Assessing the Flexibility Potential of Industrial Heat–Electricity Sector Coupling through High-Temperature Heat Pumps: The Case Study of Belgium

Chiara Magni, Robbe Peeters, Sylvain Quoilin () and Alessia Arteconi ()
Additional contact information
Chiara Magni: Department of Mechanical Engineering, KU Leuven, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium
Robbe Peeters: Department of Mechanical Engineering, KU Leuven, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium
Sylvain Quoilin: Integrated and Sustainable Energy Systems (ISES) Research Unit, University of Liège, B-4000 Liège, Belgium
Alessia Arteconi: Department of Mechanical Engineering, KU Leuven, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium

Energies, 2024, vol. 17, issue 2, 1-14

Abstract: Thermal processes represent a significant fraction of industrial energy consumptions, and they rely mainly on fossil fuels. Thanks to technological innovation, highly efficient devices such as high-temperature heat pumps are becoming a promising solution for the electrification of industrial heat. These technologies allow for recovering waste heat sources and upgrading them at temperatures up to 200 °C. Moreover, the coupling of these devices with thermal storage units can unlock the flexibility potential deriving from the industrial sector electrification by means of Demand-Side Management strategies. The aim of this paper is to quantify the impact on the energy system due to the integration of industrial high-temperature heat pumps and thermal storage units by means of a detailed demand–supply model. To do that, the industrial heat demand is investigated through a set of thermal process archetypes. High-temperature heat pumps and thermal storage units for industrial use are included in the open-source unit commitment and optimal dispatch model Dispa-SET used for the representation of the energy system. The case study analyzed is Belgium, and the analysis is performed for different renewable penetration scenarios in 2040 and 2050. The results demonstrate the importance of a proper sizing of the heat pump and thermal storage capacity. Furthermore, it is obtained that the electrification of the thermal demand of industrial processes improves the environmental impact (84% reduction in CO 2 emissions), but the positive effect of the energy flexibility provided by the heat pumps is appreciated only in the presence of a very high penetration of renewable energy sources.

Keywords: high-temperature heat pumps; energy flexibility; electrification; RES curtailment (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: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/2/541/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/2/541/ (text/html)

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:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:2:p:541-:d:1324228

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().