The Swedish power system is facing a lot of change in the near future. A system which is built around nuclear- and hydropower now contains more and more intermittent power sources such as wind and solar. In addition, Sweden is entering a second electrification era, where the electricity use is predicted to increase substantially. This means the need for flexibility in the power system is bigger than ever and is going to increase. The power system needs to be in balance at every instance. The same amount of energy that is produced also needs to be consumed. This balance, or imbalance, affects the frequency in the system and there are balancing markets in place to handle disturbances in the frequency.Flexible solutions outside these balancing markets can also be valuable since they can lower costs for power use and prevent unnecessary investments in the power grids. This thesis was written in cooperation with the municipal energy company Gävle Energi. The cases it is built on are both cases in and around Gävle. The study is based on two cases: One case where a local hauling company is interested in a combination of solar power, electric charging for vehicles, and a battery storage. The hauling company plans to electrify parts of their fleet and will by doing so increase their power use. The second case regards the building of a gasturbine for electricity production in Gävle Energi’s grid. Both cases examine how the balancing markets can be used to motivate investments in flexible solutions. The hauling company can lower their power peaks by using a battery storage and the battery storage can also be used to sell capacity on the balancing market FCR-D. Through planning when heavy duty charging and regular vehicle charging is done, unnecessary power peaks can be avoided. The study shows that a battery storage can in fact be profitable and bring benefits to both the hauling company and the national energy system. The second case, the gas turbine, is based on income from both the spot market and the balancing market mFRR which is then compared to the price for gas. The income from mFRR was varied between 140-250% of the prices from 2021 and the gas price was varied from 800-2100 SEK. The results show that the prices for mFRR need to increase a lot for the turbine to be profitable and the gas turbine could perhaps be more beneficial if combined with other solutions. The case has a lot of insecurities as the turbine runs very few hours per year (only 10 hours would have been profitable in 2021). It becomes vital that the bidding is won these hours, which is hard to predict.

The building sector is one of the largest consumers of energy and producers of greenhouse gas emissions in Ontario, representing 13% of the province’s emissions. Recently, countries have been looking to decrease their emissions in response to climate change. The electrification of space heating and domestic hot water preparation has gained traction in reducing emissions in countries with low emission electricity grids. This thesis proposes a novel energy delivery system called the Integrated Community Energy and Harvesting (ICE-Harvest) system. The ICE-Harvest system is a modified 5th Generation District Heating and Cooling (5GDHC) system. An ICE-Harvest system, much like a 5GDHC system, is a district energy system that incorporates heat pumps to couple the thermal and electrical energy demands of buildings. The ICE-Harvest system uses heat pumps to supply both heating and cooling from a one pipe thermal distribution network. The ICE-Harvest system has unidirectional mass flow in a ring arrangement with branches at each building. Bidirectional energy flow between the network and buildings is permitted, meaning that heat rejection from cooling processes can be recovered in the network to reduce the total system heating load. This concept is referred to as energy sharing. The energy needs of the network, and thus the buildings, are serviced through a centralized generation station referred to as the Energy Management Center (EMC). The EMC regulates the supply temperature of the network to the controlled setpoint. Within the EMC, the primary generation source is a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) unit. The purpose of this CHP is to offset the existing centralized natural gas generators on the Ontario electrical grid. These gas generators operate intermittently and inefficiently as a form of dispatchable generation to stabilize the provincial electrical grid. In this research, it is proposed that ICE-Harvest systems with on-site CHPs could replace these gas generators while providing the same support to the electrical grid at a much higher energy utilization ratio. For an accurate comparison, the CHP is constrained to only turn on according to the electricity system operator's gas generator dispatching schedule. An auxiliary boiler is included in the EMC to provide heat when the CHP is not permitted to operate. However, the possibility for Thermal Energy Storage (TES) to replace this boiler is also explored. An ICE-Harvest system's ideal design depends on the market conditions, building energy demands, and available waste energy sources. This research presents an ICE-Harvest system in a heating demand dominated community located in Ontario, Canada. The community consists of five buildings. The ICE-Harvest system is compared to conventional and alternative building energy systems using the energy consumption data of these buildings. The systems are compared according to their energy consumption, emissions produced, and impact on the electrical grid at both the distribution and transmission levels. The topic of using thermal energy storage in ICE-Harvest systems is also discussed, and a parameter sweep is performed on the thermal energy storage capacity. The results show that the ICE-Harvest system offers demand management opportunities to electricity system operators, substantially reduces annual emissions, and offers improved energy utilization compared to conventional systems. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

