Assessing the security of electricity supply through multi-scale modeling: The TIMES-ANTARES linking approach

Do multi-sector energy system optimization models need hourly temporal resolution? A case study with an investment and dispatch model applied to France

“…The inaccuracy of the representative period selection is seemingly caused by the implied reduction in weather (especially wind) variability over time, which leads to a higher proportion of wind power and to a lower cost. This is consistent with the findings by Alimou et al (2020); by comparing TIMES-FR (a model optimizing dispatch and investment with representative weeks) and ANTARES (a dispatch model developed by RTE, the French transmission network operator, with hourly temporal resolution) they show that the former underestimates the system cost by 28% and that the capacity mix derived from TIMES-FR does not meet the supply/demand adequacy requirements of the French public authorities (i.e. annual loss of load of no more than three hours).…”

Assessing the relative impacts of maximum investment rate and temporal detail in capacity expansion models applied to power systems

“…The optimal capacity of technologies that worsen the flexibility challenge or that are of limited help (VRE, baseload generation) tends to be overestimated, while the optimal capacity of technologies that mitigate the flexibility challenge are underestimated (mid-merit generation, storage, interconnection, flexible demand) [17,33,35,36]. In studies that simulate the detailed operation of systems proposed by CExMs, this leads to unacceptably high levels of loss-of-load [32,34,36,37], raising doubts as to the relevance of such development plans for policy recommendation purposes.…”

State or market: Investments in new nuclear power plants in France and their domestic and cross-border effects

“…Shirizadeh and Quirion (2021) examine the cost-optimal electricity mix in France under different carbon price paths including investments in new nuclear capacities. The cost-optimal electricity mix and the security of supply in France were studied by Alimou et al (2020). However, both studies completely neglect the neighboring countries and the relevant interdependencies.…”