IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v134y2017icp469-481.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The benefits of cooperation in a highly renewable European electricity network

Author

Listed:
  • Schlachtberger, D.P.
  • Brown, T.
  • Schramm, S.
  • Greiner, M.

Abstract

To reach ambitious European CO2 emission reduction targets, most scenarios of future European electricity systems rely on large shares of wind and solar photovoltaic power generation. We interpolate between two concepts for balancing the variability of these renewable sources: balancing at continental scales using the transmission grid and balancing locally with storage. This interpolation is done by systematically restricting transmission capacities from the optimum level to zero. We run techno-economic cost optimizations for the capacity investment and dispatch of wind, solar, hydroelectricity, natural gas power generation and transmission, as well as storage options such as pumped-hydro, battery, and hydrogen storage. The simulations assume a 95% CO2 emission reduction compared to 1990, and are run over a full historical year of weather and electricity demand for 30 European countries. In the cost-optimal system with high levels of transmission expansion, energy generation is dominated by wind (65%) and hydro (15%), with average system costs comparable to today's system. Restricting transmission shifts the balance in favour of solar and storage, driving up costs by a third. As the restriction is relaxed, 85% of the cost benefits of the optimal grid expansion can be captured already with only 44% of the transmission volume.

Suggested Citation

  • Schlachtberger, D.P. & Brown, T. & Schramm, S. & Greiner, M., 2017. "The benefits of cooperation in a highly renewable European electricity network," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 469-481.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:134:y:2017:i:c:p:469-481
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2017.06.004
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544217309969
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2017.06.004?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Palzer, Andreas & Henning, Hans-Martin, 2014. "A comprehensive model for the German electricity and heat sector in a future energy system with a dominant contribution from renewable energy technologies – Part II: Results," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 1019-1034.
    2. Heide, Dominik & Greiner, Martin & von Bremen, Lüder & Hoffmann, Clemens, 2011. "Reduced storage and balancing needs in a fully renewable European power system with excess wind and solar power generation," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(9), pages 2515-2523.
    3. Connolly, D. & Lund, H. & Mathiesen, B.V., 2016. "Smart Energy Europe: The technical and economic impact of one potential 100% renewable energy scenario for the European Union," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 1634-1653.
    4. Luca Petricca & Per Ohlckers & Xuyuan Chen, 2013. "The Future of Energy Storage Systems," Chapters, in: Ahmed F. Zobaa (ed.), Energy Storage - Technologies and Applications, IntechOpen.
    5. Battaglini, Antonella & Komendantova, Nadejda & Brtnik, Patricia & Patt, Anthony, 2012. "Perception of barriers for expansion of electricity grids in the European Union," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 254-259.
    6. Jonas Egerer & Clemens Gerbaulet & Casimir Lorenz, 2013. "European Electricity Grid Infrastructure Expansion in a 2050 Context," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1299, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    7. Andreas Schröder & Friedrich Kunz & Jan Meiss & Roman Mendelevitch & Christian von Hirschhausen, 2013. "Current and Prospective Costs of Electricity Generation until 2050," Data Documentation 68, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    8. Heide, Dominik & von Bremen, Lueder & Greiner, Martin & Hoffmann, Clemens & Speckmann, Markus & Bofinger, Stefan, 2010. "Seasonal optimal mix of wind and solar power in a future, highly renewable Europe," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(11), pages 2483-2489.
    9. Eriksen, Emil H. & Schwenk-Nebbe, Leon J. & Tranberg, Bo & Brown, Tom & Greiner, Martin, 2017. "Optimal heterogeneity in a simplified highly renewable European electricity system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 913-928.
    10. Andresen, Gorm B. & Søndergaard, Anders A. & Greiner, Martin, 2015. "Validation of Danish wind time series from a new global renewable energy atlas for energy system analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 93(P1), pages 1074-1088.
    11. Rodríguez, Rolando A. & Becker, Sarah & Andresen, Gorm B. & Heide, Dominik & Greiner, Martin, 2014. "Transmission needs across a fully renewable European power system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 467-476.
    12. Rodriguez, Rolando A. & Becker, Sarah & Greiner, Martin, 2015. "Cost-optimal design of a simplified, highly renewable pan-European electricity system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 658-668.
    13. Lund, Henrik & Andersen, Anders N. & Østergaard, Poul Alberg & Mathiesen, Brian Vad & Connolly, David, 2012. "From electricity smart grids to smart energy systems – A market operation based approach and understanding," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 96-102.
    14. Deane, J.P. & Chiodi, Alessandro & Gargiulo, Maurizio & Ó Gallachóir, Brian P., 2012. "Soft-linking of a power systems model to an energy systems model," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 303-312.
    15. Schaber, Katrin & Steinke, Florian & Hamacher, Thomas, 2012. "Transmission grid extensions for the integration of variable renewable energies in Europe: Who benefits where?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 123-135.
    16. Henning, Hans-Martin & Palzer, Andreas, 2014. "A comprehensive model for the German electricity and heat sector in a future energy system with a dominant contribution from renewable energy technologies—Part I: Methodology," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 1003-1018.
