Glossary
ACER
Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators.
BECCS
Bio-Energy Carbon Capture and Storage. CCS applied to Bio-Energy, thus resulting in a net negative emission of carbon dioxide.
Biomethane
Gaseous renewable energy source derived from agricultural biomass (dedicated crops, by-products and agricultural waste and animal waste), agro-industrial (waste from the food processing chain) and the Organic Fraction Municipal Solid Waste (OFMSW).
Bottom-Up
This approach of the scenario building process collects supply and demand data from Gas and Electricity TSOs.
Blue Hydrogen
Hydrogen obtained from natural gas or industrial residual gases by splitting them into hydrogen and (CO2). The CO2 is then captured and stored/used.
CAGR
Compound annual growth rate.
CAPEX
Capital expenditure.
Carbon budget
This is the amount of carbon dioxide the world can emit while still having a likely chance of limiting average global temperature rise to 1,5°C above pre-industrial levels, an internationally agreed-upon target.
Carbon price
Cost applied to carbon pollution to encourage polluters to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases they emit into the atmosphere.
CBA
Cost Benefit Analysis carried out to define to what extent a project is worthwhile from a social perspective.
CCS
Carbon Capture and Storage. Process of sequestrating CO2 and storing it in such a way that it won’t enter the atmosphere.
CCU
Carbon Capture and Usage. The captured CO2, instead of being stored in geological formations, is used to create other products, such as plastic.
CHP
Combined heat and power.
COP21
2015 United Nations Climate Chance Conference.
Curtailed Electricity
Curtailment is a reduction in the output of a generator from otherwise available resources (e. g. wind or sunlight), typically on an unintentional basis. Curtailments can result when operators or utilities control wind and solar generators to reduce output to minimize congestion of transmission or otherwise manage the system or achieve the optimum mix of resources.
Coal phase-out
Coal is the most carbon intensive fossil fuel and phasing it out is a key step to achieve the emissions reductions needed to limit global warming to 1.5°C, as enshrined in the Paris Agreement.
DSR
Demand Side Response. Consumers have an active role in softening peaks in energy demand by changing their energy consumption according to the energy price and availability.
(Kalte) Dunkelflaute
German for „(cold) dark doldrums” expresses a climate case, where in addition to a 2-week cold spell, variable RES electricity generation is low due to the lack of wind and sunlight.
EC
European Commission.
EV
Electric vehicle.
GDP
Gross domestic product.
GHG
Greenhouse gas.
Hybrid Heat Pump
Heating system that combines an electric heat pump with a gas condensing boiler to optimize energy efficiency.
IEA
World Energy Outlook.
Indirect electricity demand
Indirect electrification means that electricity is not used as a direct replacement for fossil fuels, but as an input in industrial processes.
LCOE
Levelised costs of electricity. It represents the average revenue per unit of electricity generated that would be required to recover the costs of building and operating a generating plant during an assumed financial life and duty cycle.
LNG
Liquefied natural gas.
LULUCF
Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry. Sink of CO2 made possible by the fact that atmospheric CO2 can accumulate as carbon in vegetation and soils in terrestrial ecosystems
NCV
Net calorific value. The heat produced by combustion of a fuel at a constant pressure of 1 atmosphere, under the condition that all water in the products remains in the form of vapor. With gross calorific value on the other hand, the heat produced by condensation of all vapors is also included (see also GCV).
NECPs
National Energy and Climate Plans are the new framework within which EU Member States have to plan, in an integrated manner, their climate and energy objectives, targets, policies and measures to the European Commission. Countries will have to develop NECPs on a ten-year rolling basis, with an update halfway through the implementation period. The NECPs covering the first period from 2021 to 2030 will have to ensure that the Union’s 2030 targets for greenhouse gas emission reductions, renewable energy, energy efficiency and electricity interconnection are met.
NGO
Non-governmental Organisation.
OPEX
Operational expenditure.
P2G
Power to gas. Technology that uses electricity to produce hydrogen (Power to Hydrogen – P2H2) by splitting water into oxygen and hydrogen (electrolysis). The hydrogen produced can then be combined with CO2 to obtain synthetic methane (Power to Methane – P2CH4).
P2L
Power to liquids. Combination of hydrogen from electrolysis and Fischer-Tropsch process to obtain synthetic liquid fuels.
PCI
Project of Common Interest.
Power-to-Hydrogen/P2Hydrogen
Hydrogen obtained from P2H2.
Power-to-Methane/P2Methane
Renewable methane, could be biomethane or synthetic methane produced by renewable energy sources only.
PRIMES
The PRIMES energy model simulates the European energy system and markets on a country-by-country basis and across Europe for the entire energy system. The model provides projections of detailed energy balances, both for demand and supply, CO2 emissions, investment in demand and supply, energy technology penetration, prices and costs.
RES
Renewable energy source.
Shale gas
Shale gas is natural gas that is found trapped within shale formations (e. g. via fracking).
Synthetic methane
Fuel gas that can be produced from fossil fuels such as lignite coal, oil shale, or from biofuels (when it is named bio-SNG) or from renewable electrical energy.
Top-Down
The “Top-Down Carbon Budget” scenario building process is an approach that uses the “bottom-up” model information gathered from the Gas and Electricity TSOs. The methodologies are developed in line with the Carbon Budget approach.
TRAPUNTA
Temperature REgression and loAd Projection with UNcertainty Analysis. Software that allows to perform electric load prediction starting from data analysis of the historical time series (electric load, temperature, other climatic variables) and evaluation of the future evolution of the market (e. g., penetration of heat pump, electric vehicles, batteries, population and industrial growth). It has been developed by Milano Multiphysics for ENTSO-E.
TSO
Transmission System Operator.
TYNDP
Ten-Year Network Development Plan.