LocalRES was at EEM24!

Nicolás Pardo Garcia represented the Austrian Institute of Technology on behalf of LocalRES at the 20th European Energy Market Conference in Istambul, Turkey.

EEM24 focused on discussions on upcoming changes to the energy sector, regulatory policies and energy citizenship, amongst other topics. Nicolás gave a presentation on future decarbonisation scenarios in our demo site of Ispaster under the scope of the LocalRES project. These were the main conclusions:

– PV panels, batteries and biomass cogeneration are key technologies to achieve Ispaters’ goals. They also serve as blackout prevention and reduce dependence on the national grid. Electric vehicles are the main driver of future electricity demand growth.

– Under the most likely conditions, (Ref-SC) PV panels will be the main technology for electricity generation, leading to a high dependence on electricity imports during the winter period. District heating will play the main role in heat production, whereas biomass boilers, biomass combined heat and power and geothermal heat power will be the main technologies. Solar thermal can play a support role, especially during the summer.

– Blackout prevention implies an additional expansion of PV and batteries compared to the Reference Scenario. However, the additional battery capacity allows for a more effective exchange with the national grid. Flexibility measures can reduce the effective capacity of the transmission line (EI-SC) by 7%. 

– Biomass CHP is the best bet to become an energy island (IE-SC) and to deal with the electrification of the heating and transport sector. However, it needs a CHP ratio (20 kWe/60 kWth) to cover the new electricity demand. PV will play an important role in the summer period. In this context, energy storage plays a fundamental role to achieve energy balance.

– There was a 48% CO2 emission reduction (Ref-SC, IE-SC) compared to 2017 (base year). Ispaster can achieve full decarbonisation as an energy island (IE-SC)

This presentation was followed by a fruitful discussion on investment costs and what flexibility solutions may be used to face the costs associated to decarbonisation.

We look forward to the 21st edition of the EEM conference – next year in Lisbon!