Energy supply security in remote areas

The current geopolitical situation has demonstrated the importance of the islands in the Arctic ocean. For many of these islands secure energy supply is demanding since connecting to the mainland electrical grid is not feasible. From an environmental perspective there are also initiatives to increase the use of renewable energy sources. For some locations the production of electricity has been based on coal and a transition takes places where diesel is the main energy source and initiatives are made to a further transition into wind and or solar energy sources. A major challenge with solar- and wind-based plants is the need for energy storage for these variable power sources. Both use of hydrogen and batteries have been considered. The paper presents a quantitative energy supply security analysis framework for remote areas. Several simplified case studies are provided, and in particular the paper focuses on the modelling of variable energy sources relying on energy storage systems like hydrogen or batteries where the storage capacity proves to be a major challenge since during the winter there are periods where the wind is hardly blowing.

Keywords: Energy supply security, Remote areas, Zero emission energy sources, Wind and solar.