{"title":"Technology readiness level and round trip efficiency of large-scale advanced compressed air energy storage","authors":"Alberto Boretti","doi":"10.1016/j.tej.2024.107369","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tej.2024.107369","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The British Royal Society has recently recognized that achieving net zero emissions requires a substantial amount of energy storage in the United Kingdom by 2050, totaling about 200 TWh, to address the intermittent nature of wind and solar energy production, spanning from seconds to seasonal variations. While their assessment acknowledges that hydrogen should play a predominant role in this storage, it also highlights exceptionally high technology readiness level (TRL) and round-trip efficiency that is attributed to large-scale advanced compressed air energy storage (ACAES), which is viewed as a formidable contender. However, in this discussion, we argue that these values may be somewhat exaggerated. While ACAES certainly offers potential advantages, it also confronts a multitude of challenges, particularly when it comes to extensive, large-scale implementation.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":35642,"journal":{"name":"Electricity Journal","volume":"37 2","pages":"Article 107369"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139709306","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Investigating factors to promote energy: Socio-political barriers to renewable energy sector in India","authors":"Rafael Clemente Brito Cedeno, Jiuchang Wei","doi":"10.1016/j.tej.2024.107366","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tej.2024.107366","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The urgent shift towards renewable energy sources in response to climate change highlights the necessity of thoroughly examining the obstacles that impede the progress of cleaner energy efforts. This study examines the socio-political barriers that hinder the expansion of the renewable energy industry in India, a nation facing the dual challenges of rapid economic growth and environmental preservation. Amidst increasing global apprehensions regarding the environment, this study employs a comprehensive analysis encompassing ANOVA, correlation, and regression to identify crucial aspects influencing the advancement of renewable energy in India. While previous studies have recognized financial limitations such as brief loan durations and significant capital expenses as substantial obstacles, our research explores the intricate interaction of several elements in greater detail. The key findings reveal substantial variations across the groups examined, providing insight into the differing degrees of awareness and concern surrounding renewable energy. Remarkably, limited connections arise between crucial factors such as awareness of renewable energy, care for the environment, and government energy policy. The regression analysis highlights the insufficiency of the variable \"Development of renewable energy in India\" in accurately predicting the dependent variable, thus indicating the presence of other relevant factors. India's present renewable energy capacity is only 18%, with hydro energy contributing 14%. Our research highlights the need for specific actions to address this issue. The study continues by recommending incorporating scholarly knowledge into policy development to encourage investor attraction and promote the widespread acceptance of cleaner and renewable energy solutions at both national and international levels. This research provides a detailed and insightful viewpoint to the ongoing discussion, highlighting the crucial influence of socio-political factors in determining the future direction of India's renewable energy sector.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":35642,"journal":{"name":"Electricity Journal","volume":"37 2","pages":"Article 107366"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139709304","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Hannu Huuki , Enni Ruokamo , Maria Kopsakangas-Savolainen , Nadezda Belonogova , Araavind Sridhar , Samuli Honkapuro
{"title":"House and socio-demographic features vs. electricity consumption time series in main heating mode classification","authors":"Hannu Huuki , Enni Ruokamo , Maria Kopsakangas-Savolainen , Nadezda Belonogova , Araavind Sridhar , Samuli Honkapuro","doi":"10.1016/j.tej.2024.107373","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tej.2024.107373","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Demand-side flexibility is crucial for integrating variable renewable energy sources cost-effectively. Home heating systems determine the potential for flexibility in individual households. We examine different approaches to classify heating systems in Finland and find that using hourly electricity consumption time series is more effective than house and socio-demographic features. Classification based on electricity consumption data achieves higher precision (0.62) and recall (0.64) than house and socio-demographic features (0.41 and 0.43, respectively). Therefore, the availability of electricity consumption time series data should be considered from a competition policy perspective due to its value in estimating flexibility potential.