2020.06

Multiple electrical interconnectors

Many countries import and export electricity with their neighbors through different interconnectors, and the ETM used to model this with a single electricity interconnector. However, in the real-world countries often have multiple interconnectors with different neighbours, each with their own capacity, price, and availability.

The ETM now models up to six independent interconnectors, each of which have configurable capacity, CO₂ emissions, and price. You may choose whether to export only excess electricity, or if dispatchable plants may also produce electricity destined for export. You can realistically model all electricity flows across the borders of your country, and see an overview of all these electricity flows in a new chart.

Discover this new functionality in the Flexibility → Import/Export section.

Heat demand curves for buildings and agriculture

The hourly heat demand curves in the buildings and agriculture sector are now temperature dependent. This means that the shape of the demand curves will change depending on the selected weather year. Previously, the ETM used static demand profiles for the buildings sector and a flat profile for agriculture. Both sectors now use the same profile, based on data from large gas consumers, which is generated dynamically using weather data. As a result, this profile is now also available for the weather years 1987, 1997, and 2004. Heat demand in buildings and agriculture responds to outdoor temperature fluctuations, just like households heating demand.

Get insight in the impact of the weather year selection on demand curves in the Flexibility → Weather conditions section.

Impact of outdoor temperature on yearly energy demand

The impact of a higher or lower average outdoor temperature has been revised. In addition to heating and cooling demand in households and buildings, changing outdoor temperature now also affects heating demand in the agriculture sector. Heating demand in all three sectors now is more sensitive to temperature changes; the impact of temperature on heat demand is based on research by the Dutch gas TSO. See our documentation page for more info. This improvement is relevant for both the temperature slider and the weather year selection.

Check out this improvement in the Flexibility → Weather conditions section.