(760d) Synthesis of Renewable Energy Supply Networks Considering  Different Frequencies of Fluctuations in Supply and Demand

The demand for and dependency on fossil resources, coupled with growing environmental consciousness and new economic opportunities and developing/utilising clean and renewable energy sources on a larger scale, are among the major challenges and priorities of our society. In 2015 at least 164 countries had renewable energy targets, and most also had renewable energy support policies (Sawin et al., 2015). Among the most promising technologies to help achieve these goals are those using solar irradiance, wind and biomass (Davis and Martín, 2014).

In this study, a biorefinery supply network integrating wind and solar energy (Ä?uček et al., 2015), involving several biomass and waste sources for the production of biofuels and food (Ä?uček et al., 2014), is further extended by: i) applying more detailed models for wind and solar energy with more realistic data, and ii) better accounting for intermittent renewable energy sources, especially of wind and solar energy, and electricity demands. The dynamic model corresponds to a multi-period model, and considers different frequencies in supply and demand. In those cases where there is a more pronounced dynamic, the time interval selected is shorter. For supply and demand with longer-term fluctuations, the time interval is longer. Different time periods are applied leading to supply network models with a large number of variables and constraints, and to long computational times. For biomass and biofuels the time periods are longer, while for solar, wind and electricity consumption, the time intervals are shorter.

The proposed model is demonstrated on a case study of a relatively small region in Europe. Several scenarios are considered regarding possible percentage share of renewables in the future energy mix, preferably reaching 100% of renewable energy systems. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis is performed regarding the availability of energy sources, demand, and prices of biomass, energy technologies and products.

Acknowledgement

The authors acknowledge the financial support of the Slovenian Research Agency (programs P2-0032 and P2-0377), from a bilateral project between Slovenia and the United States entitled â??Development of Methodology for the Synthesis of (Bio)chemical Supply Chains,â? from the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports of the Republic of Croatia and the EC under project CARBEN (NEWFELPRO Grant Agreement No. 39), and from a bilateral project between Slovenia and Croatia entitled SLOCRORES, â??Planning of 100% RES communities by use and combination of Total Site Integration and Renewislands methodologies.â?

References

Ä?uček, L., Martín, M., Grossmann, I.E., Kravanja, Z., 2014. Multi-period Synthesis of Optimally-Integrated Biomass and Bioenergy Supply Network. Computers and Chemical Engineering 66, 57-70.

Ä?uček, L., Martín, M., Kravanja, Z., 2015. Integration of Wind and Solar Energy within Continental Biorefinery Supply Network. Proceedings of 2015 AIChE Annual Meeting, November 8 â?? 13, 2015, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.

Davis, W., Martín, M., 2014. Optimal year-round operation for methane production from CO₂and water using wind and/or solar energy. Journal of Cleaner Production 80, 252-261.

Sawin, J.L., Sverrisson, F., Rickerson, W., Lins, C., Musolino, E., Petrichenko, K., Rickerson, W., Sawin, J., L., Seyboth, K., Skeen, J., Sovacool, B., Williamson, L.E., 2015. Renewables 2015 - Global status report, Key findings 2015, Paris, France.