A novel time discretization method for solving complex multi-energy system design and operation problems with high penetration of renewable energy

Lukas Weimann, Matteo Gazzani

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Modelling and optimising modern energy systems is inherently complex and often requires methods to simplify the discretization of the temporal domain. However, most of them are either (i) not well suited for systems with a high penetration of non-dispatchable renewables or (ii) too complex to be broadly adopted. In this work, we present a novel method that fits well with high penetration of renewables and different spatial scales. Furthermore, it is framework-independent and simple to implement. We show that, compared to the full time discretization, the proposed method saves >90% computation time with <1% error in the objective function. Moreover, it outperforms commonly used methods of modelling through typical days. Its practical usefulness is demonstrated by applying it to a case study about the optimal hydrogen production from renewable energy. The increased modelling fidelity results in a significantly cheaper design and reveals operational details otherwise hidden by typical days.

Original languageEnglish
Article number107816
Pages (from-to)1-17
Number of pages17
JournalComputers & Chemical Engineering
Volume163
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jul 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
ACT ELEGANCY, Project No 271498, has received funding from DETEC (CH), FZJ/PtJ (DE), RVO (NL), Gassnova (NO), BEIS (UK), Gassco AS and Statoil Petroleum AS, and is cofunded by the European Commission under the Horizon 2020 programme, ACT Grant Agreement No 691712 .

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors

Keywords

  • MILP
  • Time discretization
  • Energy system model
  • Renewable energy
  • Optimization

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