CORDIS

The European targets for renewable energy integration, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and energy efficiency require important changes in the energy system. With the increased share of renewable energy sources, the electricity system is expected to be exposed to new or increased risks, for instance in terms of security of the electricity supply, congestion, system stability, curtailments, difficulty to meet the demand at some periods of time. To face this evolution, there is a growing need for more flexibility and more active involvement of all the stakeholders at all levels (from distribution to pan-European) to ensure an efficient and reliable operation of the electricity system. Enhanced synergies between different energy carriers appear now as one of the possible means to provide flexibility to the electricity system but also to drive efficiency and business innovation in the energy sector.

The MAGNITUDE H2020 project aims to develop business and market mechanisms as well as supporting coordination tools to provide flexibility to the European electricity system, by increasing and optimizing synergies between electricity, gas and heat/cooling systems. MAGNITUDE will ultimately:
- Provide flexibility options to support the cost-effective integration of variable Renewable Energy Sources (RES) and to enhance security of supply.
- Bring under a common framework, technical solutions, market design and business models.
- Contribute to the ongoing policy discussions in the energy field.

The project approach is based on the following main activities:
- Select the most relevant flexibility services towards the electricity system that could be provided by multi-energy systems, which allow to increase the share of RES and enhance security of supply.
- Study the actual flexibility options that sector-coupling technologies and systems can provide to the electricity sector.
- Simulate and optimize control strategies to improve the operations of such technology systems to maximize flexibility provision.
- Propose innovative market designs for synergies maximization that will be modelled in a market simulation platform.
- Quantify the benefit of pooling flexibilities from decentralized multi-energy systems through an aggregation platform.
- Exploit the achieved results by developing policy strategy, recommendations and related considerations for feasibly increasing synergies between networks in representative EU countries.
The project results will be validated on seven real life case studies of multi-energy systems of different sizes and technological features, located in seven European countries (Austria, Denmark, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, and Great Britain).

MAGNITUDE started in October 2017. In the first period, the following results have been achieved.

The project concepts have been consolidated and the MAGNITUDE high level conceptual architecture has been formalised. Its main components and their interactions have been identified and are being described, namely the interactions between (i) aggregation platform and electricity markets, (ii) Multi-Energy Systems (MES) and aggregation platform, (iii) MES and other stakeholders.

Based on the analysis of the electricity system needs, the most relevant services to be provided by MES to the electricity system have been selected. The existing market mechanisms for their procurement have been characterized and compared in the 7 case study countries, as well as aspects of the gas and heat sectors relevant to the provision of the selected services by MES.

Based on two main market dimensions, i.e. multi-carrier market integration (combination of single and/or multi-carrier markets) and locality of these markets (consideration of local and/or global markets), five multi-carrier market schemes have been identified and analyzed in terms of their scope, advantages and disadvantages.

The seven real-life case studies have been described in detail and the technologies for energy production, conversion, storage and distribution found in each of them have been characterized in terms of their main flexibility capabilities, according to a certain number of key parameters (e.g. power-ranges, start-up times, ramp rates, etc.). This has allowed to assess the capability of these technologies and of the 7 case studies to provide the selected services.

A methodology has been defined for the modelling, simulation and optimization of the multi-energy systems (both at technology and system levels), along with the main specifications of the tools to be developed. The modelling and simulation of the 7 real-life case studies have started.

The architecture of the multi energy aggregation platform has been defined. The required functionalities and the relevant tools have been described, as well as the interactions between these tools. The development of the tools for market price forecasting, and for optimized allocation of flexibility and bidding on power markets have started.

Finally, the most relevant set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) have been selected to assess the performance of the activities carried out in MAGNITUDE with respect to the project targets and expected benefits. The method and the formulas to evaluate each of them have been defined.

MAGNITUDE aims to demonstrate that multi energy systems have a great potential for the provision of flexibility to electricity systems. The project is expected to bring major advances in the following fields.

1. The design and operation of multi energy systems by developing technological fact-sheets, which can inform the wider community of the flexibility capabilities to be expected from different multi energy technologies and combinations. MAGNITUDE will also provide tools for the optimized operation of multi energy systems and the maximisation of flexibility provision. The project is expected to foster innovation in local energy system design and stimulate closer collaborations among the heating, gas and electricity sectors.

2. The market design and business models as the project will provide market and regulatory options, based on a transnational perspective, to enable multi energy systems participation in the markets. Through its results, MAGNITUDE will provide insights to the ongoing discussions to shape the European energy markets. The project will contribute to the creation of business opportunities and business models for MES actors including electricity, heating and gas generation and network assets operators, energy suppliers, aggregators, as well as customers. It will identify barriers to the participation of flexibility providers in the market and develop solutions and recommendations.
In particular, MAGNITUDE will address the specific role of the aggregator in different national markets and will provide adapted software solutions.

3. The societal and environmental aspects as the project will both contribute to meeting climate and energy targets at a European level, and to stimulate new economic and social benefits at different levels. The project will contribute to increase the share of RES while ensuring the quality and security of supply in the electricity system. Increased flexibility and multi energy carrier integration will allow to smooth energy consumption, reduce peak load and offset the need for additional power generation. Therefore, it will contribute to reducing the environmental footprint and the greenhouse gas emissions.