Decarbonization of the electricity sector is one of the major measures in slowing down the pace of climate change. In this paper, we analyze the impacts of energy storage systems (ESS) and interannual uncertainty of variable renewable energy (VRE) on power system decarbonization in 2050. We perform capacity expansion optimization based on technology cost projections and CO2 emission restrictions using 11 years of VRE and load data in Italy's power system, with a particular focus on the role of ESS and its duration. We also explore capacity expansion optimization based on multiple-year vs. single-year data to quantify the impact of VRE interannual variability. Our results indicate high renewables penetration even in the absence of decarbonization policies. In the transition to zero carbon system, CCS plays a minor role due to its carbon capture efficiency. ESS investments contribute to lower system costs by replacing more expensive flexibility resources. However, longer ESS durations have lower marginal value per added kWh ESS. Interannual variability of VRE substantially changes the system's configuration and energy cost. Decision-making based on single-year data substantially increases the systems' operational costs in other years. In contrast, optimizing over multiple years provides a more robust and cost effective generation expansion strategy.
Land-use conflicts may constrain the unprecedented rates of renewable energy deployment required to meet the decarbonization goals of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). This paper employs geospatially resolved data and a detailed electricity system capacity expansion model to generate 160 affordable, zero-carbon electricity supply portfolios for the American west and evaluates the land use impacts of each portfolio. Less than 4% of all sites suitable for solar development and 17% of all wind sites appear in this set of portfolios. Of these sites, 53% of solar and 85% of wind sites exhibit high…
Deep energy decarbonization cannot be achieved without high penetration of renewables. At higher renewable energy penetrations, the variability and intermittent nature of solar photovoltaic (PV) electricity can cause ramping issues with existing fossil fuel generation, requiring longer term energy storage to increase the reliability of grid operation. A proton exchange membrane electrolyzer can produce H2and serves as a utility controllable load. The produced H2 can then be stored and converted back into electricity, or mixed with natural gas, or used as transportation fuel, or chemical feedst…
A modeling framework is presented to investigate trade-offs among decarbonization from increased low-carbon electricity generation and electrification of heating and vehicles. The model is broadly applicable but relies on high-fidelity parameterization of existing infrastructure and anticipated electrified loads; this study applies it to New York State where detailed data is available. Trade-offs are investigated between end use electrification and renewable energy deployment in terms of supply costs, generation and storage capacities, renewable resource mix, and system operation. Results indi…
The retirement of unabated coal power plants, the plummeting cost of renewable energy technologies, along with more aggressive public policies and regulatory reforms, are occurring at an unprecedented speed to decarbonize the power and energy systems towards the 2030 and 2050 climate goals. This article aims to establish a carbon-oriented framework to examine the role carbon emission is playing within a power grid that is rapidly transitioning to an integrated multi-energy system. We divide the carbon flows in the multi-energy systems into three stages: carbon allowances initialization/allocat…
The synchronized operation of power generators is the foundation of electric power network stability and a key to the prevention of undesired power outages and blackouts. Here, we derive the conditions that guarantee synchronization in power networks with inherent generator heterogeneity when subjected to small perturbations, and perform a parametric sensitivity analysis to understand synchronization with varied types of generators. As inverter-based resources, which are the primary interfacing technology for many renewable sources of energy, have supplanted synchronous generators in ever grow…
This paper presents considerations towards an information and control architecture for future electric energy systems driven by massive changes resulting from the societal goals of decarbonization and electrification. This paper describes the new requirements and challenges of an extended information and control architecture that need to be addressed for continued reliable delivery of electricity. It identifies several new actionable information and control loops, along with their spatial and temporal scales of operation, which can together meet the needs of future grids and enable deep decarb…
Renewable power to ammonia (RePtA) is a prominent zero-carbon pathway for decarbonization. Due to the imbalance between renewables and production energy demand, the RePtA system relies on the electricity exchange with the power grid. Participating in the electricity market as a virtual power plant (VPP) may help to reduce energy costs. However, the power profile of local photovoltaics and wind turbines is similar to those in the market, resulting in rising energy costs under the conventional strategy. Hence, we develop a multi-timescale trading strategy for the RePtA VPP in the electricity, hy…
