A green transition-oriented balancing model for the gas system with intra-day restrictions: Case of Denmark

In order to achieve ambitious decarbonisation targets, not only the electric power system, but also the natural gas system needs to be decarbonised through the adoption of renewable energy sources. One main barrier for the decarbonised gas system is its balancing once highly fluctuating renewable sources are integrated. The balancing models today are mostly based on the daily balancing mechanism in which incentives are given to the shippers (market players) to stay within specified flexibility margins. However, the shippers are allowed to deviate, and often the transmission systems operators must balance the system to maintain its integrity. In this work, a balancing model is proposed for gas systems based on the within-day obligations. The balancing model gives a strong incentive to the shippers to balance their portfolios within the day. The simulations are conducted on the Danish gas transmission system and the real data streams are included. The results have shown that the proposed balancing model is promising for future scenarios, and a decrease of the accumulated system imbalance by around 98% is accomplished compared to the conventional balancing model. Moreover, the proposed balancing model prevents large deviations in the flow and limits the shippers’ access to the available flexibility.