As the penetration levels of renewable energy sources grow, the flexibility needs of the power system increase. Energy system integration (ESI) measures such as storage, demand response, interconnection, gas and water systems integration, power-to-gas (P2G) and distributed energy resources etc. can play a significant role in meeting these flexibility requirements and increasing the potential of renewable energy. For a full assessment, it will be necessary to capture the short-term benefits (seconds to days and weeks) whilst also allowing this flexibility value to be properly represented in longer-term (years) capacity expansion assessments. However, achieving the necessary temporal and geographical scope can result in model detail being sacrificed due to the increased dimensionality of the problem, with implications for the validity of any conclusions reached.
Current work in this area involves coupling existing energy system models with more detailed unit commitment models to examine the impact of temporal and operational constraints. These, so called, “soft-linking” approaches use existing energy system models designed for conventional based systems, but they can fail to truly capture the flexibility issues and how they might influence long-term decisions.
The work package will consider how a variety of ESI measures should be modelled to allow fair evaluation of their impacts on the power system. Recognising the fact that many resources will interact directly with the distribution network, a characterisation of each is required within the context of various system optimisation methods, such as unit commitment and optimal power flow. Additionally, the potential emergence of energy communities, due to the availability of small-scale renewable energy sources and affordable, off-the-shelf ICT technologies, may have significant consequences for distribution/transmission system interactions and power system flexibility needs. Investigating how different local resources may be optimally pooled together, not only for the benefit of the community itself, but also for optimised interaction with the distribution network, the retailer, the transmission system operator and the electricity market is an key ESI research challenge.