Abstract
The Caribbean nation of Suriname has historically depended on a mix of hydropower and oil-based fossil fuels for meeting electricity needs. Continued reliance on fossil fuels poses challenges both for climate change mitigation and for energy security. This paper explores the potential for increasing the share of renewables in Suriname's electricity mix, with a special focus on the complementary role of existing hydropower and future wind power infrastructure. We show that these resources have great synergetic potential for displacing fossil fuel-based power generation. Flexible operation of the Afobaka hydropower plant, newly in full possession of Suriname, allows significant wind power integration without violating grid stability and associated power quality requirements. Considering the trade-off between displacing expensive fossil fuels and limiting wind power curtailment on Suriname's island-like grid, our results suggest that integrating wind power in the Surinamese electricity mix is economically advantageous up to a share of 20–30%, independently of near-term demand growth. These results have wider relevance for climate policy in various Caribbean countries and other island states with existing hydropower infrastructure and substantial wind/solar power potential, for which this study fills an important literature gap.
Highlights
Worldwide, many countries are planning to increase the share of renewables in their electricity mix, steering away from fossil fuels both to support global emission reductions [1] and to ensure energy security [2]
Considering the trade-off between displacing expensive fossil fuels and limiting wind power curtailment on Suriname’s island-like grid, our results suggest that integrating wind power in the Surinamese electricity mix is economically advantageous up to a share of 20–30%, independently of near-term demand growth
The ramifi cation of higher wind power feed-in is that more ramping from thermal power plants and more wind power curtailment will be needed to ensure grid stability, even though the hy dropower plant already compensates for wind power variability to the extent possible
Summary
Many countries are planning to increase the share of renewables in their electricity mix, steering away from fossil fuels both to support global emission reductions [1] and to ensure energy security [2]. The variable nature of wind and solar power is a major constraint in this regard, especially in the context of relatively weak, low-inertia grids, the limiting factor being violations of grid stability requirements and associated power quality issues at high penetration of variable renewable energy (VRE) [2]. Particular challenges may exist for states with isolated grids such as the Caribbean islands [4,5,6,7,8,9], for which neither spatial resource spreading [10] nor cross-border interconnections [11] are realistic ways of improving grid stability prospects. There is general consensus in the Caribbean region and among other Small Island and Developing States that shifting towards VRE is desirable for sus tainable development [2,14]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
