Formulation of unit commitment and optimal dispatch models: application to sector coupling in the European power systems

A new body of research has recently emerged in energy systems, focusing on the links between centralized and decentralized power generation, and on the interactions between different energy sectors. This research has brought new concepts such as « Smart Energy Systems », « 4th Generation district heating » or « Virtual Power plants ». In smart energy systems, the focus is on the integration of the electricity, heating, cooling, and transport sectors, and on the use of the flexibility in demands and various short-term and longer-term storage.

The first part of the seminar will focus on the mathematical formulation of optimization problems to consider these kind of interactions in power systems models, and in particular in unit commitment and optimal dispatch models.

The second part of the seminar will showcase the exploitation of such models to evaluate the impact of sector coupling in a future European energy system with high shares of renewable energy together with highly flexible and storage technologies. Results show that the contributions of individual technologies are quite diverse, but also that the combination of multiple flexibility options such as long-term hydro, short-term electric vehicles and flexible thermal is a good solution in terms CO2 emissions and system operational costs.