Using material flow simulation for improving energy flexibility in combined coal mining and power plant operations

Energy efficiency in production is becoming a decisive competitive factor for many companies. The prime reasons are the increasing scarcity of fossil resources and the progressing climate change, both of which gave rise to a multitude of approaches to maximise the use of renewable energy sources (RES). Accordingly, the share of RES in gross electricity generation has grown steadily in recent years. At the same time, a large share of Europe’s electricity is still generated in lignite-fired power plants (LFPP). These are supplied by energy intensive open-pit mining (OPM) operations. Potentials to increase the energy efficiency in electricity generation and mining processes are nearly exhausted due to technical and physical limits. This paper presents preliminarily examinations regarding the exploitation of flexibilities under the premise of fluctuating energy supplies and prices by controlling LFPP and OPM in an integrated energy system. The study is carried out using a discrete event simulation model of an OPM