The project focuses on carrying out an economic evaluation of large-scale storage systems in future energy systems with high shares of renewable energies. An existing energy system model will be further developed for the evaluation. This will be used to evaluate the systemic, economic and business benefits of large-scale energy storage systems (e.g. hydrogen storage systems) on the basis of a techno-economic database to be created, current and future energy policy framework conditions and a comprehensive meta-analysis.
Duration: 09.2020 - 12.2021
Funding source: BMBF Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (Federal Ministry of Education and Research)
Participating organizational units of the UL: Chair for Energy Management and Sustainability
HYPOS-Storage study: Zwanzig20 - HYPOS - Joint project storage study
Background
The HYPOS project consortium is pursuing the goal of gradually substituting the hydrogen demand that has so far been covered by fossil fuels and making electricity-based hydrogen technology economically viable on a large scale:
Short-term objective: Initially, the focus is on identifying niche markets to establish the technologies and an initial substitution of grey hydrogen in the chemical and refinery industries.
Medium-term objective: In the medium term, sales of green hydrogen are to be increased in the context of sector coupling in the mobility and electricity and heat supply markets.
Long-term objective: In the long term, green hydrogen technology is to be established as an integral part of Germany's energy and raw material supply.
The project presented here deals with the points that can be assigned to the medium and long-term objectives of the HYPOS strategy. With regard to the "large-scale storage" segment, the focus is on the question of how the transition from stage (2) to stage (3) can be successfully managed.
In terms of time, the project is to be assigned to the final phase of the Twenty20 funding. The project thus offers the opportunity to summarize the results achieved in the individual subprojects of the HYPOS initiative and to address strategic questions that point beyond the Twenty20 funding period.
The aim is to work out which boundary conditions need to be taken into account in the up-scaling of large-scale H2-based storage systems and how their market introduction and, in particular, their market ramp-up can be designed from a regulatory perspective in such a way that this results in added economic value for future energy supply systems. In particular, the strategic view of the economic significance of large-scale storage in decarbonized energy systems of the future represents a unique selling point of the proposed project.
Project objective
Analysis of the system necessity and the economic and business advantages of large-scale storage facilities for green gases in the context of the changes to be expected in the energy industry framework conditions in the future.
Design of a market design for the technology-specific promotion of large-scale H₂ storage, taking into account the competition with other flexibility options.
Approach
The Chair of Energy Management and Sustainability at the Institute for Infrastructure and Resource Management (IIRM) at the University of Leipzig is preparing a meta-study on the economically optimal use of storage facilities in the context of different energy-economic boundary conditions and different ambitious climate policy framework conditions.
Another important contribution concerns the economic evaluation of different storage concepts in future energy supply systems with high shares of renewable energies in the context of competing flexibility options (to balance the variable feed-in from renewable energies).
The IIRM's other contributions include, in particular, conducting a literature review to quantify the technological demand potential, expanding the energy economic models available there and drafting a market design for the technology-specific promotion of energy storage.
Benefits
The project results provide scientifically sound support for whether technology-specific energy policy support for the market ramp-up of large-scale storage for green gases can be justified in the context of their systemic and economic advantages and disadvantages.
