Abstract
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.
Highlights
The transformation of the energy system towards low carbon emissions and renewable energies is a necessary shift to tackle the challenge of emission reduction and climate change
Even though the exact amount of flexibility needed for a renewable energy based electricity system is hard to define, according to Kondziella et al, there is no doubt that flexibilities play a crucial role in a future energy system [1]
This paper aims to show the contribution and trade-offs of different flexibility options with a special focus on the demand-side management of the aluminium electrolysis
Summary
The transformation of the energy system towards low carbon emissions and renewable energies is a necessary shift to tackle the challenge of emission reduction and climate change. An energy system based on volatile renewable energy sources would meet this challenge, but is in need of flexibility technologies to provide security of supply. Even though the exact amount of flexibility needed for a renewable energy based electricity system is hard to define, according to Kondziella et al, there is no doubt that flexibilities play a crucial role in a future energy system [1]. Huber et al point out that these flexibilities are needed when the share of PV in the energy supply rises above. Maia et al propose a huge storage increase to meet the flexibility needs [3]. Hilpert shows that heat pumps can replace short-term storage units in an energy system with high shares of renewable energy [4]
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