Designing Tools for Energy System Scenario Making in Municipal Energy Planning

Rasmus Magni Johannsen,Poul Alberg Østergaard,Louise Krog Elmegaard Mouritsen,David Maya-Drysdale

doi:10.3390/en14051442

Abstract

Energy planning increasingly revolves around the use of tools for energy system modelling and analysis with a view to generating scenarios to show implications and possibilities for decision makers. Municipalities engage in the transition to renewable energy systems through the formulation of strategies and goals at a local level despite often lacking appropriate tools and resources to conduct the needed complex analyses. Tools for energy system analyses have traditionally been designed either with the scope of national energy systems or detailed project-specific analysis in mind, leaving municipal planners in a state of flux. This study aims to identify important specifications and critical design principles for future energy system modelling tools designed for municipal planners. Through a qualitative case-oriented approach, this study investigates the planning practices of four municipalities. It is found that future tools for municipal planning purposes need to combine the need for systematic analyses with concrete and implementable initiatives while balancing analytical complexity with operational simplicity.

Highlights

IntroductionTransitioning the energy system to renewable energy supply is a complex challenge due to the nature of the transition; going from storable and dispatchable fossil energy sources to variable renewable energy sources and sector integration
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An exclusive definition of what constitutes energy planning has not yet emerged [2,3], and while authors approach the subject of defining energy planning differently, it is clear that balancing the technical supply and demand for energy with economic, environmental, and social concerns is a fundamental pillar [4,5,6,7,8,9]

Summary

Introduction

Transitioning the energy system to renewable energy supply is a complex challenge due to the nature of the transition; going from storable and dispatchable fossil energy sources to variable renewable energy sources and sector integration. With this transition follows a growing need for long-term strategies, along with higher requirements for analytical complexity and temporal resolution of energy system modelling; complicating the process of the decision making and planning of the transition [1]. One purpose of energy planning is to improve the decision basis for important policy decisions in both a short- and long-term perspective [4], and the importance of good and reliable energy planning should not be underestimated. Thery and Zarate [7] argue that the complexity of energy planning is a result of its multi-criterion and multi-scale issues, and the resulting need for coherence across multiple levels and time horizons

Objectives

Methods

Findings

Conclusion