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The area Belgium – the Netherlands and North Rhine Westphalia is one of the key industrial areas in Europe, connecting the harbor infrastructure with the hinterland and housing the largest industrial clusters of the European chemical and steel industry. The energy transition however brings the need for a fundamental rethinking of energy infrastructure. Electricity grids need to be expanded to support electrification of industrial heat, carbon capture and storage networks can reduce the emissions of the fossil-based processes, and on a cluster level exchange of heat or feedstock flows may increase efficiency and competitiveness of the industries.

The Trilate project addresses the rethink of energy infrastructure from a modelling point of view at different levels of the system.

  • Industrial processes are modelled by ULiege, involving the thermodynamic fundamentals of each process (e.g. different technologies to capture CO2 from industrial processes)
  • At cluster level: UGent identifies industrial clusters with a high potential for infrastructure symbiosis and models the possibilities in detail.

For these two tasks, the Osmose optimization tool is used, which was developed by the Swiss partner EPFL specifically to address industrial symbiosis at cluster level. EPFL supplies and maintains the infrastructure necessary to access and work on the EPFL network that houses the energy integration tools. EPFL also provides assistance to doctoral students using OSMOSE integration platform and other simulation tools. The EPFL team participates in the blueprints transfer and construction, screening the relevant data input to the new OSMOSE blueprints. Also, EPFL help students to implement the energy integration methodology, based on waste heat upgrading, energy conversion and defossilization systems.

  • At the energy system level, VITO-EnergyVille models cost efficient investments that are needed to reach the climate targets in 2050 in Belgium,
  • The role of energy system infrastructure in enabling the cost efficient pathways is key. Elia and Fluxys derive the need for energy infrastructure and connect the results of their modelling with the BE-TIMES model. Whereas the BE-TIMES model assesses the necessary investments across all sectors, the analysis for electricity and gas network infrastructure happens in more temporal and geographical detail.
    • At electricity infrastructure level, KU Leuven investigates new technologies and structure of the DC electricity grid.
    • At hydrogen infrastructure level, VITO-EnergyVille investigates the geographical clusters, the future uses of hydrogen (e.g. steel, refineries, hydrogen for the power system) and the locations. This aspect of the project is strongly collaborating with the Energy Transition Funds project BE-HyFe https://www.behyfe.be/.

The Trilate project is in close collaboration with TNO and Dechema, which are exchanging data and scenario work with the partners on the assessments of cross-border energy infrastructure. An advisory board with key industrial stakeholders is following up the project results.

More detailed results are found below:

Task 1.1 Industrial process modeling & optimization

In the TRILATE project, ULiège aims to use its expertise in process and energy systems modeling, optimization, and integration to support the energy transition. The focus is on developing models and engineering technologies that will play a pivotal role in establishing the necessary infrastructure for transporting renewable energy sources (RES), hydrogen (H2), and carbon dioxide (CO2). In this context, ULiège uses the results provided by the ECM group at UGent, which identifies geographical clusters where industrial symbiosis may be applicable, and models process BluePrints (BPs) for various industrial sectors such as chemicals, glass, cement, steel or lime industries present in these clusters. Originally developed at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) for the EPOS project, these BPs map mass and energy balances and economics under steady-state conditions.

Blueprint of Energy Transistion Routes for Sugar Production

Within Trilate, we are expanding BPs to develop missing technologies and sectors in Belgian industrial clusters, including H2 and CO2-related processes. Additionally, we are developing an exergoeconomic methodology to identify integration opportunities and optimal production routes, fostering industrial symbiosis and energy transition. The outcome will enable VITO and project partners to assess sustainability scenarios, considering synergies among urban and industrial clusters, helping plan the future energy infrastructure for Belgium and neighboring countries.