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":35642,"journal":{"name":"Electricity Journal","volume":"37 2","pages":"Article 107373"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1040619024000083/pdfft?md5=bcd4c44b1ff564c71955b4c400aa4263&pid=1-s2.0-S1040619024000083-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139709305","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Transformer based approach to electricity load forecasting","authors":"Jun Wei Chan , Chai Kiat Yeo","doi":"10.1016/j.tej.2024.107370","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tej.2024.107370","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>In natural language processing (NLP), transformer based models have surpassed recurrent neural networks (RNN) as state of the art, being introduced specifically to address the limitations of RNNs originating from its sequential nature. As a similar sequence modeling problem, transformer methods can be readily adapted for deep learning time series prediction. This paper proposes a sparse transformer based approach for electricity load prediction. The layers of a transformer addresses the shortcomings of RNNs and CNNs by applying the attention mechanism on the entire time series, allowing any data point in the input to influence any location in the output of the layer. This allows transformers to incorporate information from the entire sequence in a single layer. Attention computations can also be parallelized. Thus, transformers can achieve faster speeds, or trade this speed for more layers and increased complexity. In experiments on public datasets, the sparse transformer attained comparable accuracy to an RNN-based SOTA method (Liu et al., 2022) while being up to 5× faster during inference. Moreover, the proposed model is general enough to forecast the load from individual households to city levels as shown in the extensive experiments conducted.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":35642,"journal":{"name":"Electricity Journal","volume":"37 2","pages":"Article 107370"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139699518","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jeffrey A. Adams , Sanya Carley , David M. Konisky
{"title":"Utility assistance and pricing structures for energy impoverished households: A review of the literature","authors":"Jeffrey A. Adams , Sanya Carley , David M. Konisky","doi":"10.1016/j.tej.2024.107368","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tej.2024.107368","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>When households face conditions of energy insecurity, they may qualify and receive assistance from the federal government through the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) program. This program, however, has traditionally been underfunded, leaving a large percentage of potentially eligible households without assistance. Even households that do receive assistance may still have excessive utility bills and energy burden and need other supports that help them address these conditions. Utilities and state utility commissions frequently offer complementary programs through bill assistance, bill adjustments, and debt forgiveness. This review article synthesizes the literature on alternative rate and pricing structures and arrearage management meant to provide energy insecure households in the United States with relief from utility bills and accumulated utility bill debt. We identify beneficial strategies for program design to complement LIHEAP in mitigating energy burdens, as well as how application may lead to unintended and potentially negative consequences. We evaluate these programs along several dimensions to characterize their benefits and drawbacks, including how they address key criteria toward alleviation of energy insecurity. We conclude with a discussion of potential future research topics that can advance our understanding of program design and use for utility bill and debt relief.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":35642,"journal":{"name":"Electricity Journal","volume":"37 2","pages":"Article 107368"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139674755","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Congestion unpriced: Inefficiency and gaming in Ontario’s two-schedule electricity market design","authors":"David M. Brown","doi":"10.1016/j.tej.2023.107352","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tej.2023.107352","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This paper uses simple electricity market models to demonstrate the workings of, and problems with, Ontario’s zonal price/two-schedule electricity market design. The roles played by zonal prices, Shadow LMP prices, and out-of-market congestion payments are explained. This market design is compared and contrasted to the much better-known single-schedule designs with LMP pricing<span> used in neighboring U.S. markets. The ways in which congestion payments can, and have been, gamed is highlighted and shown to be special cases of counter-trading \"inc-dec games\". The bizarre outcomes for interjurisdictional trading arising from Ontario’s use of congestion pricing on its interties combined with uniform pricing on the internal grid are demonstrated. Some gaming problems identified in other markets are reviewed compared to Ontario’s situation. Finally, the paper recaps the system operator’s efforts to remedy the various problems with the market while preparing a fundamental redesign.</span></p></div>","PeriodicalId":35642,"journal":{"name":"Electricity Journal","volume":"37 1","pages":"Article 107352"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139100869","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Hugh Daigle , Joshua D. Rhodes , Aidan Pyrcz , Michael E. Webber
{"title":"Ensuring reliability: What is the optimal time for power plant maintenance in Texas as the climate changes?","authors":"Hugh Daigle , Joshua D. Rhodes , Aidan Pyrcz , Michael E. Webber","doi":"10.1016/j.tej.2023.107365","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tej.2023.107365","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>We analyzed data for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) to assess shoulder seasons – that is, the 45 days of lowest total energy use and peak demand in the spring and fall typically used for power plant maintenance – and whether their occurrence has changed over time. Over the period 1996–2022, the shoulder seasons never started earlier than late March nor later than mid-October, corresponding well with the minimum of total degree days. In the temperature record 1959–2022, the minimum in degree days in the spring moved earlier, from early March to early February, and in the fall moved later, from early to mid-November. Warming temperatures might cause these minima in degree days to merge into a single annual minimum in December or January by the mid‐2040s, a time when there is a non-trivial risk of 1-day record energy use and peak demand from winter storms.