Power system development and economics

Overview

The Paris Agreement and climate neutrality goals for about the year 2050 are driving energy transition planning in most countries worldwide. Renewable energy-dominated 2050 power systems which serve e-mobility, heat pump and electrified industrial loads much higher than today, are becoming routine study subjects in planning already today. Therefore power system planning, investment analysis and asset management, i.e. the Study Committee (SC) C1 scope, are at the heart of planning for and managing this enormous transition that the entire world must go through together, at the same time, with the same goals and challenges. As one example, because of this common global climate and energy transition challenge, cooperation in a global electricity network seems increasingly realistic and appropriate, and SC C1 is refining its highly successful first neutral global grid feasibility study in a follow-up working group (WG).

As all other SCs, SC C1 has described the role of system development and economics in the new CIGRE Green Book future “Electricity Supply Systems of the Future”. Uncertainties play a key role in planning for 2050 climate neutrality, concerning future cost reductions in photovoltaics, onshore and offshore wind energy, electric vehicles, batteries, electrolyzers, UHV transmission technology, EHV cables, converters etc. The only one certainty is the world’s climate neutrality goal to be attained: whatever scenarios we analyse and however strongly they diverge from each other over coming decades, the goal remains a climate-neutral energy system by mid-century. At least with respect to greenhouse gas emissions, the scenarios need to converge by about 2050 towards zero, even if the exact mix of locally and globally traded electricity, of electric vs. hydrogen-based transport, of thermal or hydrogen-based seasonal storage, of nuclear vs. renewable generation will differ by scenario.

The mission and 2020 progress of SC C1 is very much in line with this important role of power system development & economics for the world’s climate neutrality goals, i.e. to support electricity system planners and asset managers worldwide in anticipating and successfully managing system changes to address emerging needs, opportunities and uncertainties while respecting multiple constraints. SC C1 aims to provide particularly strong value with its recommendations on methods and descriptions of practices during the ongoing electricity system paradigm shift, brought about by the swift introduction of CO2-free renewable energy sources aided by rapid evolution in generation patterns and economics, and also by digitalisation, demand response, and in social, environmental and regulatory frameworks and expectations. 

The specific perspective of SC C1 is to show how this paradigm shift can be managed while emphasizing the integrating role of the transmission and distribution networks for the entire system which also includes generation and demand. The system needs to be: planned to deal with the changes; built taking into account economic and public acceptance challenges; and well maintained. Making the most of the change implies supporting customers’ and market participants’ desire to implement innovative solutions and emphasizing opportunities – along with risks – which the changes bring. It also implies anticipating, integrating and supporting progress.  Opportunities for improvement relate to e.g. customer empowerment, increased penetration of distributed generation, closer transmission-distribution cooperation, new technologies, and efficiency and sustainability improvements.

The scope of SC C1 work generally includes descriptions of state-of-the-art applied methods and practices for system planning, economics and asset management.  To provide value to SC C1’s target audience, the drivers of the ongoing paradigm shift need to also partly drive the methods and practices that SC C1 recommends: smart grids and demand-side response; energy-efficient electrification of heating and transport; generation cost structure changes, especially for renewable and variable distributed generation; energy storage and sector coupling options; sustainability policies (e.g. CO2), as well as evolving regulation; and electricity market development and integration.

SC C1 organisation

After 6 years of distinguished service, past chair Konstantin Staschus was substituted by Antonio Iliceto (Italy); the take-over took place (virtually) during the e-Session 2020.

More recently Antonio Iliceto took over also the Convenorship of the WG Initiative for Africa; this WG reports directly to the Technical Council and is in collaboration with World Bank.

The four main areas covered by SC C1 are:

• Grid  planning
• System economics and  & investments
• Energy System Development and Interconnections
• Asset management

The main sections of this Annual Report describe how  SC C1 and its Working Groups (WGs) have addressed in 2020 the effects and the management of the paradigm shifts in each area.

The 2020 annual SC C1 meeting was held virtually on 28 August 2020, as part of the e-Session 2020. The SC C1 closed meeting was attended by 50 member and we played 50 pre-recorded presentations as part of our General Discussion Meeting.

An SC C1 tutorial was held during the e-Session: C1.39 & C1/C6.37/CIRED (Optimal power system planning and investment decisions under growing uncertainty).

