Flexible bioenergy providing value to renewable energy integration – foundation and way forward

Flexible bioenergy provides additional value to different energy sectors and can accelerate the transformation towards renewable energy systems. To unlock the potential coordinated action is necessary.

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This policy brief by IEA Bioenergy Task 44: Flexible Bioenergy and System Integration highlight a few possible actions:

1. A broad understanding of energy system flexibility is the starting point for bioenergy system integration. This should include not only the electricity sector but also contributions to heat supply, transport fuels, grid stability, and energy security. This includes multi-product plants, providing different energy carriers, as well as fuels and chemicals, and hybrid processes in which biomass and other renewable energies or hydrogen are integrated.
2. To unlock the full technical potential with research and development on short term and long-term flexibility options for different feedstocks and reactor types, including coupled concepts with different renewables, as well as automation and control systems. Further, processes integrating renewable hydrogen should be developed in a way that they can cope with phases without hydrogen supply, e.g. in cold seasons due to a lack of renewable electricity for operating water electrolysis. Also, efficiently and flexibly recovering biogenic CO2 to enable negative emissions may need changes in plant design.
3. Implementation accelerates with good examples: Demonstrators are necessary to test and improve flexible concepts in pilot operation. These demonstrations are essential to learn more about the technology, but also about business models and enabling policy environments in renewable energy systems.
4. Appropriate models and tools should give guidance: To optimize the added value of flexible bioenergy in today and in future energy systems to provide decision support for country specific flexible bioenergy strategies appropriate energy system models is key. Tools and indicators for analyzing the added value are still in infancy stage and need further development. Where long term energy system planning relies on energy system models, these models must be capable of capturing the added value of flexible bioenergy.
5. Finally, effective policy toolkits can substantially support the implementation. Flexible bioenergy plays different roles depending on a country’s specific pathway toward a net-zero energy system. Because of this, policy support schemes also need to be tailored to national circumstances. The value of flexibility often comes from reducing costs across the overall energy system. Therefore, technology-neutral support schemes that reward flexibility services—such as grid stability, energy system resilience, or the further processing of green hydrogen—may often be the most efficient approach. In specific policy instruments supporting biogas, biomethane or other biogenic gases also storage, transport and automation should be considered.

Those five cornerstones build the foundation for unlocking the potential. Researchers and developers will continue advancing flexible bioenergy options, while system modelers will increasingly demonstrate the value these options add to net zero energy systems. Business models can grow, when the value of flexibility is considered in energy policies and support systems. Some best cases are already implemented. When done right, flexible bioenergy offers a huge potential for reducing the costs and increasing the stability of renewable energy systems.

Key finding for policy makers:

• Flexible bioenergy and system integrations has been established over the last years in many countries
• Implementation can be accelerated by development of technologies and demonstrators, models and tools to give guidance for value creation, and effective policy toolkits
• When done right, flexible bioenergy offers a huge potential for reducing the costs and increasing the stability of renewable energy systems.

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