IEE project BETTER - Scenario viewer
Integrated Assessment of RES cooperation between the EU and its neighbours


1    Overview on approach and modelling system


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The approach used for the integrated model-based assessment in the BETTER project combines different dimensions:

(1) A comprehensive scenario-based assessment of prospects for RES cooperation from the integrated (top-down) perspective is undertaken with the Green-X model. This techno-economic policy analysis acts as key basis for our overall evaluation of prospects for RES cooperation in the enlarged geographical context (EU plus Third countries). It allows for identifying monetary savings associated with enhanced RES cooperation as well as resulting changes in costs, expenditures and benefits by region that come alongside with the changes in installed RES capacities and generation across the assessed regions. With Green-X the overall modelling of future RES developments in the EU and its neighbours is done for all energy sectors (i.e. electricity, heating & cooling and biofuels in transport) whereas our detailed as-sessment of enhanced cross-border RES cooperation is limited to the electricity sector.

(2) Complementary to above and specifically for the electricity sector, grid and transmission needs or constraints, respectively, together with the physical integration possibilities are evaluated from a technical perspective in a power-system analysis, done by use of the HiREPS model.

Figure 1-1 gives an overview on the interplay of both models. Both models are operated with the same set of gen-eral input parameters, however in different spatial and temporal resolution. Green-X delivers a first picture of renewables deployment and related costs, expenditures and benefits by country on a yearly basis (2010 to 2040). The output of Green-X in terms of country- and technology-specific RES capacities and generation in the electricity sector for selected years (2030, 2040) serves as input for the power-system analysis done with HiREPS. Subsequently, the HiREPS model analyses the interplay between supply, demand and storage in the electricity sector on an hourly basis for the given years. The output of HiREPS is then fed back into the RES investment model Green-X. In particular the feedback comprises the amount of RES that can be integrated into the grids, the electricity prices and corresponding market revenues (i.e. market values of the produced electricity of variable and dispatchable RES-E) of all assessed RES-E technologies for each assessed country.

Figure 1-1: Model coupling between Green-X (left) and HiREPS (right) in the integrated assessment of the BETTER project



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