IEA ES Task 35: Flexible Sector Coupling through Energy Storage Implementation
Short Description
Achieving higher levels of intermittent renewable energy (VRE) in the power grid can cause several problems. One option to address these challenges is to distribute renewable electricity across the heating/cooling and mobility sectors, which account for approximately 75% of final energy demand.
Task 35 of the IEA Energy Storage TCP addressed Flexible Sector Coupling (FSC) through the implementation of energy storage and examined the role of energy storage in the context of the concept of sector coupling.
Energy storage increases the flexibility of the entire energy system. Possible energy storage technologies include thermal, chemical and electrical energy storage.
According to the Task 35 FSC definition, five paths are possible, which lead from renewable electricity via the three types of energy storage to the two consumption sectors of heat and mobility. The paths include well-known concepts such as power-to-heat, power-to-gas, power-to-fuel and e-mobility, see next Figure.
Figure: The three sectors and the five connecting paths, according to the Task 35 FSC definition. Source: Task 35.
In Task 35, a group of international experts in energy storage and energy systems developed the concept for FSC, collected FSC application examples, examined the benefits of FSC for multi-energy systems at the local level and conducted a national energy system analysis on the impact of FSC for Germany in 2050 as a reference case.
Recommendations for policy makers are: - A stable and integrated policy to support energy sector coupling; - Elimination of multiple energy taxes across FSC value chains; - Incentives to minimize the reduction of VRE.
Fifteen examples of FSC highlight the range of energy storage technologies - batteries, hot water storage, underground thermal energy storage, advanced heat and cold storage concepts, hydrogen storage and synthetic fuels. Remaining barriers to market integration include system integration challenges, including control integration and interface standardization, regulatory barriers, non-flexible electricity tariffs and upscaling/technical issues.
Studies conducted on local energy systems show in detail how important FSC, mainly the power-to-heat or power-to-cold path, is for the integration of renewable electricity.
To model a decarbonized German energy system in 2050, a reference energy system based on the Heat Roadmap Europe project was implemented in the EnergyPLAN software. The impact of installed energy storage capacity in five different applications (district heating, district cooling, individual heating, hydrogen and electric vehicles) on the national energy system was examined. In many cases, doubling the energy storage capacity compared to the reference system would result in both a reduction in primary energy consumption and a reduction in overall system costs. Additional application-specific benefits demonstrate the value of FSC for the energy system.
Project Images
Terms of use: The pictures listed underneath the header “Project Pictures” originate from the projects in the frame of the programmes City of Tomorrow, Building of Tomorrow and the IEA Research Cooperation. They may be used credited for non-commercial purposes under the Creative Commons License Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC).
Participants
Austria, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany (Operating Agent), Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye
Contact Address
Project leader
Wim van Helden
AEE INTEC
Feldgasse 19, 8200 Gleisdorf
E-Mail: w.vanhelden@aee.at
Project partners
Gerhard Totschnigg
AIT
E-Mail: gerhard.totschnig@ait.ac.at
Fabian Ochs
UIBK
E-Mail: fabian.ochs@uibk.ac.at