Detailed spatial analysis of renewables' potential and heat: A study of Groningen Province in the northern Netherlands. (15th July 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Sahoo, Somadutta; Zuidema, Christian; van Stralen, Joost N.P.; Sijm, Jos; Faaij, André
• Is Part Of: Applied energy. Volume 318(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-07-15
• Subjects: Renewable potential -- Regional level -- Land-use constraints -- Scenarios -- Heat demand -- And biomass; BE Built Environment -- DH district heating -- DM dry matter -- FLH full load hours -- GBPV Ground-based photovoltaics -- GEV Groningen Environmental Vision 2016-2020 -- GHI Global Horizontal Irradiation -- GIS Geographic Information System -- GJ Giga Joule -- GO Groningen Ordinance 2016 -- GW Gigawatt -- ha hectare -- HV High Voltage -- IWH industrial waste heat -- KEV Dutch Climate Agreement and Energy Outlook (in Dutch) -- kt kiloton -- LER Land Equivalent Ratio -- LHV low heating value -- LV low voltage -- MV medium voltage -- NACE Nomenclature statistique des activités économiques dans la Communauté Européenne (in French) -- NG Natural Gas -- NIMBY Not in my backyard -- NNN Nature Network of the Netherlands -- Odt oven-dry tons -- PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (in Dutch) -- PV photovoltaics -- RES Regional Energy System -- RIVM National Institute for Public Health and Environment (in Dutch) -- TJ Tera Joule -- TNO Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (in Dutch) -- wfs web feature service; Power (Mechanics) -- Periodicals; Energy conservation -- Periodicals; Energy conversion -- Periodicals; 621.042
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2022.119149
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0306-2619

Abstract

Highlights: Renewable supply potentials are strongly dependent on spatial policies. Spatial policy changes can unlock vast potentials of renewable energy. Combining windfarms and ground-based photovoltaics is realistic and efficient. Heat demand density is greatly influenced by buildings' spatial footprint. Abstract: Spatially sensitive regional renewables' potentials are greatly influenced by existing land-use claims and related spatial and environmental policies. Similarly, heat particularly related to low-temperature demand applications in the built environment (BE) is highly spatially explicit. This study developed an analytical approach for a detailed spatial analysis of future solar PV, onshore wind, biomass, and geothermal and industrial waste heat potentials at a regional level and applied in the Dutch Province of Groningen. We included spatial policies, various spatial claims, and other land-use constraints in developing renewable scenarios for 2030 and 2050. We simultaneously considered major spatial claims and multiple renewable energy sources. Claims considered are the BE, agriculture, forest, nature, and network and energy infrastructure, with each connected to social, ecological, environmental, technical, economic, and policy-related constraints. Heat demand was further analyzed by creating highly granular demand density maps, comparing them with regional heat supply potential, and identifying the economic feasibility of heat networks. We analyzed the possibilities of combining multiple renewables on the same land. The 2050 renewable scenarios results ranged 2–66 PJ for solar PV and 0–48 PJ for onshore wind and biomass ranged 3.5–25 PJ for both 2030 and 2050. These large ranges of potentials show the significant impact of spatial constraints and underline the need for understanding how they shape future energy policies. The heat demand density map shows that future heat networks are feasible in large population centers. Our approach is pragmatic and replicable in other regions, subject to data availability.