Energy system modelling for studying flexibility on industrial sites

With an increasing share of non-dispatchable renewable energy sources in the European grid, energy flexibility will be key for the industrial sector to support the green transition. The EU-project Flex4Fact aims at finding solutions for energy and process flexibility for industry, using SINTEF’s open-source energy system model EnergyModelsX to quantify the potential benefits. This work presents some extensions done in EnergyModelsX, denoted as EnergyModelsFlex, to accommodate energy and industrial flexibility, adding new functionalities to assist with industrial flexibility potential. The extended EnergyModelsX model is described and demonstrated through two case studies in the plastic and polymeric products manufacturing sector to evaluate their potential for increasing renewable generation and flexibility. The first use case, being energy intensive, consumes both natural gas and electricity. This site enables the use of heat recovery and utilization, hydrogen blending, on-site hydrogen production, which can reduce CO₂ emissions. The second use case relies solely on electricity consumption, and the considered flexibility is energy shifting by electric batteries and production flexibility. The focus of this case study is on the interplay between energy storage, on-site energy production and process flexibility to increase the degree of self-produced renewable energy in the energy mix. Together, the two case studies demonstrate how the extended EnergyModelsX framework can be used to explore process and energy flexibility in the industry to aid the transition from a fossil-based society to a renewable based society.