Scaling of transmission capacities in coarse-grained renewable electricity networks

Network models of large-scale electricity systems feature only a limited spatial resolution, either due to lack of data or in order to reduce the complexity of the problem with respect to numerical calculations. In such cases, both the network topology, the load and the generation patterns below a given spatial scale are aggregated into representative nodes. This coarse-graining affects power flows and thus the resulting transmission needs of the system. We derive analytical scaling laws for measures of network transmission capacity and cost in coarse-grained renewable electricity networks. For the cost measure only a very weak scaling with the spatial resolution of the system is found. The analytical results are shown to describe the scaling of the transmission infrastructure measures for a simplified, but data-driven and spatially detailed model of the European electricity system with a high share of fluctuating renewable generation.