IEEE Electrification - June 2019 - 14

With the goal of
decarbonizing
transports by 2040,
the sale of new
gasoline and diesel
cars will be banned
by 2032.

Installing energy storage, such as
batteries and thermal energy storage
(TES), may tackle some of these
issues. A battery can store the surplus
PV generated for later use or, as
shown in Figure 3, convert it to heat
and store it for later use. This strategy
could reduce electricity demand
because the heat stored in the TES
could reduce EHP operation later. This
system is more flexible than the two
presented previously, as the new multienergy system allows the intelligent
use of TES (through the use of ICT
and automation) to control electricity imports and exports
without affecting customers. For example, electricity
imports can be reduced by ramping down the EHP while
still meeting customer needs with the TES. The downside
to this approach is that it does not take advantage of the
available infrastructure, such as the gas network and boiler shown in Figure 1.
Other options, such as the one presented in Figure 4,
involve installing various low-carbon multienergy technologies, such as combined heat and power (CHP) boilers and
TES. Other technologies, such as PV and EHP, can also be

Electricity Network

Sun

Electricity
Demand

Heat
Demand

EHP

Electricity

Heat

Insolation

Figure 2. Electrifying heat.

added. This type of system is highly
flexible, as there are multiple controllable options to meet the electricity
and heat demands. For example, if
grid electricity is inexpensive and
clean due to the availability of RES,
electricity imports can be increased by
ramping down the CHP boiler and
meeting heat demand with the TES
and boiler. It is also possible to reduce
the grid imports (e.g., to provide an
active network management) by
ramping up the CHP boiler and storing
surplus heat with the TES. This gives
customers new options not only to meet their energy
needs but to also reduce their energy bills, minimize their
carbon emissions, or pursue other objectives.

Integrated Multienergy Systems
The different energy futures presented in Figures 1-4
should be expected to lead to various mergers of energy
vectors. This coupling can impact the networks in place to
supply each vector, such as electricity, gas, and, where
applicable, district heating. Understanding these complex
effects is not trivial; it is necessary because the large-scale
electrification of heating and transports can lead to significant electricity network stress. Further, in a multienergy
future, actively managing stress in one network can lead
to issues in others, e.g., the use of CHP boilers to provide
electricity network support may cause issues in the heat
and gas networks. To visualize the effects, it is helpful to
map how different energy vectors are converted to useful
services or energy vectors (e.g., using generators and other
conversion technologies) and how energy vectors are distributed to customers using the available networks.
To illustrate this dynamic, consider the Manchester
district in the United Kingdom, presented in Figure 5.
The district comprises 26 buildings owned by the University of Manchester, some of which are connected to
the same electricity distribution (6.6 kV), district

Electricity Network

Electricity
Demand

EHP

Electricity

TES

Heat

Figure 3. Electrifying heat and installing TES.

I E E E E l e c t r i f i cati o n M agaz ine / J UN E 2019

Heat
Demand

Insolation

CHP
Gas Network

Sun

Electricity Network

Boiler

Electricity
Figure 4. Installing CHP and TES.

Electricity
Demand

TES

Heat

Heat
Demand
Gas

IEEE Electrification - June 2019

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