Driven by climate change concerns, Europe has taken significant initiatives toward the decarbonization of its energy system. The European Commission (EC) has set targets for 2030 to achieve at least 40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions with respect to the 1990 baseline level and cover at least 32% of the total energy consumption in the European Union (EU) through renewable energy sources, predominantly wind and solar generation. However, these technologies are inherently characterized by high variability, limited predictability and controllability, and lack of inertia, significantly increasing the balancing requirements of the system with respect to historical levels. The flexibility burden is currently carried by flexible fossil-fueled conventional generators (mainly gas), which are required to produce significantly less energy (as low operating cost and CO2-free renewable and nuclear generation are prioritized in the merit order) and operate part loaded with frequent startup and shut-down cycles, with devastating effects on their cost efficiency.

中文翻译：

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欧洲电力系统脱碳：市场设计挑战


在气候变化担忧的推动下，欧洲已采取重大举措实现能源系统脱碳。欧盟委员会 (EC) 制定了到 2030 年的目标，即在 1990 年基准水平的基础上实现温室气体排放至少减少 40%，并通过可再生能源覆盖欧盟 (EU) 能源消耗总量的至少 32%能源，主要是风能和太阳能发电。然而，这些技术的本质特征是可变性高、可预测性和可控性有限、缺乏惯性，相对于历史水平显着提高了系统的平衡要求。目前，灵活性负担由灵活的化石燃料传统发电机（主要是天然气）承担，这些发电机需要生产显着减少的能源（因为低运营成本和无二氧化碳的可再生能源和核能发电是优先考虑的）并部分负荷运行频繁的启动和关闭周期，对其成本效率造成毁灭性影响。