During 2020, SC C1 published Technical Brochures on ‘Valuation as a comprehensive approach to asset management in view of emerging developments’, and ‘Optimal power system planning under growing uncertainty’.  Consistent with our system planning-related mission, the SC C1 Chair Antonio Iliceto contributed in leading roles to the CIGRE Technical Council joint WG with the World Bank for disseminating CIGRE results and creating CIGRE structures in Africa.

Strategic Plan

The C1 Strategic Plan was initially published in the Autumn of 2015 and was most recently updated in 2019. 

Reports issued in 2020

TB 791 – This TB on valuation as a comprehensive approach to asset management in view of emerging developments was published by WG C1.38.  Especially in today’s environment for electric utilities and especially transmission and distribution companies, asset management is becoming ever more important given a multitude of investment decisions partly driven by the energy transition, and also of maintenance and end-of-life replacement decisions driven by aging assets. Project prioritization within an asset management portfolio and plan is a key challenge, given that different risks are usually measured on different scales. But asset risk can be given a monetary value when the probability and consequence of asset failure can be quantified. This monetary value of different types of asset-related risks allows these risks to be compared on a common basis, and facilitates prioritization of investments to mitigate asset related risks. Working Group C1.38 has carried out a survey on asset risk monetization practices amongst electricity industry utilities. The WG’s Technical Brochure describes areas of best practice in detail, and also topics for further investigation within CIGRE SC C1.

TB 820 – This TB on optimal power system planning under growing uncertainty was published by WG C1.39.  The electrical industry around the world is undergoing an influential evolution with respect to both technology and regulation. Uncertainties in power systems require new methods and new mechanisms for optimal power system planning. This report investigates the uncertainty factors existing in the power systems around the world and how they are considered in system planning. Best practices and lessons learned in planning under growing uncertainty are introduced.

Grid planning

Overview

As highlighted in the overview, system development of a secure, sustainable and affordable power system has become central to the world’s climate neutrality goals. Planning methodologies and evaluation tools continue to evolve in order to live up to the enormous climate change challenge, the many associated uncertainties, but also the great opportunities and benefits which electrification can bring in both emerging and mature economies. Sector coupling with mobility, heating/cooling, smart cities, climate-neutral industries and hydrogen are becoming increasingly important to system planners and to SC C1. There are also institutional (e.g. transmission and distribution operator cooperation) and stakeholder involvement challenges that need to be overcome to deliver the network of the future.

Work in progress

JWG C1/C4.36 reviews large city & metropolitan area power system development trends taking into account new generation, grid and information technologies.  Metropolitan areas are increasing in size, population, surface area, political and economic importance. The WG considers new technologies to replace ageing assets rather than replacing assets on a like-for-like basis. This will include cross industry coordination and cooperation considerations, taking into account power flows to and from the distribution network; application of innovative measurement devices; development of electric vehicles; active and reactive power flow control technologies and their increasing automation; economic drivers for large city & metropolitan area development; large scale HV and UHV cable route penetration; rooftop PV penetration etc. Criteria and principles for large cities power system operation and development will be proposed.  The TB is scheduled for publication in 2021.

JWG C6/C1.42 addresses planning tools and methods for systems facing high levels of distributed energy resources. It identifies the impact of large deployments of distributed energy resources (DER) at the distribution level and repercussions on the transmission grid, as well as the tools, methods and benefits of aggregating DER at the distribution and transmission levels. The WG investigates the potential of co-simulation tools allowing the analysis of the impact of distribution-connected DER on the transmission grid considering static and dynamic aspects. It identifies and defines the planning and operation tools required at the distribution and at the transmission levels. The WG surveys distribution and transmission utilities for present practices and additional needs focusing on already known techniques, tools, methods and data for valuing DER and customer flexibility, practices and techniques in developing scenarios, both for transmission and for distribution (where e-mobility presents large uncertainties).

The Scope of WG C1.47 is:

• Identify technical / business / institutional challenges and benefits from energy sectors integration at transmission grids level.
• Review the methodology and technologies on the modelling, operation, market analysis and planning towards multi-region level ESI.
• Summarize lessons learned and introducing best practice of energy sectors integration.
• Analyse issues about market and regulatory differences between sectors — and the need to minimise the differences in the emerging green gas sectors; on this basis, propose
• suggestions for policies and market regulations towards the energy sectors integration at transmission grids level.
• Promote technical papers, technical panel sessions, and workshops for the dissemination of academic research and real-world applications of energy sectors integration.
• Coordinate such activities where appropriate with other CIGRE committees, subcommittees, and working groups.

