Storage demand and system costs of energy supply for energy self-sufficient regions and energetic quarters

With the shift of the energy supply to renewable energy, the concept of so-called energy regions was established. Those are regions, which focus on a substantive development of renewable energy within their region and an independence from fossil fuels. In this context, a self-sufficient energy supply plays a major role. However, calculations of self-sufficiency are mostly based on pure mathematics by balancing annual generation and consumption. They therefore do not consider the fluctuating profile of photovoltaic and wind energy, which are considered the fundament of renewable energy supply.

With this PhD project, Caroline Moeller is building a bridge between abstract and actual autarky. On the example of the region Osnabrück-Steinfurt and by applying energy system modeling questions concerning real autarky through the development of renewable energy, she addresses system costs, storage demand, and synergy effects resulting from system size changes.

A special focus is on transferring these factors to the community level, as the subject of autarky is promoted on the community level by several pilot projects and business models while on the regional level, it is often criticized. Advantages of synergies by combining several households are already established on the community level, the system size, however, is considerably smaller than the regional one. The objective of this research project is to analyze both system levels from a techno-economic viewpoint by using model calculations and consequently evaluating their relationship.

For simulations, the modeling library oemof (open energy system modelling framework) will be used and further developed.

The PhD project is supervised by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Sandra Rosenberger at Hochschule Osnabrück and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Martin Faulstich at Technische Universität Clausthal.