Sector Coupling in the North Sea Region—A Review on the Energy System Modelling Perspective

Md. Nasimul Islam Maruf
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Md. Nasimul Islam Maruf: Department of Energy and Environmental Management, Europa-Universität Flensburg, 24943 Flensburg, Germany

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 22, 1-35

Abstract: Sector coupling is one of the emerging topics in recent energy and climate change policy discussions. It can play a significant role in creating the pathway of a renewable-based energy system in the European energy sector. The North Sea region is very likely to play a key role in the transition to a sustainable energy system. Although different energy modelling approaches allow a versatile use, they lead to the problem of an unclear understanding of specific aspects of sector coupling, and the relevance of existing tools and techniques to model and analyze such a system. This paper is aimed at providing a comprehensive understanding of sector coupling and its incorporation in energy system models. Following a thorough literature review on sector coupling and energy system modelling, the paper outlines an approach to select an appropriate tool based on the specific rationales of the research. The paper also presents the open energy modelling framework, ‘Oemof’, as an open model tool to address the complex challenges of energy systems. The conclusions from the literature review provide a detailed understanding of the concept of sector coupling and indicate that it can be advantageous from the viewpoints of decarbonization, flexibility, network optimization, and system efficiency. To solve the coupling barriers, diversified techno-socio-economic circumstances should be taken into account through the use of model collaboration. It is also demonstrated how a list of appropriate tools for model collaboration can be picked up methodologically from an available wide range of models. Finally, ‘Oemof’ is hypothesized as a progressive tool to design a sector-coupled and renewable-based energy system in the North Sea region.

Keywords: sector coupling; energy system modelling; North Sea energy system; energy transition; open science; Oemof (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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