En­ergy Sys­tem Eco­nom­ics and Mod­el­ling

Course content

One of humanity’s greatest challenges is the transition towards a low-carbon energy supply. To achieve this transition the energy sector needs to undergo significant restructuring processes. This course teaches you topics related to the design of energy, and especially electricity markets and systems with a high proportion of renewable electricity generation seen as a key element to mitigate climate change and protect future generations.

Following a general introduction to the energy sector, various special features of renewable energy and their impact on the functioning of the sector are introduced. The course will use cases and examples from current developments, such as wind energy expansion, capacity and balancing markets, the future hydrogen sector design, and decarbonisation of transport, and enable students to develop skills in assessing analytical results to guide businesses and policymakers in their energy strategies. The course teaches the open-source programming language Julia and the use of open data platforms like the Open Power System Data (OPSD) platform to provide a tool for the analysis of renewable energy systems.

The course is divided into two main parts. In the first part, you will attend weekly lectures that cover basics in energy economics. These lectures focus on techno-economic analysis using numerical optimization and emphasize ambiguity stemming from simplified models. In the second part, you will work on modelling exercises about sample cases along the course’s material to prepare for your case-based assignment and the oral exam.

Lectures

• Introduction to the energy system and renewable energy sources
• Introduction to energy systems modelling
• Presentation of models for the analysis of energy systems using energy systems modelling
• Use of cases and current examples from the energy sector to illustrate the use of energy system models

Exercises

• Introduction to the Julia programming language for energy system modelling
• Modelling exercises
• Working with cases and small models
• Discussion of group work

This module is endorsed by the Copenhagen School of Energy Infrastructure (CSEI) at CBS and it is embedded in its overall strategy of research and education. CSEI is directly supported by the European Commission (DG Energy).