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The Energy Systems Catapult has launched a new modelling tool for storage and flexibility that offers “clearest ever view” of how they could help the UK decarbonise at the lowest cost.
The Storage and Flexibility Model (SFM) was built in response to the growing complexity of the energy system and to address a collective lack of knowledge over future roles for the technologies.
“As the UK energy system decarbonises, the ways we produce, transport, store and use energy will need to change, resulting in an increasing challenge to balance supply and demand,” said Alex Buckman, networks and energy storage practice manager at the Energy Systems Catapult (ESC).
“This will lead to a changing role for storage and competing flexibility technologies.”
He continued: “Without a deeper understanding of how these technologies could help in balancing energy networks, we will at best end up with a system that costs more than it needs to and at worst one that fails to manage supply and demand.
“The Storage and Flexibility Model fills a crucial space in the current energy system modelling landscape, enabling us to see more clearly than ever how energy storage and flexibility could help the UK transition to net zero.”
The model, which was commissioned by the Energy Technologies Institute and developed by Baringa, can represent future scenarios at a second-by-second level, looking across multiple seasons, vectors, network levels and geographic regions.
Buckman said its insights will be valuable for a number of purposes, including long-term capacity planning, assessing the value of specific storage technologies and identifying future service requirements.
Initial runs have suggested that the lowest-cost energy system in 2050 is likely to require significantly more electric and thermal energy storage than was previously thought.
To achieve just an 80 per cent in greenhouse gas emissions compared to 1990 levels, the UK would require 1,400GWh of storage – the equivalent of 125 Dinorwig pumped hydro plants. ESC said this is 55 per cent higher than prior estimates.
The model has also indicated that the requirement will be even greater if carbon capture and storage is unavailable, prompting deeper electrification of heating, transport and hydrogen production.
However, ESC cautioned that the findings need further investigation and said it plans to run the model again to meet the government’s new target of lowering emissions to net zero by 2050.
Access to the model is being offered to any organisation working in the sector, whether a government department, network operator or technology developer.
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