The Potential Role of Flexibility During Peak Hours on Greenhouse Gas Emissions: A Life Cycle Assessment of Five Targeted National Electricity Grid Mixes

Ingrid Munné-Collado, Fabio Maria Aprà, Pol Olivella-Rosell and Roberto Villafáfila-Robles
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Ingrid Munné-Collado: Centre d’Innovació Tecnològica en Convertidors Estàtics i Accionaments (CITCEA-UPC), Departament d’Enginyeria Elèctrica. ETS d’Enginyeria Industrial de Barcelona, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Avinguda Diagonal, 647, Pl.2, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
Fabio Maria Aprà: Centre d’Innovació Tecnològica en Convertidors Estàtics i Accionaments (CITCEA-UPC), Departament d’Enginyeria Elèctrica. ETS d’Enginyeria Industrial de Barcelona, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Avinguda Diagonal, 647, Pl.2, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
Pol Olivella-Rosell: Centre d’Innovació Tecnològica en Convertidors Estàtics i Accionaments (CITCEA-UPC), Departament d’Enginyeria Elèctrica. ETS d’Enginyeria Industrial de Barcelona, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Avinguda Diagonal, 647, Pl.2, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
Roberto Villafáfila-Robles: Centre d’Innovació Tecnològica en Convertidors Estàtics i Accionaments (CITCEA-UPC), Departament d’Enginyeria Elèctrica. ETS d’Enginyeria Industrial de Barcelona, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Avinguda Diagonal, 647, Pl.2, 08028 Barcelona, Spain

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 23, 1-22

Abstract: On the path towards the decarbonization of the electricity supply, flexibility and demand response have become key factors to enhance the integration of distributed energy resources, shifting the consumption from peak hours to off-peak hours, optimizing the grid usage and maximizing the share of renewables. Despite the technical viability of flexible services, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions has not been proven. Traditionally, emissions are calculated on a yearly average timescale, not providing any information about peak hours’ environmental impact. Furthermore, peak-hours’ environmental impacts are not always greater than on the base load, depending on the resources used for those time periods. This paper formulates a general methodology to assess the potential environmental impact of peak-hourly generation profiles, through attributional life cycle assessment. This methodology was applied to five different countries under the INVADE H2020 Project. Evaluation results demonstrate that countries like Spain and Bulgaria could benefit from implementing demand response activities considering environmental aspects, enhancing potential greenhouse gas reductions by up to 21% in peak hours.

Keywords: life cycle assessment; greenhouse gas emissions; demand response; global warming potential; peak hours; flexibility (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 (8)

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