Research project ERAFlex II
Effective framework conditions for cost-optimal RE expansion with complementary decentralised flexibility options in the electricity sector II
In order to be able to shape the transformation of our energy system in all its complexity in a targeted manner, various energy system and electricity market models are being developed. They are geared towards specific issues, such as security of supply, costs, grid expansion or employment aspects. However, the results of these specialised models are not congruent. For example, there are deviations between the results of optimising capacity planning models and agent-based simulation models, among other things due to different representations of the behaviour of the market actors and their uncertainties. As a result, the (theoretically optimal) costs of the energy system in one model differ from the (more realistic) costs in the other model. This difference is called the "efficiency gap". In the ERAFlex II project, this efficiency gap is to be reduced by means of a bidirectional model coupling, so that the determination of a cost minimum becomes possible on the basis of more realistic calculations.
Research project ERAFlex II | |
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Duration | March 2021 to February 2024 |
Funded by | Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action |
Project participants | - Institute of Networked Energy Systems
- University of Stuttgart - Institute of Energy Economics and Rational Energy Use
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The ERAFlex II project, funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, aims to integrate three factors in particular into energy system optimisation: Regulatory instruments, realistic market restrictions and actor-specific behaviour. This is to be realised by coupling an agent-based electricity market model. Specifically, the project participants are linking the energy market model 'E2M2' of the Institute of Energy Economics and Rational Energy Use at the University of Stuttgart and the agent-based electricity market model AMIRIS of the Institute for Networked Energy Systems.
Based on this bidirectional model coupling, ERAFlex II provides for three working steps:
- The E2M2 model determines a cost-optimal power plant park and dispatch.
- The AMIRIS model creates a set of effective and efficient policy support measures that enable the realisation of the power plant park from E2M2.
- Additional costs and deviations from AMIRIS are returned to E2M2 so that they can be considered in its next optimisation.
The steps are repeated until convergence between model coupling parameters is achieved.
At the Institute of Networked Energy Systems, the work focuses on the development of programs for automated model coupling. This includes automatically reading out the results of one model and transferring the data to the other model. Furthermore, parameters of support instruments for refinancing the power plant park are determined in AMIRIS in such a way that the costs of each power plant, including the annuities of the investments, are just covered. For this purpose, an iterative procedure is developed that searches fully automatically for a suitable set of support instrument parameters. In addition, a module for the use of competing energy storage agents is being developed in AMIRIS in order to better reflect the competition between different flexibility options on the electricity market and to be able to achieve even more realistic results in AMIRIS.
With this project, the project participants want to address the following research questions:
- How can the effects of actor behaviour and uncertainties be integrated into the modelling of capacity expansion planning? What results does such an extended modelling lead to?
- How does the theoretical optimum without restrictions differ from the newly achieved results that consider the effects of policy measures and uncertainties? Which policy instruments best achieve the optimum under which framework assumptions?
- What are the distributional effects of concrete instrumentation between the different actors?
Further information on the research project ERAFlex II:
