Code exposed: Review of five open-source frameworks for modeling renewable energy systems

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 161, pp. 112272

Abstract

Energy system modeling is a commonly used method to provide policy recommendations and insight to transformation pathways of energy systems. However, the low open-source availability of the frameworks in practice often leads to low interpretability and transparency of energy modeling system configurations. The configuration of an energy model entails how its system components, such as power plants, storage systems and grids operate, and which parameters are used to define them. In order to understand the impact of different model configurations and working principles on the model output, a thorough comparison between various modeling frameworks is necessary. This work thereby consists of a comparison of five open-source energy system modeling frameworks (OS-ESMFs) oemof, GENeSYS-MOD, Balmorel, urbs and GENESYS-2 on the mathematical level and spotlights selected methodological differences in renewable energy system modeling. The comparison shows diversity in the complexity of selected system components and helps to define the best use-cases and scales of application for each framework. Impacts of modeled features on the results were demonstrated by implementing two harmonized scenarios depicting the German electricity system using each framework. While similar model results were obtained for both scenarios, some differences were present, especially in the long-term expansion planning model. Some of those differences could be traced back to the identified modeling differences.

Authors 10

1. Soner Candas corresponding

   Technical University of Munich

   Affiliation as printed

   Chair of Renewable and Sustainable Energy Systems, Technical University of Munich, Lichtenbergstr. 4a, Munich, 85748, Bavaria, Germany

2. Christoph Muschner

   Reiner Lemoine Institute

   Affiliation as printed

   Reiner Lemoine Institut gGmbH, Rudower Chaussee 12, 12489, Berlin, Germany

3. Stefanie Buchholz

   Technical University of Denmark

   Affiliation as printed

   Technical University of Denmark, Department of Technology, Management and Economics, Akademivej Building 358, 2800 Kgs, Lyngby, Denmark

4. Rasmus Bramstoft

   Technical University of Denmark

   Affiliation as printed

   Technical University of Denmark, Department of Technology, Management and Economics, Akademivej Building 358, 2800 Kgs, Lyngby, Denmark

5. Jonas van Ouwerkerk Aachen Institute for Power Electronics and Electrical Drives (ISEA) Institute for Power Generation and Storage Systems (PGS)

   Jülich Aachen Research Alliance · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute for Power Electronics and Electrical Drives (ISEA), RWTH Aachen University, Jägerstraße 17-19, Aachen, 52066, Germany

   Institute for Power Generation and Storage Systems (PGS), E.ON ERC, RWTH Aachen University, Mathieustraße 10, Aachen, 52074, Germany

   Jülich Aachen Research Alliance, JARA-Energy, Germany

6. Karlo Hainsch

   Technische Universität Berlin

   Affiliation as printed

   Technische Universität Berlin, Straße des 17. Juni 135, Berlin, 10623, Germany

7. Konstantin Löffler

   Technische Universität Berlin

   Affiliation as printed

   Technische Universität Berlin, Straße des 17. Juni 135, Berlin, 10623, Germany

8. Sarah Berendes

   Reiner Lemoine Institute

   Affiliation as printed

   Reiner Lemoine Institut gGmbH, Rudower Chaussee 12, 12489, Berlin, Germany

9. Stefanie Nguyen

   Reiner Lemoine Institute

   Affiliation as printed

   Reiner Lemoine Institut gGmbH, Rudower Chaussee 12, 12489, Berlin, Germany

10. Aparna Justin

    Technical University of Munich

    Affiliation as printed

    Technical University of Munich, Arcisstr. 21, Munich, 80333, Bavaria, Germany