Potential of Smart Renewable Hubs Including Concentrated Solar Power in the Interconnected European Power System
Abstract
Smart Renewable Hubs (SRHs) couple renewable technologies with back-up and storage units in loco, so as to improve the economic attractiveness of fossil-free generation, address system adequacy and promote clean generation. GRIDSOL is one of such hubs and it has Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) equipped with thermal storage at its core. This paper aims at identifying the drivers defining the optimal technology choice in SRHs and at assessing their impact on the European power system. The latest European long-term decarbonization pathways serve as a framework for the analysis. The simulations are carried out with Balmorel, an opensource, fundamental market model particularly suited for the power and heat sectors and where the entire EU 28 is represented. The expected results include the role of SRH (and GRIDSOL) as a new concept for centralized generation, an evaluation of the competitiveness of CSP-based configurations (including thermal storage) against other designs centered around battery storage systems.