Joint activities: The SCCERs join forces

Policy-makers, the business sector and civil society expect answers to urgent questions regarding the 2050 Energy Strategy. How, for example, can we remove nuclear power stations for the power grid, drastically reduce CO₂ emissions and ensure that power remains affordable? What does this mean for the economy as a whole and for private individuals? And what political instruments do we have to steer changes to the energy system? The Scenarios & Modelling joint activity combines the modelling teams from all SCCERs in order to find answers to these questions. The teams will develop scenarios in which various possible development paths are considered, ensuring that both the assumptions and the models themselves are harmonised. The researchers will produce reports on the findings and make recommendations for the decision-makers.

Participating SCCERs: all 
Contact: Dr Gianfranco Guidati (E-Mail)

Various SCCERs are testing innovative solutions in demonstrator installations. These tests provide important insights in the field of storage and conversion technologies, for example. The SCCERs involved in CEDA aim to define a common basis for evaluating these technologies from the perspective of the entire energy system. Firstly, the researchers intend to harmonise their hypotheses on the utilisation profiles of the technologies. Secondly, they want to look at the demonstrators and define consistent and shared operational characteristics. They can significantly extend the scope of energy-system analyses with this information. Furthermore, the joint activity will make it easier to compare the results of demonstrator tests.
The joint activity will concentrate on specific case studies in order to focus the work of, it.

Participating SCCERs: Mobility, FEEB&D, BIOSWEET and HaE
Contact: Dr. Gil Georges (E-Mail)

The fluctuating availability of renewables such as solar and wind power poses a growing challenge for power supply. Transformation and storage technologies can provide a remedy by intermittently transforming surplus power into a product (hence ‘power-to-product’). The product can be stored or used elsewhere, for example as fuel. In this joint activity, researchers will collect and analyse the available knowledge in this area and bring it together in a survey paper which will not only be directed at research circles and policy-makers, but will also serve as a guide and decision-making tool.

The white paper is available here.  

Participating SCCERs: FURIES, HaE, CREST, Mobility and BIOSWEET
Contact: Dr Tom Kober (E-Mail)

The aims of this joint project are to draw up guidelines for planning multi-energy networks and to assess the long-term value of business models for a range of interest groups, i.e. consumers, ‘prosumers’ (producing consumers), power distributors, transmission grid operators and further players. For example, the project looks at what happens to the stability of an entire system when electricity grids are coupled with gas and heat networks. Improved models and methods for designing, simulating, controlling and administering such multi-energy grids at various levels (buildings, districts and cities) will also be developed and demonstrated. At the same time, the project will investigate business models to promote multi-energy systems and smart-grid solutions in order to improve the load capacity and efficiency of Switzerland’s energy system.

Participating SCCERs: FEEB&D, FURIES and CREST
Contact: Georgios Sarantakos (E-Mail)
Further information: https://sccer-furies.epfl.ch/page-147415-en.html

Transforming the energy system relies on increasing the share of renewables. A major factor in this is sources of renewable energy whose production volume can be controlled, such as hydropower and geothermal. However, projects in these two fields in particular often encounter difficulties in planning and approval. The aim of this joint activity is to formulate recommendations for improving project development processes, legal frameworks and management structures. It will analyse structures and processes in specific hydropower and geothermal projects, and also investigate what the effect on future projects will be when current hydropower plant licences expire.

Participating SCCERs: CREST and SoE
Contactt: Prof Sebastian Heselhaus (E-Mail)

Mobility and transport are responsible for over 38% of final energy use and about 40% of Swiss CO₂ emissions, and these figures are rising. This joint activity aims to find ways of reducing domestic mobility-related energy consumption. It will also develop coherent scenarios for future mobility systems in Switzerland. The researchers will identify factors that influence mobility demand and the preferred types of energy to meet this demand. Ways of steering demand will be investigated in a field experiment, and the resulting information integrated into models that can generate and analyse assumptions about how the mobility system will develop. The summary of the findings will serve as a basis for shaping Switzerland’s transport system in the future.

Participating SCCERs: CREST and Mobility
Contact: Prof René Schumann (E-Mail)
Further information: http://www.sccer-crest.ch/research/joint-activities-of-all-sccers/the-evolution-of-mobility-a-socio-economic-analysis/