Variables for energy storage

[danielhuppmann]

The NAVIGATE and ENGAGE projects had variables for storage as a sub-category of "Secondary Energy|Electricity|...", which doesn't seem quite right. This issue is to discuss better approaches for capturing that information.

[danielhuppmann]

Per a suggestion by @robertpietzcker and @Renato-Rodrigues, we should clearly distinguish between reservoir vs. generation (and charging) capacity, e.g.

• Capacity|Electricity|Storage|Generation
• Capacity|Electricity|Storage|Charging
• Capacity|Electricity|Storage|Reservoir

[robertpietzcker]

Actually, I would think only the first and the last variable are necessary - I am not sure that there is any reliable data on the difference between generation and charging capacity (both in GW) (beyond the exception of electrolysis).

So before inflating the number of variables, I would be happy with only having

• Capacity|Electricity|Storage|Power [in GW]
• Capacity|Electricity|Storage|Reservoir [in GWh]

(or if you have a strong preference, I would also be fine with "Generation" instead of "Power", although I have a preference for "power" because often "generation" is the header used for energy output (in GWh))

[pkyle]

I agree that "Secondary Energy|Electricity|..." does seem a strange classification for storage, but at least for the energy flows (I.e., GWh of electricity from the storage technologies) there is benefit to keeping the reporting consistent with hydrogen combustion turbines which are often considered a storage technology and which are currently "Secondary Energy|Electricity|Hydrogen". That said, for storage capacity (whether in GW or GWh), having a separate reporting category seems appropriate.

[robertpietzcker]

Ok, now I am confused :-)
the first post by @danielhuppmann referred to energy flows from storage, but didn't exactly say about which variables he was unsure;
The second one, also by @danielhuppmann referred to capacity variables.

My reply above was only targeted at the capacity questions - and I would say there the answer is straightforward, namely implementing these two variables:

• Capacity|Electricity|Storage|Power [in GW]
  

• Capacity|Electricity|Storage|Reservoir [in GWh] 
  

(or something similar, if there are specific wishes about the exact naming of these)

maybe we could use this issue to finalize the capacity question, and if there are further questions about energy flow variables we can discuss them in a different issue once a specific question comes up?

(To me, the variables "Secondary Energy|Electricity|Storage" and subclasses of that such as "Secondary Energy|Electricity|Storage|Batteries" or so seem reasonable and have been used in the past)