Tech talk | Coordinating energy infrastructure planning

Coordinating energy infrastructure planning across sectors is a necessity if all the policy and climate targets are to be met in countries and regions.

As we all know the energy system is becoming increasingly more complex both as the generation mix expands and decentralises with new vectors and the growth of small-scale supply and as sectors including transport and industry electrify.

This is giving rise to the need for significant new infrastructures at both the grid and ground levels but arguably the biggest challenge is the ‘chicken and egg’ of whether the infrastructure should precede the technology or the market or vice versa – or the ideal that they proceed hand in hand.

Examples are the emergence of electric vehicles vs that of the charging infrastructure and most recently, reported by the IEA and DNV in separate studies, of the slower than expected emergence of hydrogen.

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The answer lies in coordinated energy infrastructure planning, which is largely lacking, certainly in Europe, although some of the elements and building blocks are already developed or in development in EU Horizon-supported projects.

This is according to ETIP SNET’s working group 1 on the energy system, which has developed an approach along with a vision and roadmap that is suggested should fulfil the policy objectives and legislative requirements for Europe.

The review, Coordinated energy infrastructure – Planning for a decarbonised system, asserts that in order to create a coordinated energy infrastructure planning process, the modelling, testing and selection of developments in energy systems have to be seamlessly integrated, breaking down the traditional silos between electricity, gas, heating, cooling, transportation, water networks and telecoms/IT.

This integrated approach should foster synergy between different energy sources and enable efficient sharing of resources.

Furthermore, when looking ahead, the development of innovative technologies should be accounted for as a means of improving and integrating sectors. Failure to do so could mean inefficient resource allocation and, more importantly, jeopardising future energy goals, which could in turn result in costly stranded assets.

A step process

In practice, the introduction of a coordinated energy infrastructure planning process is likely to progress step by step, with a key near term step the design of an effective governance.

The report points out that electricity grid projects typically take 10 years to build, but sometimes with lead times of up to 20 years or even more. Gas pipeline projects, railway projects and programmes for transport electrification have similar lead times. The ten-year network development plans also have a ten-year rolling basis, providing the links that support and complement national grid development plans.

This means that for coordinated energy infrastructure planning to be effective in developing any of the energy infrastructure for a decarbonised network by 2050, the process would need to be in place by 2030.

The water-energy nexus is highlighted as a key consideration due to the interdependence of the water and energy systems, requiring a holistic understanding of the interplay between them and a coordinated approach to policy and management.

The report continues that for planning to be truly cross-sectoral, there must be modelling tools that allow each energy sector to see its influence on the other sectors.

The integration of each sector’s modelling techniques of its needs and network limitations are required to ensure any action by a sector is informed, not only of the acceptability of the impact to its own sector, but also whether the actions impact of interlinked sectors are also acceptable, reads the report.

Layered on top of this, there needs to be consolidated rules for cross sectors, for example, legislative requirements, regulatory rules, grid codes, market rules, cost-benefit analysis, etc. that would drive decisions by sector network operators in their investment and operational decisions.

Suggested actions

The report presents a suite of recommended actions for a coordinated energy infrastructure planning approach, starting with setting the direction, with the use of a planning vision and scenarios that can be used to build a more detailed and comprehensive plan.

Disruptive technologies present a particular challenge, with an unexpected emergence or failure to appear.

Moreover, one disruption can be partly addressed through another. For example, disruptive developments in generation, load and storage in the power system can partly be responded to by using disruptive developments in innovative grid technologies and digitalisation.

A single source of recognised information and a supervisory body to develop a list of disruptive technologies should be created and they should be included in all planning and scenarios.

Another action proposed is to review and adapt the existing research and development for
coordinated energy infrastructure planning models. A fully staged programme of R&D needs through to a fully 2050 decarbonised system should be implemented.

For modelling at present, software tools, methodologies and processes are restricted at best to single sector-wide analysis.

Thus there also should be immediate timely development of new coordinated infrastructure planning energy integration system modelling, tools and procedures, scenario building and sensitivities with a common modular structure.

For the interlinking of the sectors – IT, water and heating and cooling – appropriate use cases should be identified and the models, tools and procedures be provided to test them across the pan-European sector.

On the legislative front cost-benefit analysis methods should be developed for all sectors and the EC should issue guidelines along with the oversight of compliance with legislation.

Last but not least there should be rapid R&D knowledge sharing and the creation of a dedicated cross-sector platform on coordinated energy infrastructure planning best practice tools, models and procedures.

Jonathan Spencer Jones

Specialist writer
Smart Energy International

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