Chile has abundant solar and wind resources and renewable generation is becoming competitive with fossil fuel generation. However, due to renewable resource variability their large-scale integration into the electricity grid is not trivial. This study evaluates the long-term impact of grid level energy storage, specifically Pumped Thermal Energy Storage (PTES), on the penetration of solar and wind energies and on CO2 emissions reduction in Chile. A cost based linear optimization model of the Chilean electricity system is developed and used to analyse and optimize different renewable generation, transmission and energy storage scenarios until 2050. For the base scenario of decommissioning ageing coal plants and no new coal and large hydro generation, the generation gap is filled by solar photovoltaic (PV), concentrated solar power (CSP) and flexible gas generation with the associated drop of 78% in the CO2 emission factor. The integration of on-grid 8h capacity storage increases the solar PV fraction which leads to a 6% reduction in operation and investment costs by 2050. However, this does not necessarily lead to further reductions in the long term emissions. Thus, it is crucial to consider all aspects of the energy system when planning the transition to a low carbon electricity system.

Rapid urbanization, global warming and enhanced quality of life have significantly increased the demand of indoor thermal comfort and air conditioning systems are not a luxury anymore, but a necessity. In order to fulfil this need, it is imperative to develop affordable and environmentally friendly cooling solutions for buildings. In this work, the 3E performance (energetic, economic and environmental) of electrically driven water-cooled vapour compression systems and thermally (solar) driven vapour absorption cooling systems are evaluated and the parameters affecting the performance of solar-driven vapour absorption systems are investigated. The energy simulation software TRNSYS is used to simulate the performance of both systems in order to fulfil the cooling needs of an industrial manufacturing building for the typical climate conditions for Lahore, Pakistan. Primary energy saving, initial investment, operational cost, and carbon footprint indices are used to analyse the performance of both systems. In addition, a parametric code is written in Python and linked with TRNSYS to perform a parametric study to investigate the effects of various parameters such as solar field size, storage tank volume, optimum annual and monthly collector angles, and flow rate in the solar field on the solar-driven vapour absorption chiller performance. The results reveal that around 5% more energy can be absorbed per collector surface area by changing the solar tilt angle on a monthly basis compared to one fixed angle. The analysis shows that electrically driven vapour compression-based cooling systems have much higher running cost and are potentially hazardous for the environment but have lower capital costs. On the other hand, solar thermal systems have lower running costs and emissions but require further reductions in the capital costs or government subsidies to make them viable.

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