Techno-Economic Analysis & Assessment and Markets

The Swiss Energy Strategy 2050 (ES2050) recognizes several key challenges for the future Swiss energy system, including: decarbonization, significant integration of variable renewable energy (VRE) sources, a nuclear phase-out, decentralization of supply, improvements in energy efficiency, and ensuring system security and resiliency. Compared to the traditional paradigm, the desired energy transition will result in a system with:

• significantly higher penetration of intermittent (i.e. non-dispatchable) energy resources with very low variable generation cost,
• significant penetration of distributed energy resources, such as solar photovoltaics (PV), electric vehicles (EV) and battery energy storage systems (BESS) connected at medium voltage (MV) and low voltage (LV) levels, and
• considerable electrification of end-energy demand, namely heating and transportation, which have been traditionally covered
  by other energy carriers. The future of Switzerland’s energy market design and regulations (MD&R) will be critical to realize this envisioned transition and achieve the goals set out in the ES2050.

In the meantime a significant amount of VRE is appearing at the distribution grid levels (i.e. MV and LV). This trend is expected to continue, especially in the form of rooftop and small-scale solar PV, often combined with BESS. At the same time, a plurality of active resources is appearing at the distribution grid levels, such as EVs and EV charging infrastructure and electrified heating. Distribution system operators (DSO) are therefore facing the challenge to coordinate the active energy resources appearing in their networks to ensure local grid operational feasibility. The appearance of power production and energy storage in distribution grids also opens the discussion of running local energy markets, where prosumers exchange energy with each other. Furthermore, today’s wholesale electricity markets are not designed to accommodate participation from massive amounts of distributed resources.

Countries differ significantly in their electricity supply mix and in their patterns of electricity demand which may lead to cross-country variations in MD&R. Thus, in order to identify best options (either in terms of technology, or pricing) for energy consumers, the cost-benefit analysis of new technologies as well as new markets to acommodate new distributed energy resources require focused (i.e., accounting for regional characteristics) and meticulous quantitative analysis.

Please visit the dedicated page of each project on the relevant topics above.