A novel approach to assess resilience of energy systems

Author(s):  
Julian Matzenberger ◽  
Nigel Hargreaves ◽  
Debadayita Raha ◽  
Priyan Dias

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to outline different notions of the term resilience used in scientific disciplines and consequently explore how the concept can be applied to energy systems. The concept of resilience has emerged recently in scientific discourse. The major questions to be addressed are: Which definitions and underlying concepts of resilience are used in the scientific literature? How can resilience be defined with respect to energy systems and which underlying principles can be identified? Design/methodology/approach – Building on this understanding, characteristics of the resilience concept used in various contexts are described and a methodology for selection of an indicator set for an energy resilience assessment is presented. The methodology for a resilience assessment outlined in this paper requires definition and clustering of a set of indicators describing a resilient system. It contributes to understanding system properties and supports the theory of how to improve system resilience. Findings – It is argued that resilience can be defined as a function of vulnerability and adaptability, therefore increasing adaptability or reducing vulnerability can cause higher system resilience. Further attributes, determinants and properties of resilient systems to guide indicator selection and classification are suggested. Originality/value – Definitions of resilience, vulnerability and adaptability are very much interlinked. A novel framework is proposed to foster the understanding of the interlinkage between these three terms and to cluster indicators to assess energy system resilience.

Author(s):  
Simon Hilpert ◽  
Cord Kaldemeyer ◽  
Uwe Krien ◽  
Stephan Günther ◽  
Clemens Wingenbach ◽  
...  

Energy system models have become indispensable to shape future energy systems by providing insights into different trajectories. However, sustainable systems with high shares of renewable energy are characterised by growing crosssectoral interdependencies and decentralised structures. To capture important properties of increasingly complex energy systems, sophisticated and flexible modelling environments are needed. This paper presents the Open Energy Modelling Framework (oemof) as a novel approach in energy system modelling, representation and analysis. The framework forms a structured set of tools and sub-frameworks to construct comprehensive energy system models and has been published open source under a free licence. Using a collaborative development approach and extensive documentation on different levels, the framework seeks for a maximum level of transparency. Based on a generic graph based description of energy systems it is well suited to flexibly model complex crosssectoral systems ranging from a distributed or urban to a transnational scale. This makes the framework a multi-purpose modelling environment for strategic planning of future energy systems.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Deepak Kumar ◽  
Tavishi Tewary

Purpose Earlier most of the research groups have designed and developed hybrid renewable energy system models with technological, scientific and industrial advancement for the energy systems, but slight attention has been paid towards the grid-connected sustainable urban residential energy systems (SUReS) for metropolitan cities. The current research wishes to design, model and analyze grid-connected energy system for residential applications for sustainable urban residential energy system. The works aims to explore the potential of the augmented energy system for grid-connected energy system. Design/methodology/approach The proposed grid-connected SUReS are validated for a sample location at New Delhi (India) with a hybrid optimization model for electric renewable (HOMER) software to define and understand the various load profile. It presents the sensitivity analysis approach to validate the design of the proposed energy system. Findings The obtained results reports the key barriers, proposed model and scenarios for sustainable urban energy system development. Research limitations/implications Similar approaches can be replicated to design and develop an independent, self-sustainable cleaner and environmental-friendly energy system in the future scenario for the extension of complex grid infrastructures. Practical implications It will assist the stakeholder in solving the complex urban sustainability issues raised due to the shortage of energy. Social implications It will offer a clean and environment friendly sustainable energy resources with reduced carbon emissions. It will benefit sustainable energy resources with a mix of challenges and opportunities, to suggest an approach for implementation of efficient energy policies to optimize the existing and forthcoming energy systems. Originality/value The current research offers a design and model to analyze grid-connected energy system sustainable urban residential applications. It explores the potential of the augmented energy system. The proposed model are validated for a sample location with HOMER simulation software to define and understand various scenarios of the multiple load profile. The work presents the sensitivity analysis approach to validate the proposed energy system.


2020 ◽  
Vol 209 ◽  
pp. 06004
Author(s):  
Aleksey Edelev ◽  
Alexander Feoktistov ◽  
Igor Bychkov ◽  
Olga Basharina

This article presents a package for analyzing the energy system vulnerability developed with new technology for continuous integration, delivery, and deployment of applied software. It implements a framework that allows combining and optimally using various methods for modelling energy systems and provides the comprehensive assessment of their vulnerability with regard to various uncertainties. The essential principles to identify and rank critical elements of an energy system are considered in the article. The investigations made with the package shown that the principles seem to be logical for the subsequent construction of the invariant set of measures for improving the energy system resilience.


