Evaluating the Potential Contribution of District Heating to the Flexibility of the Future Italian Power System

Chiara Magni,Alessia Arteconi,Sylvain Quoilin

doi:10.3390/en15020584

Chiara Magni, Alessia Arteconi + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/en15020584

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Abstract

Flexibility is crucial to enable the penetration of high shares of renewables in the power system while ensuring the security and affordability of the electricity dispatch. In this regard, heat–electricity sector coupling technologies are considered a promising solution for the integration of flexible devices such as thermal storage units and heat pumps. The deployment of these devices would also enable the decarbonization of the heating sector, responsible for around half of the energy consumption in the EU, of which 75% is currently supplied by fossil fuels. This paper investigates in which measure the diffusion of district heating (DH) coupled with thermal energy storage (TES) units can contribute to the overall system flexibility and to the provision of operating reserves for energy systems with high renewable penetration. The deployment of two different DH supply technologies, namely combined heat and power units (CHP) and large-scale heat pumps (P2HT), is modeled and compared in terms of performance. The case study analyzed is the future Italian energy system, which is simulated through the unit commitment and optimal dispatch model Dispa-SET. Results show that DH coupled with heat pumps and CHP units could enable both costs and emissions related to the heat–electricity sector to be reduced by up to 50%. DH systems also proved to be a promising solution to grant the flexibility and resilience of power systems with high shares of renewables by significantly reducing the curtailment of renewables and cost-optimally providing up to 15% of the total upward reserve requirements.

Highlights

With the presentation of the European Green Deal at the end of 2019, the EU Commission set the ambitious goal to achieve a reduction of 55% in greenhouse gas (GHG)emissions by 2030 and to reach carbon neutrality by 2050 [1].The deployment of renewable energy sources (RESs) will have a primary role in reaching these targets
In future energy systems, characterized by high RES penetration and limited availability of dispatchable sources such as steam and gas turbines, the increased need for flexibility is expected to be increasingly provided by the demand side through the uptake of demand response (DR) programs, which include a series of actions aiming at modifying the energy load in response to price signals, generally during periods of peak demand
The results prove that district heating (DH) systems combined with a thermal energy storage (TES) unit enable a reduction in primary energy consumption, CO2 emissions and operational costs

Summary

Introduction

With the presentation of the European Green Deal at the end of 2019, the EU Commission set the ambitious goal to achieve a reduction of 55% in greenhouse gas (GHG)emissions by 2030 (with respect to 1990 levels) and to reach carbon neutrality by 2050 [1].The deployment of renewable energy sources (RESs) will have a primary role in reaching these targets. The added uncertainty introduced by the large deployment of non-dispatchable energy sources such as wind and photovoltaic power will increase the need for flexibility in the system in order to ensure the demand–supply balance. In future energy systems, characterized by high RES penetration and limited availability of dispatchable sources such as steam and gas turbines, the increased need for flexibility is expected to be increasingly provided by the demand side through the uptake of demand response (DR) programs, which include a series of actions aiming at modifying the energy load in response to price signals, generally during periods of peak demand. Non-dispatchable programs enable system operators to modify the consumption profile in the energy market through time-sensitive price schemes, while dispatchable programs are deployed in the reserves markets in order to ensure the availability and activation of ancillary services through economic incentives

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