Room: Yangtze 1
Date: Wednesday, 20 May 2026
Time: 16:15 - 17:15 CEST
Session code 3BO.12
Biomass systems integration
Flexible Bioelectricity as Balancing Service in a 100% Renewable Electricity System - A Case Study on the Island of Sicily in 2050
Short Introductive summary
The energy transition is marked by a shift from fossil, centralized electricity generation towards decentralized intermittent renewables, including wind and solar photovoltaics. Decentralized bio-electricity could play a crucial role in this system, by offering on-demand, dispatchable electricity to balance the intermittency and improve the resilience of distributed electricity systems. In Sicily, renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and regional biomass are abundant. This study investigated the extent to which regional biomass supply in Sicily can provide the bioelectricity needed to balance a 100% renewable, decentralized electricity system in 2050 and the associated system requirements. Through a techno-physical adequacy analysis, different scenarios were simulated on an hourly level for the year 2050, using a combined energy system modelling approach with EnergyPLAN as the main tool. Several additional tools were used to complement EnergyPLAN and model the different system components in a detailed, innovative manner.
EUBCE Student Awardee Presentation
Presenter
Niels BLOKHUIS
Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, THE NETHERLANDS
Presenter's biography
Last year, I graduated as an MSc Energy Science from Utrecht University, after which I started working as a researcher at the Department of Engineering, University of Messina. In recent years, I have focused on modelling and analysis of long-term scenarios for integrated large-scale energy systems.
Biographies and Short introductive summaries are supplied directly by presenters and are published here unedited
Co-authors:
R. Hoefnagels, Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, THE NETHERLANDS
M. Prestipino, Dpt. of Engineering - University of Messina, ITALY
Session reference: 3BO.12.3