This research focus involves a comprehensive assessment and optimization of various innovative energy technologies to promote sustainable development. Our group focuses on sustainable technologies including renewable energy sources, energy storage solutions, the electrification of heating and cooling technologies, bio-based technologies, and carbon capture technologies. The results of our core methodology of energy system optimization are heavily influenced by the defined techno-economic parameters of the available technologies. Therefore, extensive studies of the technologies must be carried out – for example, a recent comparison of existing technology databases shows that there are high uncertainties, particularly regarding the predicted investment costs (see Figure 1)

A key methodology for understanding  the effects of input parameters on the models and their interaction are lobal sensitivity analyses such as Morris or Sobol. Both approaches demand high computational power. In order to reduce the calculation time of the global sensitivity analysis, the influence of temporal clustering algorithms or different optimization horizons on the sensitivity of the models is assessed. Exemplary results of a global sensitivity analysis of a model of the energy supply of a typical chemical park can be seen in Figure 2.