Hydraulic oils are today most often based on mineral oil and thus eventuate in environmental and climate impacts during all its life cycle phases, but there are bio-based alternatives. Hy- draulic oils are widely used in forklifts, and the use of forklifts is increasing due to logistics within e-commerce. What can be done to reduce the impacts of hydraulic oils and their applications? To answer this question a life cycle assessment was implemented where a mineral-based oil was compared with a bio-based oil. Previous life cycle assessments in this field implies that much of the impacts of hydraulic oils occur during the final life cycle phase. Therefore, to broaden the study, waste oil management in Sweden and Europe was investigated. To gain an understanding of how hydraulic oils are being used, a market analysis directed at the Swedish forklift market was also implemented. The results show that re-refining, i.e. material recycling, is absolutely necessary to reduce impacts from hydraulic oils and to cope with the phasing out of fossil fuels. Re-refining resulted in a 79 % reduction among eight analysed impact categories compared with if the waste oil is processed into fuel and used as an energy source in manufacturing industries. Additionally, the use of bio-based hydraulic oil, in comparison with mineral-based oil, resulted in a 32 % reduction of greenhouse gases. However, it entails implications regarding other environmental impact categories, mostly connected to the cultivation of oil-rich plants from which these are derived. Which must be improved to ensure more sustainable cultivation of such crops. When it comes to awareness of hydraulics oil within the material handling market, the hydraulic oil in a forklift is not something forklift buyers pay much attention to today. Although, something that is considered important is the environmental labeling of the oil because it has a symbolic value and ensures that it meets environmental requirements. The findings in this study, together with results from similar studies, emphasize that no solution solves all environmental challenges because new ones will always occur. However, it highlights essential keystones regarding how the transition towards a more sustainable hydraulic oil management should proceed and that focus must be directed at the entire life cycle, especially at re-refining of waste oils.

Som ett led i en naturlig utveckling har de nordiska länderna tillsammans beslutat sig för att minska barriärerna och harmonisera processer mellan länderna och på så sätt möjliggöra för en gemensam nordisk elmarknad. År 2008 påbörjades arbete med harmoniseringen, vilken syftar till att möjliggöra för kunden att handla sin el från samtliga nordiska länder. Tillförlitliga elleveranser och effektiva och konkurrensmässiga elpriser ska förändra konkurrensbilden och elmarknaden ska anta ett mer marknadsanpassat utseende.    Syftet med den här rapporten är att studera hur ett elföretag kommer att påverkas av utvecklingen mot en gemensam nordisk slutkundsmarknad. I ett första steg presenteras nuläget på den svenska elmarknaden, vartefter ett scenario har tagits fram, baserat på förväntade förändringar på elmarknaden. Scenariot syftar till att ge en överskådlig bild av elmarknaden år 2020, men har sin tyngdpunkt i arbetet med en gemensam nordisk slutkundsmarknad. Rapporten avslutas med allmänna rekommendationer om hur ett nät- och elhandelsföretag bör agera för att fortsätta att vara framgångsrika på elmarknaden.  En framtida gemensam nordisk slutkundsmarknad kommer att bestå av 15 miljoner elanvändare och en helt ny konkurrenssituation kommer att växa fram. Nya aktörer, uppköp och klusterbildning kommer att prägla den marknad som ett elföretag ska verka på, på en framtida gemensam nordisk slutkundsmarknad.  Intervjuer, workshops och enkäter visar att harmonisering kommer att leda till ökade kostnaderna för elföretagen. Detta då de exempelvis måste implementera nya IT-system som är kompatibla med övriga system i Norden, samt att företagen måste kunna hantera så väl språkskillnader som kulturella skillnader. Mindre elföretag kommer att få det svårt ekonomisk i ett initialt skede och bör därför fundera över olika strategiska vägval på den nordiska slutkundsmarknaden. Dessa företag rekommenderas generellt att satsa på stark regional anknytning, medan de mellan - och större företagen bör fundera på internationell närvaro. / In 2008, the harmonisation of the Nordic electricity markets was initiated as a measure to reduce the barriers between the countries and to harmonise the utilities’ internal processes. Thereby, the overall goal of creating a common Nordic electricity market will be fulfilled. In this market, customers will be able to purchase electricity from a retailer based in any of the participating markets, creating a reliable supply and a highly competitive and efficient market character.   By analysing the as-is situation of the Swedish electricity market and creating a scenario of the common Nordic electricity market in 2020, the report aims at assessing the impact on a utility from the change of market situation. The scenario focuses on changes derived from the harmonisation but also includes macro trends. In the report, general recommendations are presented on how DSOs and retailers can manage the transformation prosperously and profitably.   The future Nordic electricity market will consist of 15 million end users and a competitive landscape, new to every utility in the energy sector, will emerge. The new market will be characterised by new players, frequent mergers and acquisitions and cluster strategies.   By conducting interviews and workshops, and by carrying out surveys, it could be concluded that the harmonisation inevitably will result in increased costs for the utilities. Investments in new IT-systems compatible with systems in the other Nordic countries will be prerequisites for participating in the new market, as well as language training for customer service. In addition the utilities will face challenges in operating in countries with different cultures. Especially small sized utilities will be hit economically in the short term, being forced to take on the significant investments. The way forward for a small utility is thus strategic reviews, preferably with the result of focusing on regional presence. Medium and large sized utilities should on the contrary investigate and focus on the direction of internationalisation.