    17. Schaber, Katrin & Steinke, Florian & Mühlich, Pascal & Hamacher, Thomas, 2012. "Parametric study of variable renewable energy integration in Europe: Advantages and costs of transmission grid extensions," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 498-508.
    18. Becker, S. & Rodriguez, R.A. & Andresen, G.B. & Schramm, S. & Greiner, M., 2014. "Transmission grid extensions during the build-up of a fully renewable pan-European electricity supply," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 404-418.
    19. Hagspiel, S. & Jägemann, C. & Lindenberger, D. & Brown, T. & Cherevatskiy, S. & Tröster, E., 2014. "Cost-optimal power system extension under flow-based market coupling," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 654-666.
    20. Mathiesen, B.V. & Lund, H. & Connolly, D. & Wenzel, H. & Østergaard, P.A. & Möller, B. & Nielsen, S. & Ridjan, I. & Karnøe, P. & Sperling, K. & Hvelplund, F.K., 2015. "Smart Energy Systems for coherent 100% renewable energy and transport solutions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 139-154.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Brown, T. & Schlachtberger, D. & Kies, A. & Schramm, S. & Greiner, M., 2018. "Synergies of sector coupling and transmission reinforcement in a cost-optimised, highly renewable European energy system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 720-739.
    2. Hansen, Kenneth & Breyer, Christian & Lund, Henrik, 2019. "Status and perspectives on 100% renewable energy systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 175(C), pages 471-480.
    3. Mads Raunbak & Timo Zeyer & Kun Zhu & Martin Greiner, 2017. "Principal Mismatch Patterns Across a Simplified Highly Renewable European Electricity Network," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-13, November.
    4. Tom Brown & Mirko Schäfer & Martin Greiner, 2019. "Sectoral Interactions as Carbon Dioxide Emissions Approach Zero in a Highly-Renewable European Energy System," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-16, March.
    5. Child, Michael & Kemfert, Claudia & Bogdanov, Dmitrii & Breyer, Christian, 2019. "Flexible electricity generation, grid exchange and storage for the transition to a 100% renewable energy system in Europe," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 139, pages 80-101.
    6. Pleßmann, Guido & Blechinger, Philipp, 2017. "Outlook on South-East European power system until 2050: Least-cost decarbonization pathway meeting EU mitigation targets," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 1041-1053.
    7. Diesendorf, Mark & Elliston, Ben, 2018. "The feasibility of 100% renewable electricity systems: A response to critics," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 318-330.
    8. Ashfaq, Asad & Ianakiev, Anton, 2018. "Cost-minimised design of a highly renewable heating network for fossil-free future," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 613-626.
    9. Zerrahn, Alexander & Schill, Wolf-Peter, 2017. "Long-run power storage requirements for high shares of renewables: review and a new model," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 1518-1534.
    10. Rodriguez, Rolando A. & Becker, Sarah & Greiner, Martin, 2015. "Cost-optimal design of a simplified, highly renewable pan-European electricity system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 658-668.
    11. Chattopadhyay, Kabitri & Kies, Alexander & Lorenz, Elke & von Bremen, Lüder & Heinemann, Detlev, 2017. "The impact of different PV module configurations on storage and additional balancing needs for a fully renewable European power system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 176-189.
    12. Scholz, Yvonne & Gils, Hans Christian & Pietzcker, Robert C., 2017. "Application of a high-detail energy system model to derive power sector characteristics at high wind and solar shares," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 568-582.
    13. Østergaard, P.A. & Lund, H. & Thellufsen, J.Z. & Sorknæs, P. & Mathiesen, B.V., 2022. "Review and validation of EnergyPLAN," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    14. Blanco, Herib & Faaij, André, 2018. "A review at the role of storage in energy systems with a focus on Power to Gas and long-term storage," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 81(P1), pages 1049-1086.
    15. Schlachtberger, D.P. & Brown, T. & Schäfer, M. & Schramm, S. & Greiner, M., 2018. "Cost optimal scenarios of a future highly renewable European electricity system: Exploring the influence of weather data, cost parameters and policy constraints," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 100-114.
    16. Hans Christian Gils & Sonja Simon & Rafael Soria, 2017. "100% Renewable Energy Supply for Brazil—The Role of Sector Coupling and Regional Development," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-22, November.
    17. Alexander Kies & Bruno U. Schyska & Lueder Von Bremen, 2016. "The Demand Side Management Potential to Balance a Highly Renewable European Power System," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(11), pages 1-14, November.
    18. Becker, Sarah & Frew, Bethany A. & Andresen, Gorm B. & Zeyer, Timo & Schramm, Stefan & Greiner, Martin & Jacobson, Mark Z., 2014. "Features of a fully renewable US electricity system: Optimized mixes of wind and solar PV and transmission grid extensions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 443-458.
    19. Zhu, K. & Victoria, M. & Andresen, G.B. & Greiner, M., 2020. "Impact of climatic, technical and economic uncertainties on the optimal design of a coupled fossil-free electricity, heating and cooling system in Europe," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 262(C).
    20. Ashfaq, Asad & Ianakiev, Anton, 2018. "Features of fully integrated renewable energy atlas for Pakistan; wind, solar and cooling," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 14-27.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:134:y:2017:i:c:p:469-481. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.