Flexibility operation for integrated energy system considering hydrogen energy under inertia characteristics and stepped carbon trading mechanism

As a practical way to alleviate energy supply pressure and promote energy efficiency, the integrated energy system has attracted considerable attention worldwide. However, previous work on the integrated energy system does not adequately investigate the flexibility potential hidden in multi-energy coordination, resulting in a lack of flexibility in operational decisions. In this context, a techno-economic framework is urgently needed to take responsibility for improving the flexible performance of the integrated energy system operation. To do so, an operational strategy is developed to fully exploit the inertia characteristics that exist in the transmission of natural gas and heat energy to increase flexibility in energy use and balancing system energy. In the proposed strategy, flexible carbon trading is simulated at different growth rates and base prices through a tiered carbon trading mechanism to effectively investigate and achieve low carbon emissions. To address carbon emissions from an energy application perspective, a hydrogen-doped electric-to-gas process is established, providing new ideas for a low-carbon economy. Simulation results show that the proposed method can improve the accommodation level of renewable energy and reduce carbon emissions, and make more detailed use of the transmission energy of the integrated energy system to achieve more flexible operation. •A techno-economic framework is researched for the flexible operation of an IES.•The energy transmission with inertia characteristics is studied in IES.•The stepped carbon trading mechanism is presented to study low carbon emissions.•The hydrogen-doped electric-to-gas process is established for flexible use.