Hybridparks combines two or more energy sources. In this thesis in partnership with Arise AB case studies have been conducted in combined photovoltaic power in their existing windparks. Wind and photovoltaic have productionpatterns that compelemts the other. Which in turn gives a more stable production.  Four windparks was chosen to be studied and tested as hybridparks: Fröslida, Häradsbo, Råbelöv och Idhult.  The size of the hybridpark was based on an earlier study from Arise. One conclusion from that study was that it is possible to install photovoltaics with 2/3 of the installed windpower.  The photovoltaic plant was simulated in the program Polysun. Polysun can make simulations and give insight on the possible photovoltaic yield. The data from the simulation was combined with the windpower yield data from Arise to analyse how the hybridpark would function.  Energy storage with lithium batteries have been calculated and tested in Excel. The results show the impact the energy storage have on production and delivery to the grid. A simple control scheme with on/off method with a schedule gave the best results in a daily battery cycle.  The energy sources seldom overlap and with a controlled energy storage it is possible to deliver power to the grid during power lacking periods such as winter.

Forskare är eniga om att jorden utsätts för ständiga klimatförändringar. Detta har lett till att FN tagit fram 17 globala mål som Sverige sedan har formulerat egna miljömål ifrån. En del av den omställning som behöver göras för att nå målen är att byta till en förnybar elproduktion. Det inspirerade till ämnet för examensarbetet, flytande solceller i kombination med vattenkraftverk. Syftet var att ta fram ett underlag för beslutsfattare på energiföretag, vilket innefattar att samla de regelverk som berör hybridtekniken, samt göra en sammanställning av för- och nackdelar med tekniken. Arbetet genomfördes i samarbete med Sydkraft Hydropower AB (SHAB). En av SHABs anläggningar, Edensforsens vattenkraftverk, undersöktes för att beräkna den potentiella solelproduktionen på en del av vattenreservoaren vid vattenkraftverket. För att uppnå resultatet gjordes en fallstudie bestående av en litteraturstudie samt simuleringar i Winsun, för att göra en beräkning av solelpotentialen för den specifika vattenytan vid Edensforsen. Resultatet visade att solcellsanläggningen vid Edensforsen skulle kunna nå en årlig elproduktion på 2,15 GWh i oskuggat läge med en utnyttjad yta på 15 000 m2 och 5412 solcellsmoduler. Det finns inte några specifika regelverk för flytande solceller eller hybridtekniken. Författarna har antagit att flytande solceller klassas som vattenverksamhet och därav berörs av de regelverken. Det innebär att en miljöpåverkansbedömning måste göras och en anmälan till mark- och miljödomstolen krävs då den föreslagna verksamheten kommer vara större än 3000 m2. Tidigare studier har visat att tekniken är ny och outforskad och att det därför är svårt att säga exakt vilken miljöpåverkan de flytande solcellsanläggningarna skulle ha. Hybridtekniken har fördelar som till exempel en minskad kostnad eftersom det redan finns en nätanslutning vid vattenkraften samt att solcellernas effekt kommer vara högre eftersom de får en kylande effekt från vattnet. De nackdelar som identifierats är bland annat att förankringen av de flytande solcellerna kan bli problematisk eftersom vattennivån kan variera i reservoaren. Även att det kan krävas avancerad teknik för att vattenkraften ska kunna regleras snabbt för att kunna justeras efter solelens produktion. Om SHAB skulle välja att implementera flytande solceller vid Edensforsens vatten- kraftverk med den föreslagna ytan skulle den kunna uppnå samma energieffektivitet som den till ytan mest energieffektiva solcellsparken som finns idag i Sverige. Som förslag för fortsatta studier skulle en kostnadsanalys kunna göras för att bredda beslutsunderlaget.

