Emission Scenarios for a 100% Renewable Faroese Power System A System-Level Life Cycle Carbon Intensity Assessment Towards 2040

Sammanfattning

The Faroe Islands have set an ambitious target of transitioning towards a fully renewableelectricity system, but the climate impact of different technology pathwaysremains uncertain. This thesis assesses how alternative energy system configurationsinfluence the system-level life cycle carbon intensity of the Faroese power system in2040. Five scenarios were evaluated using outputs from a Python for Power SystemAnalysis (PyPSA) based energy system model: a Base scenario, a Tidal scenario,an Offshore wind scenario, a Vehicle-to-Grid scenario and a Combined scenario includingall investigated technologies. For each scenario, the system-level carbonintensity was calculated by combining technology-specific life cycle GHG emissionfactors with modelled installed capacity and annual electricity generation. Storageinfrastructure, including battery energy storage systems and Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G),was included as a separate system-level contribution.The results show that the climate impact of a 100% renewable power system dependsstrongly on the available technology mix. Among the CO2-constrained scenarios, theCombined scenario achieved the lowest system-level carbon intensity, at 11.0 g CO2-eq/kWh, followed by the Tidal scenario at 33.8 g CO2-eq/kWh. The Base, Offshorewind and V2G scenarios showed much higher carbon intensities, ranging from 56.6to 57.5 g CO2-eq/kWh. A key reason for this difference is the amount of batterystorage required to balance the variable renewable generation. The Combined scenariorequired significantly less stationary battery storage, resulting in a much lowerstorage-related climate impact.The findings imply that achieving a low-carbon renewable electricity system is notonly a matter of replacing the fossil generation, but also of integrating complementarytechnologies that reduce storage requirements, curtailment and capacityoverbuilding. Tidal power appears especially valuable in the Faroese context dueto its predictable generation profile, while V2G mainly contributes flexibility ratherthan direct emission reductions. Overall, the results highlight the importance ofwhole-system planning when assessing renewable energy transitions in isolated powersystems.