Publication Details |
| Category | Text Publication |
| Reference Category | Journals |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.erss.2025.104505 |
Licence  |
|
| Title (Primary) | Are we ready to plan for synergies? System Integration Impact Assessment in the Austrian energy system modelling community |
| Author | Schipfer, F.; Harasek, M.; Tiwari, S.; Kraxner, F.; Schmidt, J.; Wehrle, S.; Kolur, N.A.; Thrän, D.
; Esmaeili Aliabadi, D.
; Breuning, H. |
| Source Titel | Energy Research & Social Science |
| Year | 2026 |
| Department | SANA |
| Volume | 131 |
| Page From | art. 104505 |
| Language | englisch |
| Topic | T5 Future Landscapes |
| Supplements | Supplement 1 |
| Keywords | System integration; Sector coupling; Nexus thinking; Network integration; Industrial symbiosis; Flexibility; Climate risk; Emergence |
| Abstract | Integrated
solutions across processes, sectors, and systems can deliver value that
exceeds the sum of their parts. Sector coupling, for example, is
increasingly recognized as a key enabler for balancing intermittent
renewable electricity, while creating new interdependencies and systemic
risks. Yet, the capacity of energy system models to anticipate such
synergies and trade-offs remains uneven. This article presents a
structured review of Austria's energy system modelling landscape,
mapping over 800 publications from 54 research groups. We classify
modelling capacities across technical, temporal, and spatial integration
dimensions and identify significant gaps in areas such as bioenergy,
circularity, and extreme event modelling, alongside promising advances
in heating networks, electricity sector coupling, and energy
communities. The growing attention to operational flexibility in
long-term models offers a window of opportunity to better anticipate
shocks, structural breaks, and resilience considerations. The openly
shared integration fitness tables derived from this review aim to foster
collaboration and capacity-building across modelling silos. We argue
that advancing System Integration Impact Assessment requires
uncertainty-aware modelling frameworks capable of capturing synergies,
trade-offs, and systemic risks. Embracing uncertainty rather than
reducing it can help design transformation pathways that are not only
sustainable but also robust and flexible. Ultimately, this shift could
bring together environmental and economic efficiency, safety, and
security into a shared paradigm, elevating sustainable development
toward reliable development. |
| Schipfer, F., Harasek, M., Tiwari, S., Kraxner, F., Schmidt, J., Wehrle, S., Kolur, N.A., Thrän, D., Esmaeili Aliabadi, D., Breuning, H. (2026): Are we ready to plan for synergies? System Integration Impact Assessment in the Austrian energy system modelling community Energy Res. Soc. Sci. 131 , art. 104505 10.1016/j.erss.2025.104505 |
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