Author(s):  
A.M. Aslam Saja ◽  
Melissa Teo ◽  
Ashantha Goonetilleke ◽  
A.M. Ziyath ◽  
Jagath Gunatilake

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present a framework for evaluation and ranking of potential surrogates to select the optimum surrogates and test it for five selected social resilience indicators in a disaster context. Innovative resilience assessment approaches are required to capture key facets of resilience indicators to deepen the understanding of social resilience. Surrogates can adequately represent the target indicator that is difficult to measure, as surrogates are defined as key facets of a target indicator. Design/methodology/approach To optimize the selection of surrogates, five key evaluation criteria were used. Disaster management experts completed an online survey questionnaire and evaluated three potential surrogate options. Surrogates were then ranked using PROMETHEE, a multi-experts multi-criteria group decision analysis technique. Findings A framework was devised to evaluate and rank potential surrogates to assess social resilience in a disaster context. The findings revealed that the first ranked surrogate can be the most critical facet of a resilience indicator of measure. In most instances, highly experienced cohort of practitioners and policy makers have aligned their preferences of surrogates with the overall ranking of surrogates obtained in this study. Research limitations/implications The surrogate approach can also be tested in different disaster and geographic contexts. The resilience indicators used in this study to explore surrogates are largely applicable in all contexts. However, the preference of surrogates may also vary in different contexts. Practical implications Once the surrogate is selected through an evaluation process proposed in this paper, the resilience status can be updated regularly with the help of the selected surrogate. The first ranked surrogate for each of the social resilience indicator can be applied, since the findings revealed that the first ranked surrogate can be the most critical facet in the context of the social resilience indicator being measured. Social implications The framework and the selection of optimal surrogates will assist to overcome the conceptual and methodical challenges of social resilience assessment. The applicability of selected surrogates by practitioners and policymakers in disaster management will play a vital role in resilience investment decision-making at the community level. Originality/value The surrogate approach has been used in the fields of ecology and clinical medicine to overcome the challenges in measuring difficult to measure indicators. The use of surrogates in this study to measure social resilience indicators in a disaster context is innovative, which was not yet explored in resilience measurement in disaster management. Graphical abstract


Author(s):  
Simon Hilpert ◽  
Stephan Günther ◽  
Cord Kaldemeyer ◽  
Uwe Krien ◽  
Guido Plessmann ◽  
...  

The process of modelling energy systems is accompanied by challenges inherently connected with mathematical modelling. However, due to modern realities in the 21st century, existing challenges are gaining in magnitude and are supplemented with new ones. Modellers are confronted with a rising complexity of energy systems and high uncertainties on different levels. In addition, interdisciplinary modelling is necessary for getting insight in mechanisms of an integrated world. At the same time models need to meet scientific standards as public acceptance becomes increasingly important. In this intricate environment model application as well as result communication and interpretation is also getting more difficult.In this paper we present the open energy modelling framework (oemof) as a novel approach for energy system modelling and derive its contribution to existing challenges. Therefore, based on literature review, we outline challenges for energy system modelling as well as existing and emerging approaches. Based on a description of the philosophy and elementary structural elements of oemof, a qualitative analysis of the framework with regard to the challenges is undertaken. Inherent features of oemof such as  the open source, open data, non-proprietary and collaborative modelling approach are preconditions to meet modern realities of energy modelling. Additionally, a generic basis with an object-oriented implementation allows to tackle challenges related to complexity of highly integrated future energy systems and sets the foundation to address uncertainty in the future. Experiences from the collaborative modelling approach can enrich interdisciplinary modelling activities.Our analysis concludes that there are remaining challenges that can neither be tackled by a model nor a modelling framework. Among these are problems connected to result communication and interpretation.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.V. Edelev ◽  
E.S. Fereferov

The paper addresses the problem of supporting research of the energy systems resilience. The resilience is concerned with the energy system ability to withstand large disturbances. To reach the goal of creating user-friendly software for decision making support in that field, a software platform is considered. It includes some original frameworks for retrieving, gathering, querying and analysing data, and building thematic maps to produce disturbance scenarios and evaluate consequences of their impact. The main advantage of the proposed platform is its applicability for all the stages of the energy system resilience research starting from risk mitigation assessment and ending with comparing alternative recovering or reconstruction strategies.


Author(s):  
Simon Hilpert ◽  
Cord Kaldemeyer ◽  
Uwe Krien ◽  
Stephan Günther ◽  
Clemens Wingenbach ◽  
...  

