Simulation of an integrated planning of power and gas distribution grids considering power-to-gas...

Full presentation title: Simulation of an integrated planning of power and gas distribution grids considering power-to-gas and gas-to-power units.

The integration of renewable energy sources (RES) causes an increasing complexity of the energy system (ES). The high feed-in volatility and limited predictability of the generation of power from RES are considered key reasons. In order to meet the energy demand at all times without reducing the current security of energy supply, the ES must be able to respond flexibly to variable power generation and load requirements. Several preliminary studies suggest that connecting the energy infrastructures for power and gas seems a promising approach. The gas infrastructure can be used to store and generate power for short to long term using Power-to-Gas (PtG) and Gas-to-Power (GtP) systems. Thus, coupling of these infrastructures and assets can be considered a great enabler for the integration of RES into the existing ES. However, the coupling of the power and gas grids also leads to bidirectional effects, which should not be neglected in the planning to ensure compliance with operating limits and regulations in both grids.

In the planning of power and gas grids, the main objective is to supply the end consumer with energy as economical, technically reliable and environmentally friendly as possible. From an economic point of view, the planning of energy distribution grids focuses on minimizing investment and operational costs over the planning period. The joint planning of both infrastructures - in combination with coupling systems - expands the solution space, whereby a better and overall more cost-efficient solution can be found. In addition, interactions between the infrastructures are taken into account and potential redundancies of unnecessary parallel infrastructures can be avoided. This approach aims at reducing the operational and investment costs of integrated power and gas infrastructures.

This paper presents an integrated planning concept within the context of a brownfield approach based on a review of existing methods for joint planning of power and gas distribution grids. Based on the literature review, an integrated planning concept has been developed. This concept considers the coupling potential during the planning, e.g. by an optimal positioning and dimensioning of PtG and combined heat and power plants. In this way, expected generation and load surpluses can be compensated locally. A local energy balance is expected to prevent excessive loads on the power distribution grid and therefore to reduce the costs for power grid expansion.

In order to demonstrate the advantages of the developed integrated planning concept, an example of an integrated expansion planning is conducted on a power and gas distribution grid test model. PSS®SINCAL is used for the power grid and STANET® for the gas grid simulation. The python-based docking container for the simulation of STANET models has been originally developed at the DVGW Research Centre with the support of the software developer. The combined simulation allows the analysis of the interaction between the grids caused by PtG- and GtP-technologies. Technical and economic aspects of the results are compared to the conventional and individual planning of the power and gas grids.