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In order to ensure security of supply in a future energy system with a high share of volatile electricity generation, flexibility technologies are needed. Industrial demand-side management ranks as one of the most efficient flexibility options. This paper analyses the effect of the integration of industrial demand-side management through the flexibilisation of aluminium electrolysis and other flexibilities of the electricity system and adjacent sectors. The additional flexibility options include electricity storage, heat storage in district heating networks, controlled charging of electric vehicles, and buffer storage in hydrogen electrolysis. The utilisation of the flexibilities is modelled in different settings with an increasing share of renewable energies, applying a dispatch model. This paper compares which contributions the different flexibilities can make to emission reduction, avoidance of curtailment, and reduction of fuel and CO2 costs, and which circumstances contribute to a decrease or increase of overall emissions with additional flexibilities. The analysis stresses the rising importance of flexibilities in an energy system based on increasing shares of renewable electricity generation, and shows that flexibilities are generally suited to reduce carbon emissions. It is presented that the relative contribution towards the reduction of curtailment and costs of flexibilisation of aluminium electrolysis are high, whereby the absolute effect is small compared to the other options due to the limited number of available processes.
Renewable energy plays a key role in the sustainable pathway towards a low carbon future and, despite new supply capacities, the transformation of the energy system also requires the adoption of a method which allows for the integration of increasing amounts of renewable energy. This requires a transition to more flexible processes at an industrial level and demand side management (DSM) is one possible way of achieving this transition. Currently, increased shares of variable renewable energy can cause the electricity supply to become more volatile and result in changes to the electricity market. In order to develop a new dynamic equilibrium to balance supply and demand, sufficient flexibility in demand is required. As adequate storage systems are not available in the short to medium term, the potential for large electricity consumers to operate flexibly is an attractive, pragmatic and feasible option. Recent studies in Germany suggest that there is significant potential for DSM in so-called "energy-intensive industries". However, the figures (which fall in the approximate range of 1,250-2,750 MW positive and 400-1,300 MW negative shiftable load) should be interpreted with caution. The range of industrial processes considered are diverse and vary from plant to plant, with the result that it is difficult to provide accurate calculations of the accumulated potential for Germany or the EU as a whole. Based on extensive surveys and panel discussions with representatives from energy-intensive industries (aluminum, cement, chemicals, iron & steel, pulp & paper), which together account for approximately one third of the industrial electricity demand in Germany, our paper provides an overview of both the opportunities and the barriers faced by DSM. One of the key findings is the possible loss in energy efficiency due to DSM: in order to decrease or increase production depending on the stability needs of the electricity system, plants and processes may no longer operate at their optimum levels. The effects on downstream production must also be taken into account in order to gain a more complete understanding of the overall effects of industrial DSM.
Im Projekt KomRev werden effiziente Energienutzungs- und Versorgungskonzepte am Beispiel der Stadt Rheine entwickelt. Ziel war es, mit einer sinnvollen Vernetzung der Bereiche Strom, Wärme und Verkehr eine weitgehend CO2-"freie" Energieversorgung im Jahr 2050 zu erreichen. Das Forschungskonsortium bestand aus dem Solar-Institut Jülich der FH Aachen, dem Wuppertal Institut sowie dem Deutschen Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt.
The increasing rate of renewable energies poses new challenges for industries: the amount of wind and solar energy is by far more subject to fluctuations than that of fossil based energy. Large production facilities from the aluminium, cement, steel or paper industry, however, depend on a highly secure energy supply. To which amount is a limitation of fluctuations possible? This was the key question of the project "Flexibilisation of Industries Enables Sustainable Energy systems", which was realised by the Wuppertal Institute in cooperation with the polymers company Covestro last year. In the final report, authors around project co-ordinator Karin Arnold not only show which technological and economic parameters have been considered, but also present possible business models to promote "flexibility products".
Flexibilitätspotenziale und -perspektiven in einer Rohstoffschmelzanlage für Feuerfestmaterialien
(2018)
Im Forschungsprojekt "Landscaping" untersuchte das Wuppertal Institut die für Nordrhein-Westfalen aus heutiger Sicht denkbaren Technologieansätze, die dafür nötigen politischen Rahmenbedingungen sowie mögliche Innovationen entlang der Wertschöpfungsketten. Bestandteil des Berichts sind Steckbriefe, in denen die möglichen Technologien für treibhausgasneutrale Industrieprozesse samt offener Forschungsfragen und Infrastrukturbedarfe dargestellt sind. Das Projekt entstand im Auftrag des Ministeriums für Wirtschaft, Innovation, Digitalisierung und Energie des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen.