Energy system models have become indispensable to shape future energy systems by providing insights into different trajectories. However, sustainable systems with high shares of renewable energy are characterized by growing cross-sectoral interdependencies and decentralized structures. To capture important properties of increasingly complex energy systems, sophisticated and flexible modelling tools are needed. At the same time open science becomes increasingly important in energy system modelling. This paper presents the Open Energy Modelling Framework (oemof) as a novel approach in energy system modelling, representation and analysis. The framework forms a toolbox to construct comprehensive energy system models and has been published open source under a free license. With a collaborative development based on open processes the framework seeks for a maximum level of participation and transparency to facilitate open science principles in energy system modelling. Based on a generic graph based description of energy systems it is well suited to flexibly model complex cross-sectoral systems and incorporate various modelling approaches. This makes the framework a multi-purpose modelling environment for modelling and analyzing different systems ranging from an urban to a transnational scale.


2020 ◽  
Vol 81 (6) ◽  
pp. 23-31
Author(s):  
M. I. Vasileva

The aim of the study was to investigate approaches to the formation of general educational skills. A survey examining the design and research process was carried out by 6th-grade Russian students over the course of an extracurricular project entitled «Names of Modern Professions». In the paper, the selection of the «Lexicology» section for such activities carried out by school pupils is substantiated and stages of work on the project are described. The applied methodology involves theoretical analysis of scientific literature, formative experimentation, analysis of products of educational activities, observation and description. It is concluded that the design of extracurricular research activities in the Russian language contributes to the formation of general educational competencies in conducting surveys and searching for information on the basis of subject skills.


2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 1249-1265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yijun Liu ◽  
Guiyong Zhang ◽  
Huan Lu ◽  
Zhi Zong

Purpose Due to the strong reliance on element quality, there exist some inherent shortcomings of the traditional finite element method (FEM). The model of FEM behaves overly stiff, and the solutions of automated generated linear elements are generally of poor accuracy about especially gradient results. The proposed cell-based smoothed point interpolation method (CS-PIM) aims to improve the results accuracy of the thermoelastic problems via properly softening the overly-stiff stiffness. Design/methodology/approach This novel approach is based on the newly developed G space and weakened weak (w2) formulation, and of which shape functions are created using the point interpolation method and the cell-based gradient smoothing operation is conducted based on the linear triangular background cells. Findings Owing to the property of softened stiffness, the present method can generally achieve better accuracy and higher convergence results (especially for the temperature gradient and thermal stress solutions) than the FEM does by using the simplest linear triangular background cells, which has been examined by extensive numerical studies. Practical implications The CS-PIM is capable of producing more accurate results of temperature gradients as well as thermal stresses with the automated generated and unstructured background cells, which make it a better candidate for solving practical thermoelastic problems. Originality/value It is the first time that the novel CS-PIM was further developed for solving thermoelastic problems, which shows its tremendous potential for practical implications.


Kybernetes ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 1083-1102
Author(s):  
Georgios N. Aretoulis ◽  
Jason Papathanasiou ◽  
Fani Antoniou

Purpose This paper aims to rank and identify the most efficient project managers (PMs) based on personality traits, using Preference Ranking Organization METHod for Enrichment Evaluations (PROMETHEE) methodology. Design/methodology/approach The proposed methodology relies on the five personality traits. These were used as the selection criteria. A questionnaire survey among 82 experienced engineers was used to estimate the required weights per personality trait. A second two-part questionnaire survey aimed at recording the PMs profile and assess the performance of personality traits per PM. PMs with the most years of experience are selected to be ranked through Visual PROMETHEE. Findings The findings suggest that a competent PM is the one that scores low on the “Neuroticism” trait and high especially on the “Conscientiousness” trait. Research limitations/implications The research applied a psychometric test specifically designed for Greek people. Furthermore, the proposed methodology is based on the personality characteristics to rank the PMs and does not consider the technical skills. Furthermore, the type of project is not considered in the process of ranking PMs. Practical implications The findings could contribute in the selection of the best PM that maximizes the project team’s performance. Social implications Improved project team communication and collaboration leading to improved project performance through better communication and collaboration. This is an additional benefit for the society, especially in the delivery of public infrastructure projects. A lot of public infrastructure projects deviate largely as far as cost and schedule is concerned and this is an additional burden for public and society. Proper project management through efficient PMs would save people’s money and time. Originality/value Identification of the best PMbased on a combination of multicriteria decision-making and psychometric tests, which focus on personality traits.


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