Reviewing energy system modelling of decentralized energy autonomy

TL;DR

This paper reviews the current state and future needs of energy system modeling for decentralized autonomous energy systems, highlighting gaps such as stakeholder analysis and impact on surrounding systems.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive review of 359 studies, identifying common trends, limitations, and future research directions in modeling decentralized autonomous energy systems.

Findings

Most studies focus on electricity supply in middle-income countries.

Average levelized cost of electricity is 0.41 $/kWh.

Many studies lack analysis of impact on surrounding energy systems.

Abstract

Research attention on decentralized autonomous energy systems has increased exponentially in the past three decades, as demonstrated by the absolute number of publications and the share of these studies in the corpus of energy system modelling literature. This paper shows the status quo and future modelling needs for research on local autonomous energy systems. A total of 359 studies are roughly investigated, of which a subset of 123 in detail. The studies are assessed with respect to the characteristics of their methodology and applications, in order to derive common trends and insights. Most case studies apply to middle-income countries and only focus on the supply of electricity in the residential sector. Furthermore, many of the studies are comparable regarding objectives and applied methods. Local energy autonomy is associated with high costs, leading to levelized costs of electricity of 0.41 $/kWh on average. By analysing the studies, many improvements for future studies could be identified: the studies lack an analysis of the impact of autonomous energy systems on surrounding energy systems. In addition, the robust design of autonomous energy systems requires higher time resolutions and extreme conditions. Future research should also develop methodologies to consider local stakeholders and their preferences for energy systems.