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":35642,"journal":{"name":"Electricity Journal","volume":"37 1","pages":"Article 107365"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139100871","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The role of decentralised flexibility options for managing transmission grid congestions in Germany","authors":"Dierk Bauknecht , Franziska Flachsbarth , Matthias Koch , Moritz Vogel","doi":"10.1016/j.tej.2023.107363","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tej.2023.107363","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p><span>Decentralised flexibility options connected to the distribution grid can be used for congestion management in the transmission grid. Their potential contribution for the transmission grid in </span>Germany is investigated in a scenario analysis for the years 2030, 2040 and 2050.</p><p>The model-based evaluation shows that until 2050, cumulative grid congestion increases significantly, which indicates that there is a significant need for grid expansion. Decentralised flexibility options can reduce the cumulative grid congestion of the transmission grid by around 15% in 2030 to around 10% in 2050 if decentralised flexibility options are operated not just in line with the power market, but also with a view to transmission grid requirements. In absolute terms, the benefit of the decentralised flexibility options increases over time.</p><p>However, decentralised flexibility options are only suitable in a few cases to fully resolve grid congestions on a certain power line which indicates that grid extension might still be necessary, especially in the long term. Yet decentralised flexibility can still have effects on operational grid management (short-term perspective) and grid expansion needs (medium- and long-term perspective). Therefore, creating a suitable policy framework for the use of decentralised flexibilities is a contribution to achieving climate protection goals.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":35642,"journal":{"name":"Electricity Journal","volume":"37 1","pages":"Article 107363"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139100870","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Reform of the European electricity market: Should we prefer a price based on a weighted average of marginal costs with cross-subsidies?","authors":"Jacques Percebois , Stanislas Pommeret","doi":"10.1016/j.tej.2023.107364","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tej.2023.107364","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>On the wholesale electricity market, the equilibrium price is set each hour on the basis of the marginal cost of the last power plant called, which is a gas-fired power plant a large part of the time in Europe. The surge in gas prices since the end of 2021 therefore largely explains the rise in the price of electricity. This paper analyses the reform projects proposed within the European Union to curb this surge in wholesale prices. It proposes then to reform the system by opting for pricing based on the weighted average hourly marginal costs, with financial compensation for power plants whose marginal cost is higher than this average. The quantitative study is conducted over the period January 1, 2020 through December 31, 2022 using ENTSOE hourly data. By implementing a compensation framework founded on average marginal costs, the market price experiences a significant decline, resulting in typically negative residual profits. Consequently, the fixed costs associated with the power plant fleet necessitate funding through the capacity market. This approach would enable French electricity consumers to align their payments with the structure of the national electricity fleet, specifically reflecting the average costs of power stations characterized by substantial fixed costs, such as nuclear facilities. The adoption of this proposed system is poised to expedite the energy transition toward a low-carbon economy.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":35642,"journal":{"name":"Electricity Journal","volume":"37 1","pages":"Article 107364"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139100737","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Buyinza Faisal , Jakob Kapeller , Senono Vicent , Amber Ahmed
{"title":"Differential impacts of electricity access on educational outcomes: Evidence from Uganda","authors":"Buyinza Faisal , Jakob Kapeller , Senono Vicent , Amber Ahmed","doi":"10.1016/j.tej.2023.107362","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tej.2023.107362","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>We investigate the differential impact of electricity access on educational outcomes in Uganda using the Uganda National Panel Survey data and employ instrumental panel probit<span> techniques. The findings indicate that reliable electricity is associated with high school enrolment and completion. Also, the results show that education level of household head, marital status, gender, and good housing conditions are associated with better education outcomes. Our results provide evidence for designing supportive policies for increased access to reliable electricity especially among rural households where there are high disproportionately lower education outcomes. Also, the results suggest that policies to eliminate all barriers to reliable electricity access can greatly enhance educational outcomes in Uganda.</span></p></div>","PeriodicalId":35642,"journal":{"name":"Electricity Journal","volume":"37 1","pages":"Article 107362"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139107864","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}