We hypothesize that the present expansion of energy generation by variable renewable energy (VRE) power plants, such as wind and photovoltaic power plants, leads to a 100% renewable energy supply in 2030 because of its inherent exponential growth function. This behavior is related to the exponential cost reduction of its generated energy and the nearly unconstrained available potential of its natural resources. The cost reduction results from the continuous improvements in development, research, manufacturing, and installation, also showing a growth of its installation power per power plant or…
The urgent need for the decarbonization of power girds has accelerated the integration of renewable energy. Concurrently the increasing distributed energy resources (DER) and advanced metering infrastructures (AMI) have transformed the power grids into a more sophisticated cyber-physical system with numerous communication devices. While these transitions provide economic and environmental value, they also impose increased risk of cyber attacks and operational challenges. This paper investigates the vulnerability of the power grids with high renewable penetration against an intraday false data …
There is growing interest in hydrogen (H$_2$) use for long-duration energy storage in a future electric grid dominated by variable renewable energy (VRE) resources. Modelling the role of H$_2$ as grid-scale energy storage, often referred as "power-to-gas-to-power (P2G2P)" overlooks the cost-sharing and emission benefits from using the deployed H$_2$ production and storage assets to also supply H$_2$ for decarbonizing other end-use sectors where direct electrification may be challenged. Here, we develop a generalized modelling framework for co-optimizing energy infrastructure investment and ope…
Distributed generation, based on the exploitation of Renewable Energy Sources (RES), has increased in the last few decades to limit anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions, and this trend will increase in the future. However, RES generation is not dispatchable, and an increasing share of RES may lead to inefficiencies and even problems for the electricity network. Flexible resources are needed to handle RES generation in order to support the delicate electricity generation and demand balance. Energy conversion technologies (P2X, Power to X) allow the flexibility of energy systems to be increase…
The decarbonization of many heavy power-consuming industries is dependent on the integration of renewable energy sources and energy storage systems in isolated autonomous power systems. The optimal energy management in such schemes becomes harder due to the increased complexity and stability requirements, the rapidly varying operating conditions and uncertainty of renewable sources, the conflicting objectives across different timescales, the limited amount of reliable power sources and energy storage. The state of charge management when energy storage is used for multiple services, such as opt…
EU-ETS under attack? The impact of carbon price suppression on the decarbonization of the power sector
Politecnico di Milano（米兰理工大学）；RFF-CMCC European Institute on Economics and the Environment（RFF-CMCC欧洲经济与环境研究所）；Instituto de Investigacion Tecnologica（技术研究所）；Universidad Pontificia Comillas（康普卢滕斯天主教大学）
Norwegian University of Science and Technology（挪威科技大学）；Old Dominion University（奥多明尼昂大学）；University of North Carolina at Charlotte（北卡罗来纳大学夏洛特分校）；Chulalongkorn University（朱拉隆功大学）；Simula Research Laboratory（西穆拉研究实验室）
During the last two decades, distributed energy systems, especially renewable energy sources (RES), have become more economically viable with increasing market share and penetration levels on power systems. In addition to decarbonization and decentralization of energy systems, digitalization has also become very important. The use of artificial intelligence (AI), advanced optimization algorithms, Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), and other digitalization frameworks makes modern power system assets more intelligent, while vulnerable to cybersecurity risks. This paper proposes the concept of…
Driven by the global decarbonization effort, the rapid integration of renewable energy into the conventional electricity grid presents new challenges and opportunities for the battery energy storage system (BESS) participating in the energy market. Energy arbitrage can be a significant source of revenue for the BESS due to the increasing price volatility in the spot market caused by the mismatch between renewable generation and electricity demand. In addition, the Frequency Control Ancillary Services (FCAS) markets established to stabilize the grid can offer higher returns for the BESS due to …
Deep decarbonization of the energy sector will require massive penetration of stochastic renewable energy resources and an enormous amount of grid asset coordination; this represents a challenging paradigm for the power system operators who are tasked with maintaining grid stability and security in the face of such changes. With its ability to learn from complex datasets and provide predictive solutions on fast timescales, machine learning (ML) is well-posed to help overcome these challenges as power systems transform in the coming decades. In this work, we outline five key challenges (dataset…
