Optimization Models for Operation of Power-to-X Technologies

A climate-neutral energy system relies on an integrated approach to decarbonization across different sectors and end uses, such as electricity, heating, cooling, transport, and industry. Sector coupling represents the key for exploiting synergies coming from the interplay of different energy sources and carriers to enhance flexibility for the whole system and renewable energy integration and increase efficiency in the energy resources use, by also increasing the resilience of existing network infrastructures. Despite these evident benefits, sector coupling and power-to-X (PtX) technologies define new challenges for the energy system operation, being among others the interdependency among energy carriers and related technologies and processes that need to be properly modeled and optimized for an efficient operation, by serving different sustainability objectives. This chapter aims to present a comprehensive analytical framework for the operation optimization of sector coupling and PtX technologies in the context of multi-carrier energy system (MCES) by considering multiple objectives. The mathematical modeling considers all the layers of the dependency, including the system components and intersectoral aspects. The effectiveness of the proposed optimization models is demonstrated through two case studies with different degrees of complexity both in terms of energy carriers considered and end users involved.