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Lost generation: Reflections on resilience and flexibility from an energy system architecture perspective

Lowe, RJ; Chiu, LF; Pye, S; Cassarino, TG; Scamman, D; Solano-Rodriguez, B; (2021) Lost generation: Reflections on resilience and flexibility from an energy system architecture perspective. Applied Energy , 298 , Article 117179. 10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.117179. Green open access

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Abstract

Whole energy system modelling is a valuable tool to support the development of policy to decarbonise energy systems, and has been used extensively in the UK for this purpose. However, quantitative insights produced by such models necessarily omit potentially important features of physical and engineering reality. The authors argue that important socio-technical insights can be gained by studying critical events such as the loss of 2.1 GW generation from the electricity system of Great Britain on 9th August 2019, in conjunction with literature on the behaviour of complex systems. Among these insights is the idea that models of the operation and evolution of energy systems can never be complete. Both system behaviour (operation) and the emergence and evolution of structure in such systems are formally uncomputable. This provides a starting point for a discussion of the need for additional tools, drawn from the System Architecture literature, to support the design and realisation of future, fully-decarbonised systems with high penetrations of renewable energy. Desirable properties of System Architectures, including current and future Energy System Architectures, are discussed. These include resilience and flexibility, for which there is an extensive literature. They also include the properties of comprehensibility, which helps to make complex systems easier to operate, and of evolvability, for which a working definition is offered.

Type: Article
Title: Lost generation: Reflections on resilience and flexibility from an energy system architecture perspective
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.117179
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.117179
Language: English
Additional information: This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
Keywords: Energy system modelling, resilience, flexibility, governance, storage, electricity system outage, energy system architecture
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment > Bartlett School Env, Energy and Resources
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10131222
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