| dc.description.abstract | The European Commission has set a goal of becoming the first net-zero emission continent. To achieve this, their REPowerEU proposal aims to increase the share of renewable electricity generation to 45% by 2030. The proposal includes tripling the current solar photovoltaic capacity and more than doubling the current wind power capacity. As the share of intermittent renewable energy sources on the grid increases, it becomes even more important to find ways to transform this intermittent power into firm power: power that can meet demand at all times.
In this study, we develop a model to determine the optimal mix of solar photovoltaic power, wind power, lithium-ion battery storage, and hydrogen storage that can guarantee firm power for 37 European and neighboring countries. We accomplish this by developing a model that optimizes the deployment of production and storage capacities and the hourly dispatch of storage and interconnections. Our Pan-European Intermittent Renewable Overbuilding and Curtailment Optimization Model (PEIROCOM) uses the demand and interconnection capacity projections of the European Resource Adequacy Assessment (ERAA) as input. Bidding zones have a copper plate assumption and are modeled as nodes only connected through HVAC and HVDC interconnections. The potential for onshore and offshore wind energy, as well as underground hydrogen storage, is considered. The model finds the optimal deployment and dispatch values using linear programming in combination with the time-hierarchical solution method.
We demonstrate that it is technically and economically feasible to meet the electricity demand of the entire European grid using only solar PV and wind power. We showed for the first time that overbuilding and proactive curtailment is feasible on a continental level and that hydrogen storage can play a significant role in reducing system costs when overbuilding generation capacity. Our results indicate that the ideal firm kWh premium in a lithium-ion-only scenario would be 3.95, with 51% of all generated electricity curtailed. When hydrogen storage is added, the firm kWh premium falls to 2.95 while reducing the curtailment to 32%. Additionally, we showed that with proactive curtailment, most of the projected 2030 interconnections could handle a fully intermittent renewable grid; an increase in interconnection capacity does not significantly reduce system costs. | |
