Valutazione del ruolo della fusione nucleare in futuri sistemi energetici carbon-free

In the global context of climate change mitigation, the decarbonization of the energy sector represents one of the main challenges for modern society. The deployment of low-carbon technologies, particularly renewables, is already ongoing, but understanding how to effectively integrate these technologies and address their associated challenges requires careful analysis and planning. Energy scenarios are a fundamental tool in this context, serving two main purposes: providing a reference point for social discussion about the energy transition and future, and offering up-to-date guidance for regulators and policymakers in developing both short and long-term energy strategies. Within this framework, nuclear fusion emerges as a potential firm baseload technology without direct emissions that, although not yet commercially available, could overcome many of the limitations associated with decarbonized power systems dominated by renewables. This thesis presents COMESE (Electricity System Mean Cost - Costo Medio del Sistema Elettrico), a power system simulation model developed at RFX Consortium in Padua. The code has been developed to analyze different power system configurations, while ensuring a thorough representation of the technical features, costs and operational needs that characterize systems with high shares of renewable sources. COMESE performs hourly simulations of generation, storage, and flexible generation to assess the technical and economic feasibility of a decarbonized power systems. The model has been substantially enhanced during this PhD work, improving its geographical detail, technical representation, and methodological approach, making it comparable with state-of-the-art models in the literature. This thesis also presents the comprehensive analyses that have been conducted to evaluate the role of fusion power in a decarbonized Italian energy system utilizing the enhanced version of COMESE. The research work includes both snapshot scenarios, which provide detailed analysis of specific target years, and pathway scenarios that investigate the system evolution over time and fusion’s role in this transition. This approach allows for a thorough assessment of the opportunities and possible synergies of integrating fusion power with a high share of renewables in a decarbonized energy system.