Assessment of the thermal energy flexibility of residential buildings with heat pumps under various electric tariff designs

Eric John Wilczynski; Jonathan Chambers; Martin K. Patel; Ernst Worrell; Simon Pezzutto

doi:10.1016/j.enbuild.2023.113257

Assessment of the thermal energy flexibility of residential buildings with heat pumps under various electric tariff designs

Eric John Wilczynski^*
, Jonathan Chambers
, Martin K. Patel
, Ernst Worrell
, Simon Pezzutto

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

With the electrification of the heating sector in Europe, there is increased pressure to reduce stress to the electric grid from increased demand. Understanding the flexibility potential of the current building stock, including both efficient buildings as well as less efficient buildings, will be vital to assess the efficacy of demand-side strategies such as time-varying pricing in enabling shifts in consumer heat demand. The aim of this study is to assess the thermal flexibility potential of residential buildings with electric heating under different tariffs, and the effect of these tariffs on heating expenditure and electricity consumption. To accomplish this, a resistance–capacitance heat demand model was integrated into a linear optimization model set to find the lowest cost heating schedule for a consumer under four different tariff designs. The results indicate that time-varying tariffs can be effective in enabling shifts in the heat consumption, although the additional cost savings due to the flexibility provided by an efficient building envelope is limited (1% to 4.65% additional reduction in cost savings). The results suggest that potential flexibility is price sensitive and a function of the alignment of price and heating demand. Measures such as capacity tariffs should be considered to avoid preheating surges.

Original language	English
Article number	113257
Number of pages	13
Journal	Energy and Buildings
Volume	294
Early online date	10 Jun 2023
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2023.113257
Publication status	Published - 1 Sept 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors would like to acknowledge the support for this research received through the European Union’s Horizon 2020 program within the project EnerMaps (grant agreement N°884161). The authors would also like to thank the Department of Innovation, Research and University of the Autonomous Province of Bozen/Bolzano for covering the Open Access publication costs. Finally, the authors also wish to thank Alejandro Pena-Bello and David Parra for their support and guidance.

Funding Information:
The authors would like to acknowledge the support for this research received through the European Union's Horizon 2020 program within the project EnerMaps (grant agreement N°884161). The authors would also like to thank the Department of Innovation, Research and University of the Autonomous Province of Bozen/Bolzano for covering the Open Access publication costs. Finally, the authors also wish to thank Alejandro Pena-Bello and David Parra for their support and guidance.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023

Funding

The authors would like to acknowledge the support for this research received through the European Union’s Horizon 2020 program within the project EnerMaps (grant agreement N°884161). The authors would also like to thank the Department of Innovation, Research and University of the Autonomous Province of Bozen/Bolzano for covering the Open Access publication costs. Finally, the authors also wish to thank Alejandro Pena-Bello and David Parra for their support and guidance. The authors would like to acknowledge the support for this research received through the European Union's Horizon 2020 program within the project EnerMaps (grant agreement N°884161). The authors would also like to thank the Department of Innovation, Research and University of the Autonomous Province of Bozen/Bolzano for covering the Open Access publication costs. Finally, the authors also wish to thank Alejandro Pena-Bello and David Parra for their support and guidance.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy

Keywords

Dynamic tariffs
Linear optimization
Resistance-capacitance model
Sector coupling
Thermal energy flexibility

Access to Document

10.1016/j.enbuild.2023.113257Licence: CC BY

1-s2.0-S0378778823004875-mainFinal published version, 5.13 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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abstract = "With the electrification of the heating sector in Europe, there is increased pressure to reduce stress to the electric grid from increased demand. Understanding the flexibility potential of the current building stock, including both efficient buildings as well as less efficient buildings, will be vital to assess the efficacy of demand-side strategies such as time-varying pricing in enabling shifts in consumer heat demand. The aim of this study is to assess the thermal flexibility potential of residential buildings with electric heating under different tariffs, and the effect of these tariffs on heating expenditure and electricity consumption. To accomplish this, a resistance–capacitance heat demand model was integrated into a linear optimization model set to find the lowest cost heating schedule for a consumer under four different tariff designs. The results indicate that time-varying tariffs can be effective in enabling shifts in the heat consumption, although the additional cost savings due to the flexibility provided by an efficient building envelope is limited (1\% to 4.65\% additional reduction in cost savings). The results suggest that potential flexibility is price sensitive and a function of the alignment of price and heating demand. Measures such as capacity tariffs should be considered to avoid preheating surges.",

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AU - Worrell, Ernst

AU - Pezzutto, Simon

N1 - Funding Information: The authors would like to acknowledge the support for this research received through the European Union’s Horizon 2020 program within the project EnerMaps (grant agreement N°884161). The authors would also like to thank the Department of Innovation, Research and University of the Autonomous Province of Bozen/Bolzano for covering the Open Access publication costs. Finally, the authors also wish to thank Alejandro Pena-Bello and David Parra for their support and guidance. Funding Information: The authors would like to acknowledge the support for this research received through the European Union's Horizon 2020 program within the project EnerMaps (grant agreement N°884161). The authors would also like to thank the Department of Innovation, Research and University of the Autonomous Province of Bozen/Bolzano for covering the Open Access publication costs. Finally, the authors also wish to thank Alejandro Pena-Bello and David Parra for their support and guidance. Publisher Copyright: © 2023

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N2 - With the electrification of the heating sector in Europe, there is increased pressure to reduce stress to the electric grid from increased demand. Understanding the flexibility potential of the current building stock, including both efficient buildings as well as less efficient buildings, will be vital to assess the efficacy of demand-side strategies such as time-varying pricing in enabling shifts in consumer heat demand. The aim of this study is to assess the thermal flexibility potential of residential buildings with electric heating under different tariffs, and the effect of these tariffs on heating expenditure and electricity consumption. To accomplish this, a resistance–capacitance heat demand model was integrated into a linear optimization model set to find the lowest cost heating schedule for a consumer under four different tariff designs. The results indicate that time-varying tariffs can be effective in enabling shifts in the heat consumption, although the additional cost savings due to the flexibility provided by an efficient building envelope is limited (1% to 4.65% additional reduction in cost savings). The results suggest that potential flexibility is price sensitive and a function of the alignment of price and heating demand. Measures such as capacity tariffs should be considered to avoid preheating surges.

AB - With the electrification of the heating sector in Europe, there is increased pressure to reduce stress to the electric grid from increased demand. Understanding the flexibility potential of the current building stock, including both efficient buildings as well as less efficient buildings, will be vital to assess the efficacy of demand-side strategies such as time-varying pricing in enabling shifts in consumer heat demand. The aim of this study is to assess the thermal flexibility potential of residential buildings with electric heating under different tariffs, and the effect of these tariffs on heating expenditure and electricity consumption. To accomplish this, a resistance–capacitance heat demand model was integrated into a linear optimization model set to find the lowest cost heating schedule for a consumer under four different tariff designs. The results indicate that time-varying tariffs can be effective in enabling shifts in the heat consumption, although the additional cost savings due to the flexibility provided by an efficient building envelope is limited (1% to 4.65% additional reduction in cost savings). The results suggest that potential flexibility is price sensitive and a function of the alignment of price and heating demand. Measures such as capacity tariffs should be considered to avoid preheating surges.

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ER -

Assessment of the thermal energy flexibility of residential buildings with heat pumps under various electric tariff designs

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

UN SDGs

Keywords

Access to Document

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