Mitigating Technology Raw Material Supply Risks in Energy System Planning: A Multi-Objective Approach

Kurzfassung

The development of resilient future energy systems requires consideration of various factors. One key aspect is the current and future availability of raw materials for the energy production and storage technologies. To address this, we introduce an approach that integrates the minimization of raw material supply criticality into an energy system optimization model, alongside traditional cost minimization. Thus, we consider three key dimensions: system cost, geopolitical criticality, and market-based criticality. A multi-objective optimization framework is used to observe trade-offs between our 3-dimensions of interest. We examine the technology mix in a continental Europe energy system network over a transformation pathway until 2050. However, this ambitious scope combined with the solving difficulty introduced by the multi-objective framework poses significant computational challenges. We delve into these challenges, providing a deeper understanding of the solver numerical issues and their impact on the computation of Pareto-optimal solutions. Our preliminary results reveal that prioritizing supply criticality over cost leads to a shift in the capacity expansion of renewable power generators and storage technologies, highlighting the importance of considering raw material supply risks in energy system planning.