Energy

PATHways to an Efficient Future Energy System through Flexibility aND SectoR Coupling (PATHFNDR), supported by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy, aims to identify feasible transition paths for integrating renewable energies in Switzerland. The PATHFNDR project focuses on flexibility and sector coupling in the Swiss energy system. By flexibility, we mean the management of fluctuations in energy demand and supply over different time scales. By sector coupling, we mean the connection between different energy supplies and demands within and between sectors.

SusTec is involved in three work packages: Work package 5 focuses on real pilot projects for which SusTec conducts a stakeholder analysis for a local thermal grid. SusTec leads work package 6, in which we focus on transition pathways and disruptions, technological innovations in the value chains, and new business opportunities at the firm level. Work package 7 focuses on policy measures to promote sector coupling and flexibility technologies and their deployment. You can find more details in the DownloadPATHNDR websitevertical_align_bottom.

Publications:

• Thimet, P.J., & Mavromatidis, G. (2023). What-where-when: Investigating the role of storage for the German electricity system transition. Applied Energy, 351, 121764. Downloadhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2023.121764vertical_align_bottom
• Toetzke, M., Probst, B. & Feuerriegel, S. (2023). Leveraging Large Language Models to Monitor Climate Technology Innovation. Environ. Res. Lett. in press. Downloadhttps://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/acf233vertical_align_bottom
   

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The Coalition for Green Energy and Storage (CGES) is an initiative led by ETH Zurich and EPFL that aims to provide sustainable solutions for Switzerland’s climate and energy crises. To achieve it, CGES will support the rapid development and launch of “catapults”: large-scale demonstrators at the megawatt scale of innovative ways to use existing technologies and demonstrators of promising emerging technologies that could scale up to commercial scale within a few years.
CGES involves dozens of industry and philanthropy partners, researchers from all federal research institutes, including PSI and Empa, and cantonal and local governments. SusTec co-leads the Catapult Assessment Work Stream (CAWS), which develops a technology assessment framework and applies it to catapult candidates to ensure CGES projects contribute to the Swiss energy transition and industry.

CGES’s initial focus includes Power-to-X technologies, i.e., using electricity to produce carbon-neutral fuels like renewable hydrogen and synthetic methane; carbon capture, utilization and storage technologies; and energy storage technologies. The CGES initiative was launched on June 8th, 2023.

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This SNSF- funded project aims to tackle existing challenges of the Swiss energy transition towards net-zero emissions by coordinating efforts between policy and technology domains. Existing approaches to policy design and energy system modeling often lack integration, hindering effective solutions. This project addresses this gap, aiming to develop a method that integrates policy and techno-economic aspects for optimal co-design of policy mixes and energy systems. This involves creating a quantitative framework with two modules: the "Policy Mix Designer" for policymaker perspective and the "Energy System Planner" for techno-economic modeling. By simultaneously optimizing decisions from both perspectives, the framework facilitates the co-design of optimal policy mixes and energy systems. Through case studies focusing on decentralized multi-energy systems (D-MES) and the Swiss electricity system, the project aims to provide evidence-based insights for policymakers and energy developers to support the Swiss energy transition.
More information on the project can be found Downloadherevertical_align_bottom.

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The PACE REFITS (Policies for accelerating renewable and efficient building & district retrofits) project, funded by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy, addresses the challenge of retrofitting existing buildings with renewable and energy-efficient technologies. The project focuses on large-scale investors (LSIs), analyzing their motivations and barriers regarding investments in retrofitting technologies. By examining LSIs' decision-making processes, the research aims to identify regulatory conditions supporting such investments at the building and district levels. The project employs a mixed-method approach, combining qualitative methods such as expert interviews and policy scenario development with quantitative energy system modeling techniques. The project is conducted in collaboration with the Empa Urban Energy System Lab.

Publications:
• Petkov, I., Knoeri, C., & Hoffmann, V. H. (2021). The interplay of policy and energy retrofit decision-making for real estate decarbonization. Environmental Research: Infrastructure and Sustainability, 1(3), 35006. Downloadhttps://doi.org/10.1088/2634-4505/ac3321vertical_align_bottom
• Petkov, I., Mavromatidis, G., Knoeri, C., Allan, J., & Hoffmann, V. H. (2022). MANGOret: An optimization framework for the long-term investment planning of building multi-energy system and envelope retrofits. Applied Energy, 314. Downloadhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2022.118901vertical_align_bottom
• Mavromatidis, G., & Petkov, I. (2021). MANGO: A novel optimization model for the long-term, multistage planning of decentralized multi-energy systems. Applied Energy, 288, 116585. Downloadhttps://doi.org/10.1016/J.APENERGY.2021.116585vertical_align_bottom
• Lerbinger, A., Petkov, I., Mavromatidis, G., & Knoeri, C. (2023). Optimal decarbonization strategies for existing districts considering energy systems and retrofits. Applied Energy, 352, 121863. Downloadhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2023.121863vertical_align_bottom
• Petkov, I., Lerbinger, A., Mavromatidis, G., Knoeri, C., & Hoffmann, V. H. (2023). Decarbonizing real estate portfolios considering optimal retrofit investment and policy conditions to 2050. IScience, 26 (5), 106619. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2023.106619