The Role of Renewable Energies, Storage and Sector-Coupling Technologies in the German Energy Sector under Different CO 2 Emission Restrictions

Arjuna Nebel (), Julián Cantor, Sherif Salim, Amro Salih and Dixit Patel
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Arjuna Nebel: Faculty of Process Engineering, Energy and Mechanical Systems, Cologne Institute for Renewable Energy, TH Köln, 50678 Köln, Germany
Julián Cantor: Faculty of Process Engineering, Energy and Mechanical Systems, Cologne Institute for Renewable Energy, TH Köln, 50678 Köln, Germany
Sherif Salim: Faculty of Process Engineering, Energy and Mechanical Systems, Cologne Institute for Renewable Energy, TH Köln, 50678 Köln, Germany
Amro Salih: Faculty of Process Engineering, Energy and Mechanical Systems, Cologne Institute for Renewable Energy, TH Köln, 50678 Köln, Germany
Dixit Patel: Faculty of Process Engineering, Energy and Mechanical Systems, Cologne Institute for Renewable Energy, TH Köln, 50678 Köln, Germany

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 16, 1-18

Abstract: This study aimed to simulate the sector-coupled energy system of Germany in 2030 with the restriction on CO 2 emission levels and to observe how the system evolves with decreasing emissions. Moreover, the study presented an analysis of the interconnection between electricity, heat and hydrogen and how technologies providing flexibility will react when restricting CO 2 emissions levels. This investigation has not yet been carried out with the technologies under consideration in this study. It shows how the energy system behaves under different set boundaries of CO 2 emissions and how the costs and technologies change with different emission levels. The study results show that the installed capacities of renewable technologies constantly increase with higher limitations on emissions. However, their usage rates decreases with low CO 2 emission levels in response to higher curtailed energy. The sector-coupled technologies behave differently in this regard. Heat pumps show similar behaviour, while the electrolysers usage rate increases with more renewable energy penetration. The system flexibility is not primarily driven by the hydrogen sector, but in low CO 2 emission level scenarios, the flexibility shifts towards the heating sector and electrical batteries.

Keywords: sector coupling; renewable technologies; CO 2 cap; PyPSA; renewable energy penetration; multi objective optimisation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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