Understanding the role and design space of demand sinks in low-carbon power systems
Copyright policy )Understanding the role and design space of demand sinks in low-carbon power systems
As the availability of weather-dependent, zero marginal cost resources such as wind and solar power increases, a variety of flexible electricity loads, or `demand sinks', could be deployed to use intermittently available low-cost electricity to produce valuable outputs. This study provides a general framework to evaluate any potential demand sink technology and understand its viability to be deployed cost-effectively in low-carbon power systems. We use an electricity system optimization model to assess 98 discrete combinations of capital costs and output values that collectively span the range of feasible characteristics of potential demand sink technologies. We find that candidates like hydrogen electrolysis, direct air capture, and flexible electric heating can all achieve significant installed capacity (>10% of system peak load) if lower capital costs are reached in the future. Demand sink technologies significantly increase installed wind and solar capacity while not significantly affecting battery storage, firm generating capacity, or the average cost of electricity.
- Princeton University United States
- College of New Jersey United States
- Binghamton University United States
- Princeton University Dept. of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering United States
- Princeton University Dept. of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering United States
FOS: Electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering, Systems and Control (eess.SY), Electrical Engineering and Systems Science - Systems and Control
FOS: Electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering, Systems and Control (eess.SY), Electrical Engineering and Systems Science - Systems and Control
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