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Flexibility versus Change <T,I>

In the context of SMART GRIDS TRANSITIONS - INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE, a transparency and clarity is required regarding the conceptual background, as the term FLEXIBILITY is used in ISGAN in multiple ways.

On the theoretical level there is a distinction to be made between absorptive, adaptive and transformative capacities. Adaptive capacities aim for adapting the energy system in a way that increases its Flexibility, while transformative capacities are necessary if disturbances are too high for keeping the eneryg system unchanged.

The basic assumption in WG7 is that the curent energy system is not viable, given the existing and foreseeable disturbances, in transition and transformative capacities are required to change the systems towards sustainabilty of outcomes. Besides changes in functional architectures required (to make a future energy system deal with disturbances), institutional change This may not be the the same assumption as in other ISGAN Workinggroups - thus understandings of Flexibility might differ.

FLEXIBLE POWER SYSTEMS <T,A> [Ma et al. 2013]

“The term flexibility describes the ability of a power system to cope with variability and uncertainty in both generation and demand, while maintaining a satisfactory level of reliability at a reasonable cost, over different time horizons. In this work, variability and uncertainty from generation are assumed to arise from variable generation, particularly wind power. It is important to highlight that a ‘flexible’ system, as defined in this work, is a relative concept. For example, given the same demand and available wind generation (WG) , it can be said that “system A” is more flexible than “system B” if the former is able to accommodate more WG (i.e., less wind curtailment, if at all). The variations of wind occur on different time scales: seconds, minutes, hours, days, months, seasons and years. In the context of generation scheduling and planning, the objective is to manage the daily net load cycle, the variations of which can be adequately examined on an hourly time scale [4, 11].”

[Source: Ma, Juan, Vera Silva, Régine Belhomme, Daniel S. Kirschen, and Luis F. Ochoa. ‘Evaluating and Planning Flexibility in Sustainable Power Systems’. IEEE Transactions on Sustainable Energy 4, no. 1 (January 2013): 200–209. https://doi.org/10.1109/TSTE.2012.2212471.]

Flexibility technologies <T> [Andersen et al. 2023]

“Flexibility technologies are those that link generation technologies together and allow them to function seamlessly in a larger system by supporting the continuous balancing of supply and demand.”

[Source: Andersen, A. et al.. ‘Architectural Change in Accelerating Transitions: Actor Preferences, System Architectures, and Flexibility Technologies in the German Energy Transition’. Energy Research & Social Science 97 (2023): 102945. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2023.102945.]

~~DISCUSSION|Discussion Section - PAGE OWNER: Klaus Kubeczko~~

Table of Contents

Flexibility_TESTPAGE

Flexibility versus Change <T,I>

FLEXIBLE POWER SYSTEMS <T,A> [Ma et al. 2013]

Flexibility technologies <T> [Andersen et al. 2023]