Impact of Grid-Scale Electricity Storage and Electric Vehicles on Renewable Energy Penetration: A Case Study for Italy

Sara Bellocchi, Michele Manno, Michel Noussan and Michela Vellini
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Sara Bellocchi: Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via del Politecnico 1, 00133 Rome, Italy
Michele Manno: Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via del Politecnico 1, 00133 Rome, Italy
Michel Noussan: Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei, Milan, Italy
Michela Vellini: Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via del Politecnico 1, 00133 Rome, Italy

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 7, 1-32

Abstract: Storage technologies are progressively emerging as a key measure to accommodate high shares of intermittent renewables with a view to guarantee their effective integration towards a profound decarbonisation of existing energy systems. This study aims to evaluate to what extent electricity storage can contribute to a significant renewable penetration by absorbing otherwise-curtailed renewable surplus and quantitatively defines the associated costs. Under a Smart Energy System perspective, a variety of future scenarios are defined for the Italian case based on a progressively increasing renewable and storage capacity feeding an ever-larger electrified demand mostly made up of electric vehicles and, to some extent, heat pumps and power-to-gas/liquid technologies. Results are compared in terms of crucial environmental and techno-economic indicators and discussed with respect to storage operating parameters. The outcome of this analysis reveals the remarkable role of electricity storage in increasing system flexibility and reducing, in the range 24–44%, the renewable capacity required to meet a given sustainability target. Nonetheless, such achievements become feasible only under relatively low investment and operating costs, condition that excludes electrochemical storage solutions and privileges low-cost alternatives that at present, however, exist only at a pilot or demonstration scale.

Keywords: large-scale RES; electricity storage; EnergyPLAN; smart energy systems; CO 2 emissions reduction; RES surplus (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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