FlexIntensity: Zeeland electrical grid model

To reach the climate goals set out by the European Union, a real energy transition is necessary; from fossil based to renewable energy. The province of Zeeland, the Netherlands, will be heavily affected by this energy transition. It hosts one of the largest petrochemical clusters of North-West Europe and the largest hydrogen cluster of the Benelux. Zeeland is therefore heavily dependent on fossil resources. In the coming years, up to 9 GW of large-scale low emission energy production could be connected to the Zeeland grid. This gives the possibility for industry to electrify its energy and hydrogen demand, but raises two grid challenges: intermittency of power and grid congestion. Hereto three solutions are proposed, each with their own advantages and disadvantages; large-scale electrolysis installations, industrial flexibility and grid infrastructure investments. A grid solution will consist of a combination of these three aforementioned solutions. To determine adequacy of a proposed future grid, a grid model is developed in the open-source Python library PandaPower. This grid model simulates a proposed grid on hourly basis over four typical weather years. The grid model uses open-source topology and component data. The time series data for residential and industrial loads are based on synthetic load profiles from literature. The resulting power flows allow to determine the adequacy of the solution. In a next step, the grid model will be used to determine an optimal future grid and give policy recommendations.