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Role of Energy Storage in Low-Carbon and High-Renewable Energy Systems

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2021) | Viewed by 7955

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK
Interests: energy system modelling and optimization; system integration of renewable and low-carbon energy technologies; impact assessment of heat and transport electrification; integrated whole-energy system modelling; impact of flexible demand on low-carbon energy systems; benefits of energy storage technologies

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We invite you to contribute original manuscripts to the Special Issue of Sustainability on the “Role of Energy Storage in Low-Carbon and High-Renewable Energy Systems”.

Deep and wide-ranging transformation is expected in energy supply systems around the world over the next few decades to achieve the ambitious targets set for decarbonisation. The UK was the first major economy in the world to enshrine in law its commitment to end its contribution to global warming by 2050, and is being closely followed by many other major economies. The concerns over climate change are global and many countries are aiming to achieve a 100% renewable energy supply by 2050.

To achieve net-zero energy supply based on renewables, the energy system will need to address significant challenges, including the management of the variability of renewable generation through dealing with increased balancing requirements, reduced system inertia and increased uncertainty affecting the security of supply, while decarbonising the heat and transport sectors. These developments will give rise to an increased need for flexibility to support cost-effective operation and investment in energy systems. Flexible options that appear to hold promise for future energy systems include energy storage, demand-side response, expanding interconnection capacity and sector coupling. Set against these challenges are opportunities associated with a continued and rapid decline in the cost of renewable generation technologies (wind and solar PV), accompanied by a sharp decrease in the cost of energy storage, in particular battery technologies.

In this context, there is a clear need for tools and approaches that allow for the adequate evaluation of the role of energy storage in future low-carbon energy systems, cost-efficient deployment of various energy storage technologies, and methods for assessing the performance of energy storage assets in future markets for energy and ancillary services.

The topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

  • Methods for quantifying cost-efficient deployment of energy storage in low-carbon and net-zero carbon energy systems
  • Assessing whole-system benefits of energy storage across different segments (generation/supply, transmission, distribution) of future low-carbon energy systems
  • Role of flexibility provided by energy storage in managing fluctuating output of renewable generation
  • Role of distributed energy storage technologies in supporting distributed renewable generation, minimizing household energy bills and avoiding local grid reinforcement
  • Suitability of different energy storage technologies and their technical parameters (e.g., roundtrip efficiency, duration) for deployment in high-renewable systems
  • Provision of ancillary services in low-carbon electricity systems through energy storage
  • Role of long-duration storage in handling inter-seasonal variations in renewable output and energy demand
  • Opportunities to use energy storage across vectors through sector coupling (e.g., thermal or hydrogen storage) to support the deployment of variable renewables
  • Using EV batteries to manage charging and discharging (V2G) to support the system integration of renewables in systems with high electrification of road transport
  • Opportunities for co-locating energy storage technologies and renewable generation
  • Commercial and business case for energy storage in future energy markets
  • Contribution of energy storage to the security of supply in low-carbon energy systems
  • Option value of energy storage for dealing with uncertainties driven by the deployment of renewable generation

Dr. Marko Aunedi
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • energy storage
  • whole-system assessment
  • power system flexibility
  • cross-sector coupling, renewable integration
  • electric vehicles
  • battery storage
  • thermal storage

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

30 pages, 4440 KiB  
Article
Techno-Economic Assessment of Battery Electric Trains and Recharging Infrastructure Alternatives Integrating Adjacent Renewable Energy Sources
by Christoph Streuling, Johannes Pagenkopf, Moritz Schenker and Kim Lakeit
Sustainability 2021, 13(15), 8234; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13158234 - 23 Jul 2021
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3767
Abstract
Battery electric multiple units (BEMU) are an effective path towards a decarbonized regional rail transport on partly electrified rail lines. As a means of sector coupling, the BEMU recharging energy demand provided through overhead line islands can be covered from decentralized renewable energy [...] Read more.
Battery electric multiple units (BEMU) are an effective path towards a decarbonized regional rail transport on partly electrified rail lines. As a means of sector coupling, the BEMU recharging energy demand provided through overhead line islands can be covered from decentralized renewable energy sources (RES). Thus, fully carbon-free electricity for rail transport purposes can be obtained. In this study, we analyze cost reduction potentials of efficient recharging infrastructure positioning and the feasibility of covering BEMU energy demand by direct-use of locally produced renewable electricity. Therefore, we set up a model-based approach which assesses relevant lifecycle costs (LCC) of different trackside electrification alternatives comparing energy supply from local RES and grid consumption. The model-based approach is applied to the example of a German regional rail line. In the case of an overhead line island, the direct-use of electricity from adjacent wind power plants with on-site battery storage results in relevant LCC of EUR 173.4 M/30a, while grid consumption results in EUR 176.2 M/30a whereas full electrification results in EUR 224.5 M/30a. Depending on site-specific factors such as existing electrification and line lengths, BEMU operation and partial overhead line extension can lead to significant cost reductions of recharging infrastructure as compared to full electrification. Full article
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16 pages, 3677 KiB  
Article
The Role of Fast Frequency Response of Energy Storage Systems and Renewables for Ensuring Frequency Stability in Future Low-Inertia Power Systems
by Pablo González-Inostroza, Claudia Rahmann, Ricardo Álvarez, Jannik Haas, Wolfgang Nowak and Christian Rehtanz
Sustainability 2021, 13(10), 5656; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13105656 - 18 May 2021
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 3527
Abstract
Renewable generation technologies are rapidly penetrating electrical power systems, which challenge frequency stability, especially in power systems with low inertia. To prevent future instabilities, this issue should already be addressed in the planning stage of the power systems. With this purpose, this paper [...] Read more.
Renewable generation technologies are rapidly penetrating electrical power systems, which challenge frequency stability, especially in power systems with low inertia. To prevent future instabilities, this issue should already be addressed in the planning stage of the power systems. With this purpose, this paper presents a generation expansion planning tool that incorporates a set of frequency stability constraints along with the capability of renewable technologies and batteries to support system frequency stability during major power imbalances. We study how the investment decisions change depending on (i) which technology—batteries, renewable or conventional generation—support system frequency stability, (ii) the available levels of system inertia, and (iii) the modeling detail of reserve allocation (system-wide versus zone-specific). Our results for a case study of Chile’s system in the year 2050 show that including fast frequency response from converter-based technologies will be mandatory to achieve a secure operation in power systems dominated by renewable generation. When batteries offer the service, the total investment sizes are only slightly impacted. More precise spatial modeling of the reserves primarily affects the location of the investments as well as the reserve provider. These findings are relevant to energy policy makers, energy planners, and energy companies. Full article
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