Simulating future paths of the European power generation—applying the chalmers power plant database to the British and German power generation system

Abstract

This chapter presents a newly established database of the European power plant infrastructure which is applied in a simple simulation analysis of the British and German power generation up to the year 2050. The results are discussed with respect to age structure of the current production plants, CO2 emissions, natural gas dependency, and CO2 capture. The results show that combination of a relatively low growth rate in power generation, ambitious national plans on renewable together with a strong expansion in the use of natural gas can meet national reduction targets in CO2 emissions. However, for both countries this results in a strong dependency on natural gas. Successful application of CO2 capture will reduce this dependency since this would allow for a significant amount of coal based generation, which will contribute to security of supply.