The Scottish electricity dispatch model

This paper presents the Scottish Electricity Dispatch Model (SEDM), a cost minimization power system optimization model designed as a tool to investigate potential development trajectories of the Great Britain (GB) power system with particular focus on the Scottish region. Results of SEDM studies investigating the impact of low carbon policies on carbon emissions, generation portfolios and system costs are described. Two potential policies are investigated: carbon pricing and emissions limits, compared to a base scenario with neither of these policies included, but featuring financial support for low carbon generation in line with current GB policy. Model results suggest that carbon emissions could be reduced by up to 95.6% by 2050 with strict emissions limits, achieved largely through an eighteen fold increase in renewable generation capacity. This results in an increase in system costs (including carbon pricing costs) of up to 23.4% compared to the base case, in which carbon emissions increase by 130.8% from present day to 2050. This suggests current policies will be insufficient to achieve a reduction in carbon emissions to the level suggested by the UK’s Committee on Climate Change (CCC).