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REMIND-PyPSA-Eur: Integrating power system flexibility into sector-coupled energy transition pathways

Authors
/persons/resource/adrian.odenweller

Odenweller,  Adrian       
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research;
Submitting Corresponding Author, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research;

/persons/resource/Falko.Ueckerdt

Ueckerdt,  Falko       
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research;

/persons/resource/johannes.hampp

Hampp,  Johannes
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research;

/persons/resource/ivan.ramirez

Ramirez,  Ivan
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research;

/persons/resource/Felix.Schreyer

Schreyer,  Felix       
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research;

/persons/resource/robin.krekeler

Hasse,  Robin       
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research;

/persons/resource/jarusch.muessel

Müßel,  Jarusch       
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research;

/persons/resource/Chen.Gong

Gong,  Chen Chris       
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research;

/persons/resource/Robert.Pietzcker

Pietzcker,  Robert C.       
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research;

Brown ,  Tom
External Organizations;

/persons/resource/Gunnar.Luderer

Luderer,  Gunnar       
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research;

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Citation

Odenweller, A., Ueckerdt, F., Hampp, J., Ramirez, I., Schreyer, F., Hasse, R., Müßel, J., Gong, C. C., Pietzcker, R. C., Brown, T., Luderer, G. (2026 online): REMIND-PyPSA-Eur: Integrating power system flexibility into sector-coupled energy transition pathways. - Progress in Energy.
https://doi.org/10.1088/2516-1083/ae3ffe


Cite as: https://publications.pik-potsdam.de/pubman/item/item_33998
Abstract
The rapid expansion of low-cost renewable electricity combined with end-use electrification in transport, industry, and buildings offers a promising path to deep decarbonisation. However, aligning variable supply with demand requires strategies for daily and seasonal balancing. Existing models either lack the wide scope required for long-term transition pathways or the spatio-temporal detail to capture power system variability and flexibility. Here, we combine the complementary strengths of REMIND, a long-term integrated assessment model, and PyPSA-Eur, an hourly energy system model, through a bi-directional, price-based and iterative soft coupling. REMIND provides pathway variables such as sectoral electricity demand, installed capacities, and costs to PyPSA-Eur, which returns optimised operational variables such as capacity factors, storage requirements, and relative prices. After sufficient convergence, this integrated approach jointly optimises long-term investment and short-term operation. We demonstrate the coupling for two Germany-focused scenarios, with and without demand-side flexibility, reaching climate neutrality by 2045. Our results confirm that a sector-coupled energy system with nearly 100% renewable electricity is technically possible and economically viable. Power system flexibility influences long-term pathways through price differentiation: supply-side market values vary by generation technology, while demand-side prices vary by end-use sector. Flexible electrolysers and smart-charging electric vehicles benefit from below-average prices, whereas less flexible heat pumps face almost twice the average price due to winter peak loads. Without demand-side flexibility, electricity prices increase across all end-users, though battery deployment partially compensates. By integrating hourly power system dynamics into multi-decadal energy transition pathways, our approach addresses the fundamental trade-off between the wide scope needed for climate policy analysis and the spatio-temporal detail needed for power system planning.