LIMES modelling framework
LIMES is a linear optimization modelling framework that simultaneously determines cost-minimizing investment and dispatch decisions for generation, storage and transmission technologies that are needed in order to serve an exogenous future demand for electricity and to comply with future energy and climate policies. Its integrated approach together with an intertemporal optimization until 2050 allows for analyzing consistent and cost-efficient pathways for the future development of a power system – both on aggregate and on a regional level. The LIMES modelling framework has been applied in numerous peer-reviewed studies on the German (Ludig et al., 2015, 2011) and European power system (Knopf et al., 2015; Schmid and Knopf, 2015) as well as on an integrated system comprising Europe and the MENA region (Haller et al., 2012). Most recently, LIMES-EU was used to analyse the more ambitious EU ETS targets (Pietzcker et al., 2021), the potential implications of modifying the MSR (Osorio et al., 2021), and the impact of EU ETS credibility and firms' farsightedness on carbon prices (Sitarz et al., 2024).
LIMES-EU
LIMES-EU is the latest version of LIMES. Most importantly, it includes a novel approach for better representing the temporal variability of wind and solar power (Nahmmacher et al., 2014a). The model comprises 25 of the 27 EU Member States (excluding Malta and Cyprus) plus Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Norway, and the Balkan region. Except for the Balkan region, all countries are represented as individual model regions in order to analyze both national and aggregate European results.
Model documentation
Detailed model description most recent Version (v2.40 - November 2024); older Versions: v2.38, v2.37, v2.36, v2.35, v2.26, v1.0
The following figure summarizes the main features of LIMES-EU.
Papers using LIMES
Peer review
Sitarz, J., Pahle, M., Osorio, S., Luderer, G., Pietzcker, R.C., 2024. EU carbon prices signal high policy credibility and farsighted actors. Nat Energy. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-024-01505-x
Pahle, M., Tietjen, O., Osorio, S., Egli, F., Steffen, B., Schmidt, T. S., Edenhofer, O., 2022. Safeguarding the energy transition against political backlash to carbon markets. Nat. Energy 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-022-00984-0
Osorio, S., Tietjen, O., Pahle, M., Pietzcker, R.C., Edenhofer, O., 2021. Reviewing the Market Stability Reserve in light of more ambitious EU ETS emission targets. Energy Policy 158, 112530. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2021.112530
Pietzcker, R.C., Osorio, S., Rodrigues, R., 2021. Tightening EU ETS targets in line with the European Green Deal: Impacts on the decarbonization of the EU power sector. Appl. Energy 293, 116914. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.116914
Osorio, S., Pietzcker, R.C., Pahle, M., Edenhofer, O., 2020. How to deal with the risks of phasing out coal in Germany. Energy Econ. 87, 104730. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2020.104730
Nahmmacher, P., Schmid, E., Hirth, L., Knopf, B., 2016a. Carpe diem: A novel approach to select representative days for long-term power system modeling. Energy 112, 430–442. doi:10.1016/j.energy.2016.06.081
Nahmmacher, P., Schmid, E., Pahle, M., Knopf, B., 2016b. Strategies against shocks in power systems – An analysis for the case of Europe. Energy Econ. 59, 455–465. doi:10.1016/j.eneco.2016.09.002
Knopf, B., Nahmmacher, P., Schmid, E., 2015. The European renewable energy target for 2030 – An impact assessment of the electricity sector. Energy Policy 85, 50–60. doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2015.05.010
Ludig, S., Schmid, E., Haller, M., Bauer, N., 2015. Assessment of transformation strategies for the German power sector under the uncertainty of demand development and technology availability. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 46, 143–156. doi:10.1016/j.rser.2015.02.044
Schmid, E., Knopf, B., 2015. Quantifying the long-term economic benefits of European electricity system integration. Energy Policy 87, 260–269. doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2015.09.026
Haller, M., Ludig, S., Bauer, N., 2012. Decarbonization scenarios for the EU and MENA power system: Considering spatial distribution and short term dynamics of renewable generation. Energy Policy 47, 282–290. doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2012.04.069
Ludig, S., Haller, M., Schmid, E., Bauer, N., 2011. Fluctuating renewables in a long-term climate change mitigation strategy. Energy 36, 6674–6685. doi:10.1016/j.energy.2011.08.021
Non-peer review