Task 1.2

From built expertise in the field of industrial symbiosis (IS), it is recognised that B2B discussions on IS opportunities often result in a clear potential for collaboration covering technical as well as non-technical interactions and exchanges. In dedicated European projects such as MAESTRI, SCALER and in particular EPOS [4] numerous lists of cross-sectoral IS opportunities have been compiled aiming to improve each sector's sustainability profile in manufacturing, in environmental, economic as well as social terms. Sharing resources (energy, water, residues, materials, utilities), exchanging waste heat & streams, integration of production units & sites, joint tools & technologies, learning networks and economies of scale; the list of activities is seemingly non-exhaustive. The development and use of science-based principles and methods to enable synergy opportunities for selected clusters is the core of this task.

In TRILATE, a methodology is developed consisting of two parts. The first part focuses on the matchmaking process rooted in system integration principles by using the EPOS sector blueprints to acquire generic industrial information [1],[2]. The second part aims at improving the LESTS survey methodology, resulting in a score [3] that facilitates identification and assessment of synergies in and across process industries. The double method is used to gain insight and generate incentives to advance symbiosis, specifically for the Belgian industrial clusters in Antwerp, Ghent, the coast region, the Albert Canal region and along the Meuse river.

The LESTS survey is created to investigate and visualise the impact of non-technical factors on the wish, need or duty to collaborate in business parks, at industrial sites, in (cross-)sectorial clusters, multi-actor port areas and urban-industrial regions. LESTS scores picture the intensity of B2B collaborations and the progress towards sustainable responsibility on a pentagonal radar.

Via subcontracting the IPESE group at EPFL, expertise on the EPOS toolbox and blueprints, and on system integration modelling and sustainability accounting is leveraged within the TRILATE project. Based on the characteristics of the involved process industry sectors, the industrial clusters are analysed from a systems’ perspective with the aim to investigate, instigate and initiate IS collaborations through the above-mentioned double approach applied at multiple scales (site, cluster, region).

In short, ECM defines symbiosis interfaces based on process models of varying typology and detail, enabling the connection of micro-scale process models such as the EPOS blueprints with macro-scale system models such as TIMES. A matchmaking methodology is developed and validated to lever existing models with the newly developed models in other tasks. Ultimately agile models are generated, suitable for deep process understanding, but also capable of linking symbiosis options and assessing sustainability gains. A key result is the ability to identify interface opportunities and detail the corresponding data needed for launching synergy potential across urban-industrial clusters.

Task 1.3

One of the main tasks of VITO-EnergyVille in the TRILATE he project is related to energy system modelling with a focus on infrastructure. At the end of 2022, the PATHS2050 study was published [1], outlining the pathways to net zero in 2050 for Belgium.

In the figure below, the installed capacities in three scenarios is given. In an electrification scenario (middle), the model got the option to install 16GW extra offshore wind, on top of the 8GW potential in the Belgian North Sea. In the molecule scenario (to the right), very cost effective hydrogen import was assumed, leading to increased use of hydrogen in the power sector by 2050.

In those studies, there is a clear gap in terms of infrastructure. In the PATHS2050 study, the results of the Ten Year Network Development Plans are followed [2]. However, it is clear from the EnergyVille simulations that more electric infrastructure towards offshore wind is cost effective. Similar for hydrogen infrastructure, the hydrogen network is rolled out, but in the coming two decades, the volumes going through the pipelines are critically dependent on a few large industrial processes, refineries, ammonia production and possibly steel sector being the largest. Therefore, the dimensioning, and geography of the hydrogen network will be investigated depending on scenario sensitivities. Finally, the cross-sectoral modelling of VITO/EnergyVille will be aligned with modelling of Elia and Fluxys, which offer much more detail on electricity/gas respectively.

In summary, the subtasks are the following:

  • Regionalize the hydrogen demand and investigate the dimensioning of the hydrogen backbone and sensitivity to energy system scenarios,
  • Link the modelling of Elia and Fluxys to the cross-sectoral EnergyVille model, align data sources, compare results and check for consistency.
  • Improve the representation of energy infrastructure in the modelling.
  • Implement a potential for industrial symbiosis in the new model runs, and improve the representation of industrial processes.

