Background

The goal of reducing CO2 emissions by at least 80 % until 2050 compared to 1990 is to be achieved, among other things, through the accelerated use of renewable energies. The extensive integration of renewable energies into the energy system while maintaining today's high quality of supply security represents a major challenge for the European energy system as well as the electricity grids. For this reason, network modelling in the European context is becoming increasingly important for achieving the objectives of energy system transformation, especially because of the extensive delays in network expansion and their consequences for the integration capacity of renewable energies.

The existing methodological approaches to transmission network modelling are diverse and differ, for example, regarding the way of modelling load flows and regarding the data for electricity generation, consumption and networks. This diversity can lead to divergent or even contradictory model results.

Aim and methodology of model comparison

The MODEX-NET research project aims to improve transparency in system models and thus increase the acceptance and usefulness of the results obtained. To this end, the project aims to raise awareness among model developers and users in research, politics and industry for the differences between the models and to facilitate an open and well-founded exchange of different results. The aim is to enable developers and users to classify these model approaches and identify possible pathways for future developments.

For this purpose, different transmission network models, which represent both the national and the European transmission network, will be compared in MODEX-NET. By using defined "case studies" (model experiments), the differences between the models are to be identified and analysed. This includes a comparison of the methodological basics, the model topologies applied and the data used of the different transmission network models. Patricular, different ways for the incorporation of flexibility in the generation and the demand-side, will be compared and analysed.