Zur Realisierung der europäischen Klimaschutzziele muss der Industriesektor, besonders die energieintensive Grundstoffindustrie, seine Treibhausgasemissionen stark reduzieren. Obwohl in der Vergangenheit bereits große Fortschritte erzielt wurden, sind in Zukunft weitere, teils bahnbrechende Innovationen und der Aufbau der dafür benötigten Infrastruktur erforderlich. Im Rahmen dieses Projekts stellt das Wuppertal Institut für die "European Climate Foundation" den aktuellen Wissensstand zum Thema zusammen, diskutiert diesen vor dem Hintergrund der aktuellen Situation für Nordrhein-Westfalen (NRW), erstellt konsistente mögliche Zukunftsszenarien für NRW und leitet Schlüsselfragen und weiteren Forschungsbedarf für die Region ab.
Model-based scenario analyses of future energy systems often come to deviating results and conclusions when different models are used. This may be caused by heterogeneous input data and by inherent differences in model formulations. The representation of technologies for the conversion, storage, use, and transport of energy is usually stylized in comprehensive system models in order to limit the size of the mathematical problem, and may substantially differ between models. This paper presents a systematic comparison of nine power sector models with sector coupling. We analyze the impact of differences in the representation of technologies, optimization approaches, and further model features on model outcomes. The comparison uses fully harmonized input data and highly simplified system configurations to isolate and quantify model-specific effects. We identify structural differences in terms of the optimization approach between the models. Furthermore, we find substantial differences in technology modeling primarily for battery electric vehicles, reservoir hydro power, power transmission, and demand response. These depend largely on the specific focus of the models. In model analyses where these technologies are a relevant factor, it is therefore important to be aware of potential effects of the chosen modeling approach. For the detailed analysis of the effect of individual differences in technology modeling and model features, the chosen approach of highly simplified test cases is suitable, as it allows to isolate the effects of model-specific differences on results. However, it strongly limits the model's degrees of freedom, which reduces its suitability for the evaluation of fundamentally different modeling approaches.
Die voranschreitende Umstellung des Energiesystems von einer "additiven Rolle" regenerativer Energien hin zu deren Dominanz wirft zahlreiche Fragestelllungen auf, für deren Beantwortung in zunehmendem Maße Modellierungsansätze gewählt werden. Vor diesem Hintergrund ist in den letzten Jahren eine große Anzahl von modellbasierten Szenarioanalysen des deutschen Energiesystems entstanden. Da sie zum Teil sehr unterschiedliche Ergebnisse erzielen, die nur schwer miteinander vergleichbar sind, erschwert dies die Weiterentwicklung des Zukunftswissens zur Energiewende und auch die gegenseitige Qualitätssicherung der Ergebnisse.
Vor diesem Hintergrund hat das Wuppertal Institut zusammen mit den Partnern Fraunhofer ISE und DLR das RegMex-Projekt durchgeführt. Ziel des Projektes war zum einen die inhaltliche Weiterentwicklung der Diskussion zur Ausgestaltung der Energiewende. Zum anderen sollte durch den Modellvergleich eine höhere Transparenz der teilnehmenden Modelle erreicht werden, um die Implikationen und Auswirkungen verschiedener Modellansätze besser differenzierten zu können.
Im Modellexperiment 1 wurden für zwei Szenarien (Zielszenario und Ambitioniertes Szenario) das Gesamtsystem mit Hilfe von drei Energiesystemmodellen und im Modellexperiment 2 das Stromsystem und flexible Sektorenkopplung mit Hilfe von vier Stromsystemmodellen modelliert. In einem weiteren Arbeitspaket wurden "Disruptive Elemente" identifiziert und analysiert, die gravierende Auswirkungen auf das Energiesystem haben können. Die Modellexperimente zeigen klar, dass die Einordnung und Interpretation von Modellergebnissen nicht losgelöst von den Modellen und deren methodischen Unterschieden erfolgen darf.