Remote Renewable Energy Hubs: a Taxonomy

Abstract

Serving the energy demand with renewable energy is hindered by its limited availability near load centres (i.e. places where the energy demand is high). To address this challenge, the concept of Remote Renewable Energy Hubs (RREH) emerges as a promising solution. RREHs are energy hubs located in areas with abundant renewable energy sources, such as sun in the Sahara Desert or wind in Greenland. In these hubs, renewable energy sources are used to synthetise energy molecules. To produce specific energy molecules, a tailored hub configuration must be designed, which means choosing a set of technologies that are interacting with each other as well as defining how they are integrated in their local environment. The plurality of technologies that may be employed in RREHs results in a large diversity of hubs. In order to characterize this diversity, we propose in this paper a taxonomy for accurately defining these hubs. This taxonomy allows to better describe and compare designs of hubs as well as to identify new ones. Thus, it may guide policymakers and engineers in hub design, contributing to cost efficiency and/or improving local integration.