Academic articles

Due to the transition towards a sustainable energy supply, many electricity generation systems are faced with great challenges worldwide. Highly volatile renewable energy sources play an important role in the future electricity generation mix and should help compensate the phase-out of nuclear power in countries such as Germany. Simulation-based energy system analysis can support the conversion into a sustainable future energy system and are intended to find risks and miscalculations. In this paper we present main components of the electricity generation system models. We use a hybrid simulation approach with system dynamics and discrete event modules. This modular design allows quick model adoptions for different scenarios. Simulation results show the development of the future annual electricity balance, CO2 emission balance, electricty imports and exports, and the wholesale price of electricity.

The electrical system is undergoing a profound change of state, which will lead to what is being called the smart grid. The necessity of a complex system approach to cope with ongoing changes is presented: combining a systemic approach based on complexity science with the classical views of electrical grids is important for an understanding the behavior of the future grid. Key issues like different layers and inter-layer devices, as well as subsystems are discussed and proposed as a base to create an agent-based system model to run simulations.

With eyes focused on simulation the authors review some of the main topics of Hybrid Renewable Energy Systems (HRES). Then they describe an Object Oriented model of a simple example of one of such systems, a micro-grid, oriented to designing a decentralized Supervisor Control. The model has been implemented using AnyLogic.

With eyes focused on simulation we review some of the main topics of Hybrid Renewable Energy Systems (HRES). Then we describe an Agent Based model of a simple example of one of such systems, a micro-grid, oriented to designing a decentralized Supervisor Control. The model has been implemented using AnyLogic.

The structure and behavior of Electrical Grids share many of the properties of Complex Computer Systems, with microgrids and other decentralized electrical systems attached to them, so they can be interpreted as Systems of Systems. Furthermore, the evolution of the future electrical system will bring a higher degree of decentralization concerning specially production and control. To deal with this paradigm change, new models and tools are necessary. In this paper a model of an electrical microgrid is presented.

Unlike fossil-fueled generation, solar energy resources are geographically distributed and highly intermittent, which makes their direct control difficult and requires storage units. The goal of this research is to develop a flexible capacity planning tool, which will allow us to obtain a most economical mixture of capacities from solar generation as well as storage while meeting reliability requirements against fluctuating demand and weather conditions. The tool is based on hybrid (system dynamics and agent-based models) simulation and meta-heuristic optimization.

The share of renewable energy sources in energy production is growing steadily. Domestic homes can be equipped with solar panels, micro combined heat and power systems, batteries, and they can become adaptive consumers. They can also deliver energy to the grid and react to the energy supply. This paper presents a hybrid simulation approach for the analysis of a grid of domestic homes equipped with different technological options with respect to efficiency and costs. For energy storage and energy flows the system dynamics modeling paradigm is used whereas control decisions are modeled as statecharts. The highly intermittent solar irradiation and also the electric power and heat demands are implemented as stochastic models. The component-based design allows for quick creation of new case studies. As examples, different homes with batteries, micro combined heat and power systems, or energy carrier carbazole as energy storage are analyzed