The paper presents a new energy–economy system modelling approach, developed specifically for energy system planning in non-interconnected islands, which aim to decarbonize. Energy system planning is an essential tool in the transition to carbon neutrality in the medium- and long-term.
Being small-scale energy systems, islands have a limited contribution to the global climate targets; meanwhile, they have the potential to become frontrunners in the clean energy transition. Still, the specificities and complexities of geographical islands cannot be adequately covered by the available energy modelling tools and new advanced approaches need to be developed to provide the appropriate support in designing the future decarbonized energy systems at insular level.
Our methodological approach follows the adaptation and customization of well-established energy–economy modelling tools towards the development of an integrated island-scale energy–economy system model, capturing energy demand and supply by sector, heating/cooling and mobility requirements, energy efficiency potentials and their complex interactions through energy prices, storage, flexibility services and sectoral integration. By soft-linking the energy and economy system modelling tools through the consistent exchange of model parameters and variables, we developed a fully fledged modelling framework called IntE3-ISL, designed for islands with a horizon up to 2050.
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