Eur. Phys. J. Plus (2014) 129: 198
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/i2014-14198-7

Regular Article

MIXOPTIM: A tool for the evaluation and the optimization of the electricity mix in a territory

¹ Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique, Direction de l’Energie Nucléaire, Direction Scientifique, CEA Saclay, Bat 121, 91191, Gif sur Yvette Cedex, France
² PHELMA/Grenoble INP and LPSC/IN2P3/CNRS, 53 rue des Martyrs, 38026, Grenoble Cedex, France
³ Institut de Radioprotection et de Sreté Nucléaire, 31 Avenue de la Division Leclerc, 92262, Fontenay-aux-Roses, France

^* e-mail: Bernard.bonin@cea.fr

Received: 11 March 2014
Revised: 7 July 2014
Accepted: 21 July 2014
Published online: 25 September 2014

Abstract

This article presents a method of calculation of the generation cost of a mixture of electricity sources, by means of a Monte Carlo simulation of the production output taking into account the fluctuations of the demand and the stochastic nature of the availability of the various power sources that compose the mix. This evaluation shows that for a given electricity mix, the cost has a non-linear dependence on the demand level. In the second part of the paper, we develop some considerations on the management of intermittence. We develop a method based on spectral decomposition of the imposed power fluctuations to calculate the minimal amount of the controlled power sources needed to follow these fluctuations. This can be converted into a viability criterion of the mix included in the MIXOPTIM software. In the third part of the paper, the MIXOPTIM cost evaluation method is applied to the multi-criteria optimization of the mix, according to three main criteria: the cost of the mix; its impact on climate in terms of CO₂ production; and the security of supply.