For the above topics, a survey of state-of-the-art, technical advances and typical cases will be done, analyzing the drivers and solutions for the selected planning and operation towards energy sectors coupling at transmission level, with scope to infer some general principles as useful guidelines for the design of future integrated multi-energy systems.

System Economics & Investments

Overview

The work in this area addresses uncertainties and increasing penetration of renewable energy from the investment viewpoint. Business management involves investment decisions in all aspects of the system, includin generation, transmission, distribution, storage, and demand with its flexibility. It complements grid planning with broader analyses of whether and how investments can actually be made, and infrastructure built. More specifically, the work in this area describes how investment drivers and decision-making processes are changing, how to communicate with the many relevant stakeholders, and how transmission and distribution investments relate to each other.

Work in progress

WG C1.23 describes transmission investment decision points and trees, by defining target networks at the end of a specified planning period to meet all the necessary criteria and requirements. To account for uncertainty, multiple potential target networks can be generated which further require a number of decision trees. This WG established if and how target networks are being used, and if they are used to generate decision trees and key decision points. In particular, it investigated processes used to determine the timelines of the decision points in the different countries and the methods used. The WG is making a concerted effort to publish its TB in 2021 following a number of interruptions.

JWG C1/C6/CIRED.37 describes optimal transmission and distribution investment decisions under growing uncertainty. Transmission and distribution investment decisions resulting from a planning process require new approaches to deal with growing uncertainties on many parameters incl. new market designs, high penetrations of renewable energy, demand growth and so on. The WG summarizes learnings from several prior SC C1 and C6 WGs. It is now investigating how transmission and distribution planning scenarios are consistently used to ensure holistic investment decisions are made by both TSOs and DSOs.  This work was showcased at the e-Session in a joint workshop with C1.39. The TB is scheduled for publication in 2021.

WG C1.41 aims to close the gap in understanding between stakeholders and electrical energy specialists. With the development of DER, significant numbers of customers are becoming stakeholders in the electrical industry.  here is a need to bridge the gap in understanding between the technical specialists and the various stakeholders that have a vested interest in the electricity product.  his WG will examine the gap in understanding amongst the various stakeholders of the range of technical issues from a planning perspective related to the changing nature of the power system and how this has developed. It will review how stakeholders perceive this gap and what is being done across the world to improve the level of understanding, particularly of the non-technical stakeholders. The TB is scheduled for publication in Q4, 2021.

The main objectives of WG C1.48 are to:

• collect and analyze numerous studies related to technical and economic aspects of hydrogen supply chain and use, as well as supporting national policies and implementation strategies;
• present different use cases in industry, transport, heating sectors and as energy storage and other system services including renewable electric energy supply needs, land and water requirements;
• recommend technology solutions for grid code compliance and to enable market-based provision of various local and system wide flexibility services by large scale electrolyzer plants.

Liaison experts from SC C6, B1 and C5 will be invited.

The following topics will be explored and elaborated within the working group: Overview of hydrogen supply chain; Forecasting hydrogen demand and a corresponding amount of renewable electric energy supply and installed capacity; Identification and analysis of specific use cases in terms of economic value of green hydrogen; Review of technologies for scaling up electrolyzer plant capacity; Evaluate a future role of green hydrogen and its derivatives; Identify region/scenario dependent optimal mix of interconnectors, storage including hydrogen and demand response; and, Overview of governmental policies and implementation strategies in different regions.

Energy System Developments and Interconnections

Overview

This area of SC C1 work examines the increasing interdependence and integration faced by system  developers, on top of the usual complexity already implicit in grid planning, which arises from the power grid being at the centre of the energy transition towards the climate-neutral energy system, both as a fundamental enabler and as the most impacted element. The new dimensions of system development tackled in this C1 work area are:

