Balancing Reserve Provision in a Decarbonized Electricity Sector

This dissertation analyzes the future balancing reserve provision in a decarbonized electricity sector and therefore develops and applies electricity sector models. The first part focuses on the pathways for a decarbonization of the electricity sector. It develops and applies the dynamic investment and dispatch electricity model (dynELMOD) for Europe. The model results show, that until 2050 renewable energy sources will provide the majority of the electricity generation in Europe and nuclear energy and fossil fuels are phased out gradually. The second part focuses on the implications of a decarbonized generation portfolio for balancing reserve provision. There the unit-commitment model (ELMOD-MIP) is developed and applied, which allows for a detailed depiction of power plant flexibility constraints and balancing capacity reservation. When analysing balancing reserves in Germany until 2025, the results show a price increase, in case no new market participants are allowed to enter the balancing market. However, the participation of wind turbines can reduce the cost by 40%. The following chapter expands the analysis towards different degrees of cross-border cooperation within balancing reserves in the region of Austria, Germany and Switzerland. The results confirms that increased cooperation in balancing markets is highly beneficial; still the degree of cost savings depends highly on the depth of cooperation and the countries' different power plant portfolios. The last chapter expands the discussion of balancing reserve provision to the long-term perspective of 2050. The results show that balancing reserve cost can be kept at current levels for a renewable electricity system in 2050. Only rarely, additional storage investments are required for balancing reserve provision.