SpineOpt: A flexible open-source energy system modelling framework

Maren Ihlemann*, Iasonas Kouveliotis-Lysikatos, Jiangyi Huang, Joseph Dillon, Ciara O'Dwyer, Topi Rasku, Manuel Marin, Kris Poncelet, Juha Kiviluoma

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

21 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The transition towards more sustainable energy systems poses new requirements on energy system models. New challenges include representing more uncertainties, including short-term detail in long-term planning models, allowing for more integration across energy sectors, and dealing with increased model complexities. SpineOpt is a flexible, open-source, energy system modelling framework for performing operational and planning studies, consisting of a wide spectrum of novel tools and functionalities. The most salient features of SpineOpt include a generic data structure, flexible temporal and spatial structures, a comprehensive representation of uncertainties, and model decomposition capabilities to reduce the computational complexity. These enable the implementation of highly diverse case studies. SpineOpt’s features are presented through several publicly-available applications. An illustrative case study presents the impact of different temporal resolutions and stochastic structures in a co-optimised electricity and gas network. Using a lower temporal resolution in different parts of the model leads to a lower computational time (44%–98% reductions), while the total system cost varies only slightly (-1.22–1.39%). This implies that modellers experiencing computational issues should choose a high level of temporal accuracy only when needed.
Original languageEnglish
Article number100902
Number of pages13
JournalEnergy Strategy Reviews
Volume43
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Sept 2022
MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

Funding

This work has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N. 774629 (SPINE) and from the Energy Transition, Belgium Funds project EPOC 2030-2050 organized by the FPS economy, S.M.E.s, Self-employed and Energy.

Keywords

  • open source tool
  • energy system modelling
  • energy system analysis
  • integrated energy systems
  • investment planning
  • sector coupling
  • Sector coupling
  • Energy system analysis
  • Open source tool
  • Energy system modelling
  • Integrated energy systems
  • Investment planning

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