• higher interconnection rates between countries and systems, up to continental level and eventually to a global grid (“horizontal” interconnections); besides the traditional hurdles of realizing large technical infrastructures, these cross-border links spanning several jurisdictions face further critical issues in different authorisation patterns and market regulations, assessing and allocating costs and benefits, negotiating partners’ and investors’ roles, and managing international implementation;
• increasing interdependence of transmission and distribution grids, which means that going beyond issues like DER, active distribution grids, radical modification of flow patterns, consumer empowerment, energy communities, planners need to look at the end-to-end electricity system, leading eventually up to a joint transmission and distribution grid planning process (“Vertical” integration); this requires also an organisational and cultural change, since one TSO interfaces often with several or many DSOs, who are themselves undergoing a deep process of modernising their practices on local system development and of evolving towards smart grid operation;
• starting integration with other energy systems (“Sector Coupling”): to achieve global climate change targets, electrification of transport, heating/cooling and industry, fed by CO2-free power generation is a very effective route;  therefore several workstreams are starting, in order to assess and capture the benefits of a common planning and a synergistic operation of various energy carriers (including gases and hydrogen), exploiting their respective capacities and complementarities in storing and transporting bulk energy.

Work in progress

WG C1.33 investigates interface and allocation issues in multi-party and/or cross-jurisdiction interconnections: it addresses the origination and design phase of such projects, focusing on the specific issues arising from the different rules/practices/investors’ policies, to be considered at early stage for the sake of project success. The work analyses real cases to extract the drivers, rationale and criteria of such issues, as well as the solutions adopted; it also describes the business model designed for realising the interconnection project according to the specific needs, in order to infer useful guidelines for project of high complexity. The TB is scheduled for publication in 2021.

WG C1.40 describes planning coordination between system operators, TSOs and DSOs; framework, methods, allocation of costs and benefits. Through a detailed survey with more than 30 questions, it aims at describing the state-of-the-art and best practices of collaboration between TSOs and DSOs. The survey scrutinizes the aspects, data, and processes where cooperation is needed, and the reasons and modalities why cooperation occurs or not. In the current analysis phase, focus is on extracting useful insights and guidelines for setting up a structured cooperation process, and calling for institutional rules to be established on data exchange and process execution. The TB is scheduled for publication in Q3 2021.

WG C1.44 builds on the highly successful work of WG C1.35’s global grid feasibility study, to analyse more deeply the impact of large and cheaper storage and the effect of demand response as further elements to be co-optimised together with investments in transmission and in generation, and to begin addressing the necessary trading rules for a global grid.

The SC C6-led JWG C6/C1.33 on multi-energy system interactions in the distribution grid studies the configurations, impacts and prospects of multi-energy systems that enable enhanced solutions for intelligent electricity systems, energy storages and demand side management with an increasing share of DER. The WG reviews technologies and systems that integrate multiple energy carriers: Power-to-Gas (P2G), including electrolyzers, fuels cells, hydrogen storage, injection into gas networks; Combined Heat and Power (CHP); Combined Cooling, Heat and Power (CCHP); Power-to-Heat (P2H), including electric boilers, heat pumps, thermal storage; Power-to-Vehicle (P2V); pumped and compressed air storages. The Technical Brochure will also report on architectures, use cases and tools for multi-energy system operation, planning and design. The TB is scheduled for publication in Q3 2021.

The scope of WG C1.45 is twofold:

• Identification of the benefits indicators (economic, social, technical, environmental) associated with an interconnection project. In identifying benefit indicators, the various market and regulatory frameworks worldwide will be considered
• Procedure to quantify the benefit indicators and how to combine them in consistent way when they have different metrics.

The focus is on interconnection reinforcements or on building new interconnections between isolated areas, but, in general, the suggested solution(s) can also be applied to inter-area transmission reinforcements within the same jurisdiction.  The concept of “interconnections” does not necessary refer to a cross-border infrastructure.

Asset Management

Overview

The work in this area addresses emerging issues in asset management related to operational, tactical and strategic aspects, in a context of increasing sophistication of risk and economic modelling and increasing convergence of asset management and planning data and methods. At present there is 1 WG and also a team developing a CIGRE Green Book on Asset Management.

WG C1.43 deals with establishing requirements for asset management platforms that will allow integration of data/information from different sources, will have capability to process data using prescribed algorithms, and will generate the desired outputs.

The Green Book on Asset Management aims to present all the material related to past and present asset management methodologies and approaches in order to establish a set of references to be used going forward in refining existing or developing new asset management techniques in electric utilities in general. The Green Book is led by editorial team and has a number of contributors, including from other SCs, and is expected to include 21 chapters (450 pages in total). The target publication date is Q3 2021.

