Climate and energy policies are tools used to steer the development of a sustainable economy supplied by equally sustainable energy systems. End-users should plan their investments accounting for future policies, such as incentives for system-oriented consumption, emission prices and hydrogen economy, to ensure long-term competitiveness. In this work, the utilization of variable renewable energy and flexibility potentials in a case study of an aggregate industry is investigated. An energy concept considering PV and battery expansion, flexible production, fuel cell electric trucks (FCEV) and hydrogen production is proposed, and analysed under expected techno-economic conditions and policies of 2030 using an energy system optimization model. Under this concept, total costs and emissions are reduced by 14% and 70%, respectively, compared to the business-as-usual system. The main benefit of PV investment is the lowered electricity procurement. Flexibility from schedulable manufacturing and hydrogen production increases not only the self-consumption of PV generation from 51% to 80% but also the optimal PV capacity by 41%. Despite the expected cost reduction and efficiency improvement, FCEV is still not competitive to diesel trucks due to higher investment and fuel prices, i.e., its adoption increases the costs by 8%. However, this is resolved when hydrogen can be produced from own surplus electricity generation. Our findings reveal synergistic effects between different potentials and the importance of enabling local business models, e.g., regional hydrogen production and storage services. The SWOT analysis of the proposed concept shows that the pursuit of sustainability via new technologies entails new opportunities and risks. Lastly, end-users and policymakers are advised to plan their investments and supports towards integration of multiple application, consumption sectors and infrastructure.

Nowadays decarbonisation of the energy system is one of the main concerns for most governments. Renewable energy technologies, such as rooftop photovoltaic systems and home battery storage systems, are changing the energy system to be more decentralised. As a consequence, new ways of energy business models are emerging, e.g., peer-to-peer energy trading. This new concept provides an online marketplace where direct energy exchange can occur between its participants. The purpose of this study is to conduct a content analysis of the existing literature, ongoing research projects, and companies related to peer-to-peer energy trading. From this review, a summary of the most important aspects and journal papers is assessed, discussed, and classified. It was found that the different energy market types were named in various ways and a proposal for standard language for the several peer-to-peer market types and the different actors involved is suggested. Additionally, by grouping the most important attributes from peer-to-peer energy trading projects, an assessment of the entry barrier and scalability potential is performed by using a characterisation matrix.

The reduction in PV prices and interest in energy independence accelerate the adoption of residential battery storage. This storage can support various functions of an energy system undergoing decarbonization. In this work, operative benefits of storage from the system perspective, namely, generation cost reduction and congestion mitigation, are investigated. Germany is chosen as a case study due to its strong reliance on variable renewable energy. For the analysis, an economic dispatch model with a high spatial resolution is coupled with a pan-European transmission grid model. It is shown that the system’s generation costs are highest when the assets are used only to maximize PV self-consumption, and the costs are lowest when the storage also reacts to the market dynamics. This amounts to a 6% cost reduction. Both operation strategies result in an equal level of grid congestion and infrastructure loading. This is improved with a strategy that accounts for regional peak reduction as a secondary objective. The high congestion level emphasizes that grid expansion needs to keep pace with the generation and electrification expansion necessary to decarbonize other sectors. Lastly, policymakers should enable multipurpose utilization, e.g., via the introduction of market-oriented retail electricity prices with intervention options for grid operators.