Heat and electricity supply chain expansion planning under the umbrella of energy hub: A case study of Iran

Increases in tightening the correlation of gas and electricity systems (G&ES), affected by diverse factors, ranging from anthropogenic climate change to the advent of new conversion/generation technologies, have remarkably brought the co-expansion of G&ES using a new concept, the so-called Energy Hub (EH), as well as the potential of storage systems into focus. To assess the effectiveness of EH approach and the role of storage systems in the coordinated plans of G&ES, this paper proposes a comprehensive EH-based planning model for co-expansion of G&ES supply chains with respect to the role of gas storage systems (GSSs). As a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) problem, the model is applied to a real large-scale case study, i.e. the Iranian G&ES and is solved via GAMS package. The simulation results reveal that incorporation of the interactions existing between G&ES into their planning problems in the framework of an EH can reach more flexible, realistic and optimal expansion plans compared with their traditional integrated expansion planning methods. Furthermore, findings show that the involvement capacities of GSSs provides the opportunity of optimal matching of demand with supply by increasing the productivity of the gas pipelines, allowing technically and economically sensible long-term management of gas supply systems.