[1] Results and report available at perspective2050.energyville.be. [2] https://tyndp.entsoe.eu/explore

the installed capacities in the power sector in three PATHS2050 scenario.

Figure 1: source [1]: the installed capacities in the power sector in three PATHS2050 scenario. Left: the central scenario, middle, the electrification scenario with extra offshore wind and nuclear, right the molecule scenario with optimistic hydrogen import cost. More info at www.perspective2050.energyville.be .

Task 2.1: electricity infrastructure

Failure of climate mitigation efforts is ranked as one of the most severe threats to human society in the next 10 years. Failing in this subject will imply more natural disasters and extreme weather events which will affect essential infrastructure such as the power system. Thus, designing and operating the power grid in such a way that it can mitigate, stand and overcome the negative effects of such extreme events is a crucial necessity.

High voltage direct current transmission technology is playing a key role in the integration of renewable resources into the European power system as well as for bulk power transport. Such a bulk electricity transmission grid needs to be designed in a resilient way for secure supply of electricity, understanding resilience as the ability of a system to anticipate and withstand external shocks, bounce back to its pre-shock state as quickly as possible and adapt to be better prepared to future catastrophic events. In this way, elements such as degree of meshing and operation modes of HVDC grids will be studied in order to evaluate how they contribute to having a more resilient power grid.

Additionally, the power system is interconnected with other energy systems that use different energy carriers, namely, methane and hydrogen. In consequence, it is also necessary to investigate how these different types of energy carriers can improve the resilience of the power system, in particular by providing energy storage capability.

To that end, following research questions are defined:

  1. What are appropriate metrics that allow to evaluate and compare resilience in multi-energy systems composed of HVDC grids?
  2. Which operational models do we need for resilience assessment AC/DC gris, considering the stochasticity of the renewable sources and demand?
  3. How can we integrate additional energy carriers, namely hydrogen and methane, into an existing operational model, and assess their impact on the resilience of the power system?
  4. How can we assess the effectiveness of the developed models in relevant test cases within a centralized power system, where the primary mode of energy transmission is the electrical power system?

The defined research questions are investigated within task 2.1 (Electricity grid infrastructure) of work package (Energy System infrastructure needs) in the scenario with centralized electrons and molecules.

In addition to KU Leuven, Elia is active in the electricity task 2.1. In this project, the modelling behind the adequacy & flexibility study is checked for consistency with the Trilate approach based on the BE – TIMES modelling in terms of electricity consumption of industry, etc

Task 2.2 Molecule infrastructure

In order to simulate and evaluate the transport of methane, hydrogen and carbon dioxide, Fluxys Belgium is developing a tool that combines all necessary input data into relevant scenarios which are subsequently simulated in a commercial hydraulic simulation software package. Different packages and equations are used for hydrogen and carbon dioxide (gas and dense phase) to take the specific molecule properties into account. The tool retrieves all simulation results and displays them in a comprehensible way in order to evaluate the simulated scenarios.

Typically, all supply-demand scenarios are defined for the relevant defined hydrogen and carbon dioxide clusters in Belgium, and these can be combined with additional upstream import flows or export flows to neighbouring countries. An objective definition to assign consumers to geographical clusters will be treated during WP1 of the project.

The ultimate goal is to determine the correctly sized network of the future that is needed to be able to transport all flow scenarios that are considered relevant. The network can be newly built, can be based on repurposed pipelines, or a combination of both, which will also determine the maximum operating pressure and thereby the operating pressure range that can be allowed in the network.

The results of WP1, especially from the cross-sectoral EnergyVille model, will be introduced in the Fluxys model to evaluate the transport capacity into the network, taking into account the more detailed and specific data from Fluxys perspective. The feedback of the results of the Fluxys simulations can lead to an optimisation process.

Finally, Fluxys intensive collaboration with adjacent TSOs gives a better insight in the import and exit flows from/to the neighbouring countries, input that will be used in WP3 of the project.