Modeling and planning of the electricity energy system with a high share of renewable supply for Portugal

João Graça Gomes, José Medeiros Pinto, Huijin Xu, Changying Zhao and Haslenda Hashim

Energy, 2020, vol. 211, issue C

Abstract: The electrical supply system of Mainland Portugal is primarily responsible for 25% of the country’s CO2 emissions. The principal reason for these high CO2 emissions is the significant dependence on coal power plants, which account for approximately 30% of the overall electricity generation. In 2018, to ensure CO2 emissions reduction, the Portuguese Government presented the “National Renewable Energy Action Plan for 2030”, a strategic proposal for the sustainable development of the Portuguese economy through the decommissioning of fossil power plants. This study presents, on the Portuguese mainland scale, electricity system technical solutions for achieving CO2 emissions reduction, using the guidelines of the Portuguese Government plans for the upcoming decades, and a high share of renewable energy supply. The technical solutions were achieved using an hourly electricity balance via the EnergyPLAN software. The study also identifies the minimal load capacity value of thermal power plants required to maintain the security levels of the Portuguese electrical system and highlights the importance of pumping hydropower plants for the integration of variable renewable electricity sources.

Keywords: Energy planning; Renewables; Electricity system; Low carbon; Optimization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544220318211
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:energy:v:211:y:2020:i:c:s0360544220318211

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2020.118713

Access Statistics for this article

Energy is currently edited by Henrik Lund and Mark J. Kaiser

More articles in Energy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().