Can resource classes substitute spatial resolution in energy system models? A spatial scaling analysis.

Kurzfassung

While regional aggregation of areas can increase the computation speed of energy system models (ESM), this can also lead to an underestimation of the localised high quality of variable renewable energy (VRE) sources, which vary strongly depending on the site. Partly, the power transmission grid is able to level out the locality of production and consumption with energy systems spanning across regions as far as the European continent with large amount of power traded, which leads to a spatial averaging of the feed in profiles. Resource classes can subdivide VRE potentials into different quality classes of distinct feed-in profiles and potentials to compensate for the coarser resolution of the aggregated regions. This will lead to higher full load hours for the better located VRE power plants and thus lower levelised costs of electricity for those plants. This talk will examine the trade-offs between a high spatial resolution on the one hand and the accuracy of the feed in of VRE sources on the other hand. Therein the focus lies on the dispatch and expansion of the different technologies. The investigation focusses on wind resource classes, since wind speeds vary much more spatially than solar irradiance. Germany has been chosen for this investigation as its wind resource is diverse: the flatt northern parts offer high wind potentials whereas the resource quality in the south is much more dependent on the local topology.