PyPSA-DE: Open-source German energy system model reveals savings from integrated planning

2025-10-10

AI Summary

Germany faces urgent pressure to reduce cross-sectoral energy system transition costs to achieve its 2045 net-zero greenhouse gas emissions target. This paper develops a high spatiotemporal-resolution integrated energy system optimization model for Germany and neighboring countries, built upon the open-source PyPSA framework. The model co-optimizes electricity and hydrogen transmission/distribution networks, multi-sectoral demand and supply (power, industry, transport, heating), and storage technologies, enabling cross-sectoral coordinated planning and regional electricity pricing mechanism design. Innovatively integrating optimal offshore wind farm siting with cross-sectoral dispatch coordination, the approach substantially alleviates grid expansion requirements: compared to national planning, transmission network expansion is reduced by approximately one-third, total system costs decrease by €9.2–19.1 billion (2020 prices), and average transmission tariffs decline by €7.5/MWh. These results provide quantitative foundations and policy insights for market design and infrastructure planning under net-zero pathways.

Technology Category

• Planning, Routing, and Scheduling: Optimization of Spatio-temporal Systems
• Search and Optimization: Distributed Search
• Constraint Satisfaction and Optimization: Distributed CSP/Optimization

Application Category

• Systems and Infrastructure for Web, Mobile and WoT: Energy management for devices in mobile Web and WoT environments
• Economics, Online Markets and Human Computation: Incentives in network design for Web infrastructures and ecosystems
• Graph Algorithms and Modeling for the Web: Efficient manipulation of static and dynamic Web-related graphs

Abstract

Germany has set an ambitious target of reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045. We explore how integrated cross-sectoral planning can reduce costs compared to existing national plans. Our new linear optimization model PyPSA-DE simulates the electricity and hydrogen transmission networks, as well as supply, demand, and storage in all sectors of the energy system in Germany and its neighboring countries with high spatial and temporal resolution. While our new model shows strong electricity transmission grid development, total expansion is one third lower than in the national grid development plan, lowering costs by 92 billion EUR$_{2020}$ to 191 billion EUR$_{2020}$ and average grid tariffs by 7.5 EUR$_{2020}$ / MWh. These savings are mainly due to integrated planning and operation, a market design with regional prices, and a system-optimal usage of offshore wind. PyPSA-DE is open-source and can readily be adapted to study related issues around the energy transition.

Problem

• Optimizing Germany's cross-sectoral energy system planning
• Reducing electricity transmission grid expansion costs
• Simulating integrated electricity and hydrogen networks operation

Innovation

• Linear optimization model simulates energy systems
• Integrated cross-sectoral planning reduces grid expansion
• Open-source framework enables adaptable energy transition studies