JWG C1/C4.46 aims to find break-even conditions between preventive, containment and restoration measures and propose guidelines for determining an optimal mix of resilience measures from techniques such as:

• asset redundancy management and grid extension;
• grid users’ resources (flexibility, demand response, etc.); and
• mitigation (smart load shedding, fast restoration, etc.).

The proposed scope will be delivered in three distinct steps: (a) establishing current practices and standards (b) development of a gap analysis and (c) propose opportunities for improving existing planning methods and standards.  Major tasks within the stepped delivery approach for the proposed WG include: Build on work done by prior WGs on power system resilience topics; Adapt and document suitable metrics to define power system resilience for interconnected electrical power networks; Review existing planning methods and standards used for power system infrastructure investments; Consider the resilience of power system equipment in view of changing climatic conditions; Investigate the most used system restart techniques; Investigate the concept of flexible grid design; Promote technical papers, technical panel sessions, and workshops on power system resilience planning for a decarbonizing energy sector.  Liaison experts from SC C5 will be invited.

Technical Council

The participation to the CIGRE Technical Council has been focused on the developmenta and first-time application of new way of working in pandemic era, which has particularly affected the work of a world-wide organisation like Cigre. Meetings, Workshop and Tutorials have suddenly switched to sophisticated web-based tools, with challenging time-zones issues and lack of the networking, which is one fundamnetal ingredient of professional exchanges at the basis of Cigre workstyle.Sessions are being held virtual (2020) or even in broadcast style (2021), with ever challenging tools and engagements from many members. For Session 2022, a brand new system (ConfTool) has been identified and is being put in use for papers processing.

SC C1 Chair  provided a strong contribution on Hydrogen, setting up a new Forum spanning to  TC and Administrative Council members; 2 Webinars have been organised and held, the first of which entirely by SC C1.

Another specific contribution  is on the dissemination of CIGRE work products in Africa, for which C1 Chair took over the lead of  a TC WG based on a Memorandum of Understanding with the World Bank, where a list of applicable CIGRE products as well as CIGRE experts has been created, where the new Western African National Committee in CIGRE was founded and approved, and where good progress is made towards foundation of a new Eastern African National Committee.

Under the guidance of Keith Bell from C1, the CIGRE policy of Tutorials has not only been updated but also widely  applied in the Paris Session and in Symposia.

e-Session 2020, Centennial Session 2021 and future work

The 2020 e-Session was successful for SC C1 as for all of CIGRE, thanks to the great support by the Central Office, the excellent co-operative coordination in the Technical Council led by Marcio Szechtman, the SC C1 coordination in the Strategic Advisory Group, the tireless work by SC C1 Secretary Peter Roddy, and the outstanding work by the three SC C1 Special Reporters Valdson Jesus (BR), Mattias Jonsson (SE) and Severine Laurent (FR).

The Special Reporters for the e-Session 2020 have kindly agreed to repeat this role at the Centennial Session 2021, while those for 2022 Session are making their first moves in assessing the 52 abstracts received through the ConfTool.

SC C1’ current work focuses on the Paris 2021 Centennial Session, the delayed Kyoto Symposium (early 2022), and the Paris 2022 Session for which preferential subjects were also determined at the C1 virtual meeting.

During the virtual SC C1 meeting during the e-Session, 4 new WGs were started and are in good progress; indeed, the positive side of pandemic-related travel restrictions is the increased number of WG meetings, which can therefore be followed with hgher commitment and by more members. The topics of the 4 WG are: Hydrogen, Sector Coupling, Resilience by design, deeper CBA methods for international transmission projects.

Indipendently on pandemic, SC C1 had already decided to double the rythme of SC plenary meetings from one to two, with an approximate 6 months frequency, to keep more momentum and engagment of members; the first such webmeeting was held in February 2021, while next will be in September,a fter the engagments of the Centennial Session, since – as last year - there is no opportunity to exploit the physical gathering in Paris.

Future meetings and events

• Paris Centennial Session, August 2021
• Annual SC C1 meeting, September 2021 (virtual)
• Slovenia Symposium, November 2021 (no C1 co-organisation but including several topics of interest and intervention by SC Chair )
• Kyoto/Japan Symposium (April 2022)
• Semestral SC C1 meeting (virtual) , around February 2022
• Paris Session, August 2022 (including annual SC C1 meeting)
• Cairns/Australia Symposium, 2023 (to be confirmed)

Contact

• Contact of the Chair and/or the Secretary of the Study Committee