In the south-east part of the district heating network in Luleå, LKAB:S facility for de-icing their trains transporting iron ore is situated. The de-icing is done by sprayning the trains with hot water. The hot water is stored and heated in a basin, heated by district heating. When the de-icing starts the temperature in the basin drops and to restore it more heat is supplied from the district heating network. This results in peaks in the heat demand which causes high flows in the district heating system. The pipes in the district heating system are under-dimensioned and the high flows thereby causes high pressure gradients and a low pressure difference in the district heating grid. The objective of this project is to even out the peaks in the heat demand from the de-icing facility in order to minimize the maximal flows and improve the pressure difference in the grid. This was done by developing a heating strategy for the facility, using the basin to store energy as hot water. The strategy resulted in lower maximal peaks, where the highest peak during the studied period was reduced from 2430 kW to 1560 kW. In order to improve the return temperature in the gridfrom the facility a new heat-exchanger was dimensioned. The impact of these changes on thedistrict heating grid in Luleå was examined by simulations of the grid in the simulation software Netsim. These simulations showed that the pressure difference at the de-icing facility increased from 50 kPa with the current system to 200 kPa with the proposed changes. An investment assesment was conducted with respect to the heat exchanger for LKAB. It shows that the yearly flow costs are reduced and that the investment would be repayed within one to three years.

The energy carrier hydrogen has a great advantage over other electricity storing techniques on the market: the ability to store electricity long-term without any geographical needs. Though today’s techniques available are of low efficiency, the interests for them are high. Hydrogen gas is versatile, and with future developments it is possibly to make great economical profit from having a hydrogen storage. This master thesis project is evaluating the possible profitability that can be made when connecting a hydrogen system to a wind farm located in Swedish electricity region SE1.  The system contains of production, storage and cold combustion of hydrogen with one main purpose: to produce hydrogen through electrolysis when the electricity prices are low and convert the gas back to electricity to sell when the prices are high. Four different simulations are made with a mixture of incomes: using the variety in the electricity price over a year, selling the by-products from the hydrogen system and selling pure hydrogen gas.  The different simulations are mainly compared through three values: levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH), earnings before interests and tax (EBIT) and return. The results show that the LCOH -cost per produced kilo hydrogen- for all simulations are higher than other compared production methods; even higher than the price per sold kilo hydrogen. EBIT -earnings per year- show that selling pure hydrogen gas makes a major difference on the yearly profit, from (the lowest result) -52217 SEK to (the highest result) 4853306 SEK. Even though EBIT show a positive result for some of the simulations, the return on the investment is negative which makes the investment non-profitable. In a sensitivity analysis with three variables, is the one who makes the biggest difference on the return value the cost of the hydrogen storage. Lowering that cost enough would make the investment profitable.

The integration of on-site renewable systems with energy storage devices is an important topic in improving energy management for commercial buildings and industrial facilities. Energy storage technologies have the ability to impact the end user’s power reliability while creating measurable energy and cost savings. However, the potential yet remains to increase the application of these systems. To determine the feasibility of renewables and energy storage in commercial and industrial applications, a pre-screening software tool is developed using data-driven algorithms to complete an energy, cost, and carbon savings analysis of storage implementation. A case study of a standalone retail building is also modeled using a comprehensive building energy modeling software program, EnergyPlus, to simulate the energy and cost savings of a solar PV with battery energy storage systems. The work in this project collectively analyzes the future impacts of renewables integrated with energy storage for small-and-medium industrial facilities and commercial buildings.

With a clear correlation between climate change and rising CO2 emissions, decarbonization has garnered serious interest in many sectors to limit the adverse effects of global warming. Heating and cooling systems have been a focus of decarbonization efforts, with heat pumps becoming more popular in the United States and abroad. In fact, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning accounts for nearly 27% of total energy use in the United States [1]. Ground source heat pumps (GSHP) utilizing borehole heat exchangers (BHE) have been shown to be an effective method of electrifying heating and cooling systems, maintaining some of the best performance for any electrified heating and cooling system currently available. Electrification, however, does come with some significant challenges. One of particular importance is the significant increase in peak demand during the heating season, which can result in a serious cost increase for the operator of the electric heating system, as well as adding operational complexities to grid operations by shifting from a summer peak to a winter peak as more heating loads are electrified. Thermal energy storage (TES) has been shown to be effective in mitigating the increase in peak demand that is seen with electrified heating and cooling systems. By storing thermal energy during off-peak hours, demand can be effectively shifted away from the peak hours. In this study, we investigate the potential of a ground source heat pump coupled with a TES system, in the form of water storage tanks, for the University of Massachusetts, as a way of decarbonizing the institution’s HVAC system while minimizing operating and installed costs.