste sites etc) and excluding protected areas (such as nature parks and reserves, bird migratory routes etc). Tools for extracting datasets of prioritized and excluded areas and accompanying data (for example, grid data for assessing the distance from identified areas). Tools for calculating the energy production potential of the location based on the type of RES being deployed.
In 2022, the EU proposed “Go-to Areas” for the RES mechanism. The mechanism aims to map and set out the locations for rapid deployment of RES projects. Now the member states of the EU are to map the location within their borders according to the methodology they will create. The aim of our tool is to propose a methodology that will take into account not only currently existing protected areas but also new areas that will become protected in the near future according to other EU’s biodiversity policies.
description: This poster is in relation to our lightning talk proposition on the risk of obtaining an ill-sized microgrid (i.e. one that cannot meet a prescribed Quality of Service level) when assuming perfect foresight. We try to highlight several possible paths for enforcing non-anticipative energy management (also called system operation of unit commitment and energy dispatch) in microgrid sizing optimization. Since we haven’t find a silver bullet approach, we compare the benefits and drawbacks of each approach.
genre: poster
title: Whole building simulation and optimization of PCM integration scenarios in buildings
presenter: @CK_Oluah
Description: Phase change materials (PCMs) continue to hold promise for reducing overall energy consumption in buildings, finding applications in enhancing the thermal performance of both passive and active building systems. However, the integration of PCMs into building envelopes poses a significant challenge due to various factors including PCM properties, building design, encapsulation strategies, integration methods, and climatic conditions. Addressing this complexity becomes imperative as buildings contribute significantly to global energy consumption.
In this study, we conducted whole-building simulations with different PCM configurations for typical Dutch building designs, including terraces, semi-detached, apartment blocks, and single-family houses. The simulations were performed using the DesignBuilder GUI for EnergyPlus to evaluate the impact of the aforementioned variables on a building’s final energy consumption.
Furthermore, the next phase of our study involves conducting a multiple-objective optimization scheme using various tools such as NSGA-III and GenOpt, followed by a comparison of the results obtained from these schemes. We also aim to explore new modeling tools being developed by participants to benchmark the robustness of our study.
description: Offshore wind farms are typically connected to the mainland via HVAC or HVDC lines. Another possibility to transmit energy is using molecules instead of electricity which may lead to reduced cost and better storage opportunities. This poster proposes a multi-carrier (natural gas, electricity, and hydrogen) model of the Belgium energy system in 2050, under a carbon neutrality constraint, to assess whether an energy mix should contain offshore hydrogen production. While HV lines remain the main way of transmitting energy from the offshore farm to mainland, the results show that depending on the renewable capacities, the distance between the wind farm and the coast, and the price of hydrogen import, producing H2 offshore could be beneficial.
description: The reduction of the share of fossil-based power plants in electricity production combined with the development of variable renewable energy systems (VRES) will lead to an increase in the land footprint of the European power system. Although the potential for VRES is sufficient for decarbonized electricity production, the massive development of these technologies may lead to uneven distribution of production sites and generate a lack of social acceptance. Low-carbon technologies like nuclear and carbon capture and storage (CCS) can be used to mitigate the increase in the land footprint. We propose to consider the land footprint in the eTIMES-EU model to explore scenarios with different levels of land consumption. We propose to extend the techno-economic assessment to dimensions related to social acceptance, like land use and production distribution.
description:
The role of demand-side solutions in addressing the energy transition has long been underestimated. To close this gap, the EnSu research group in Germany has developed scenario narratives of alternative futures considering different possible pathways in terms of e.g. energy service demand or also societal approach to technology.
This poster presents the modelling results for three scenarios that were conducted with the open-source energy modelling framework PyPSA EUR. Addressing the role that demand reduction and different technological configurations can play in shaping a future energy system.
description: The nationally set quantity or price-based energy support support schemes are playing a significant role in the competitiveness of renewable energy technologies. When using a central planer optimization approach, the subsidy schemes pull the system away from the optimum. In order to explore their impact on the risk averse investors, and ultimately on the optimal investment and dispatch solutions, we are developing a decentralised approach, based on the PyPSA-Eur code structure. This alternative modelling approach is relying on competitive game theory for the representation of the different market actors, and on stochastic modelling to depict the risk which the energy producers are facing.
Electric vehicles, whether heavy-duty or light-duty, provide an effective solution for decarbonizing transportation, provided that the battery size is kept limited. This necessitates the implementation of additional charging solutions for long-distance journeys. This research focuses on determining the optimal location and size of various charging infrastructure components, such as static fast charging stations, Electric Road Systems (ERS), and on-board batteries. The primary objective is to optimize financial, energy, and environmental costs while reducing user travel times.
In terms of data, it is imperative to have information on the departure and destination points of vehicles for their long-distance travel. These data enable the estimation of the energy needs for each vehicle over time. Thus, it becomes possible to smooth out the energy demand both geographically and temporally and optimize the location and sizing of charging points. As this data is not always publicly available, methods need to be developed to reconstruct it.
When we consider the French network on a macro scale, the dimensioning of the network seems to be too important to be solved using exact methods such as linear programming. Recent literature proposes heuristics that start by optimising the routes of each vehicle. Next, a central server distributes information between the different vehicles, facilitating coordination and collaboration. This reduces infrastructure installation costs.
The goal of the poster is to present the thesis topic and its associated challenges, particularly those related to access to transport data and the concept of collaboration between vehicles to optimize various costs.