Cost Of Renewable Energy Technologies Research Articles

Emerging Technologies for the Energy Systems of the Future

The way the world gets its energy is undergoing a rapid transition, driven by both the increased urgency of decarbonizing energy systems and the plummeting costs of renewable energy technologies [...]

Status of renewable energy in Cameroon

Globally, the continuous increase of energy consumption coupled with the depletion of the limited fossil fuel sources and their negative impacts on the environment, has shifted focus towards renewables for a sustainable development. For the last fifteen years, the world has enjoyed renewables generation capacity increases in a double-digit Terawatt-hours range. Although renewables consumption is fast developing in Asia Pacific, Europe and North America, significant coordination efforts are required among stakeholders in sub-Saharan Africans countries such as Cameroon. In 2018, the total final energy consumption in Cameroon was 7.41 Mtoe, 74.22% of which was from biomass, 18.48% from fossil fuels and 7.30% from electricity. Furthermore, 6977 GWh of electricity was produced, 78.29% of which from the major electricity operator (ENEO S.A. Cameroon) and 21.71% from independent producers (GLOBELEQ, ALTAAQA Sinohydro China and AGGREKO). More than three quarter of electricity produced were consumed by industry (57.04%) and residential (20.74%) sectors. The country's installed electricity generation capacity rose to 1402 MW, 56.15% of which was from hydropower, 43.84% from fossil fuels (17.55% from natural gas and 26.29% from oil) and 0.01% from solar photovoltaic. The promotion of renewable energy is an important part of Cameroon's plan to increase energy security and provide job opportunities to the country. Yet, the lack of proactive and long-term renewable energy policy and laws, in addition to less attention paid to renewable energy training and research, financing mechanisms, and unaffordable costs of renewable energy technologies to the poor population are amongst present issues hindering the development of renewable energy in the country. Hence, this paper aims to highlight the present status of renewable energy exploitation and development in Cameroon.

Zero-Marginal-Cost Electricity Market Designs: Lessons Learned From Hydro Systems in Latin America Might Be Applicable for Decarbonization

Large reductions in the cost of renewable energy technologies, particularly wind and solar, as well as various instruments used to achieve decarbonization targets (e.g., renewable mandates, renewable auctions, subsidies, and carbon pricing mechanisms) are driving the rapid growth of investments in these generation technologies worldwide.

The Effect of Renewable Energy Marketing Techniques on Different Age Brackets

Renewable energy technologies are often seen as one of the most useful solution to the issue of climate change. Hamilton, Hartter, and Bell (2019) conducted a study where participants of various ages were surveyed about their opinions and attitudes towards renewable energy. They found that there was a difference between how younger and older people perceived renewable energy and other related technologies. There is also extensive research into how different appeals people’s perception of a product in advertising. This study combines the two to investigate how age impacted the effectiveness of various commercial types regarding renewable energy. A Posttest-only control group, experimental design was used to conduct this study. A survey was modeled from various related experiments and given to participants from five different age groups. A one-way ANOVA test was run for the numerical results of each of the age groups in the survey. The p-Value for age group one was determined to be statistically significant at p<0.05 and a null hypothesis was rejected. This, along with anecdotal responses from participants, was used to draw three conclusions. People in the first age group are concerned with the environmental benefits of renewable energy technologies, but are more concerned with their implementation into society. Participants across most of the age groups are concerned with the cost of renewable energy technologies. Finally, the participants believed that the individual situation of the installer should determine if they should invest in renewable energy technologies.
 Keywords: renewable energy, marketing, advertising, age groups, perception

Decarbonization Tradeoffs: A Dynamic General Equilibrium Modeling Analysis for the Chilean Power Sector

Medium size developing countries like Chile that commit to decarbonization goals need to carefully assess the trade-offs associated to their intensity and timing, since most of the technologies required will be absorbed, not produced, by these countries. A rapid expansion of renewables in the Chilean energy matrix, mostly thanks to exceptional solar and wind resources, combined with a rapid decrease in the cost of renewable energy technologies, intensified current policy debates to reduce the role of coal, which is the largest source of CO2 emissions in the generation mix. Recently, the main generation companies in Chile made a voluntary commitment to not invest in new coal projects that do not include carbon capture and storage systems. In addition, the Chilean government announced its plans to phase out coal plants completely by 2040. In this context, the aim of this research is to study the economy-wide and emission reduction impacts of different decarbonization paths in the Chilean power sector. For this purpose, we consider dynamic simulations using a new energy-oriented version of the Computable General Equilibrium Model (CGE)- General Equilibrium Model for the Chilean Economy (ECOGEM)-Chile which is soft linked to the bottom-up engineering energy model. The results show the major impacts under both the business as usual (BAU) scenario and the coal phase-out scenario. Additionally, the study discusses to what extent the ambitious decarbonization goals of the Chilean government are coherent with the current technological limitations.

Technical, economic, and performance analysis of a hybrid energy system using a novel dispatch strategy

Renewable and sustainable energy dispatching is considered as a major concern when designing hybrid energy systems. Obtaining a reliable and efficient framework that satisfies continuous operation at minimum cost is necessary due to the high cost of renewable energy technologies. This study investigates the performance of an on-grid PV/WT/Diesel/Battery system for a residential section meeting a load demand of 112.7 kWh/day with a 26.66 kW peak load demand in Tehran, Iran. A new dispatch strategy is developed using MATLAB Link in HOMER software which has a 24-h foresight for the power grid’s cut-offs, the upcoming electrical demand, solar irradiation, and wind speed. This foresight leads to make the best decision about using different sources. The results indicate more than 9% and 4% improvement in the cost of energy of the system compared to two pre-prepared dispatch strategies in HOMER, load following (LF) and cycle charging (CC). The results also show that the renewable fraction in the developed strategy is greater than LF and CC. In the end, the simulation has been performed for different sensitivities including different electrical loads, grid’s prices, and different equipment prices to determine the optimality boundaries of the system.

Preventing early lock-in with technology-specific policy designs: The Renewable Portfolio Standards and diversity in renewable energy technologies

While renewable energy (RE) deployment policies can help drive down the costs of RE technologies, they may lead to premature lock-in of the current dominant technology and result in long-term inefficiency. Recent literature has developed a technology-specificity framework to analyze how the technology-specificity level of deployment policies affects technology selection and avoids early technological lock-in. Adopting this framework, we ask whether RE deployment policy designs that specifically target different technology tiers promote RE diversity and avoid premature technological lock-in in the RE market. We examine this research question in the context of Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) in the United States, which has a unique design feature of nested technology specificity. Using panel data of 50 states between 1997 and 2016, we examine the effects of the nested RPS designs on diversifying RE technologies and the interactions between different tiers of technology-specificity designs. We find that field-level RPS targets do not have a statistically significant impact on diversifying RE technologies; however, they act as a base for technology-specific RPS designs. Empirical evidence suggests that quantity-based set-aside targets increase in-state shares of the targeted technologies, whereas price-based credit multipliers on competitive technologies have a spillover effect on less competitive technologies.

Experience Curves for Operations and Maintenance Costs of Renewable Energy Technologies

Summary Given the decline in investment costs for renewable energy technologies, other cost components have become increasingly important. In 2017, operations and maintenance (O&M) accounted for 20%–25% of lifecycle costs for wind and solar plants in Europe, but the understanding of O&M dynamics is limited. Presenting new data from Germany, here, we consider cumulative operating experience to estimate O&M experience curves for onshore wind and solar photovoltaic (PV). Results indicate O&M cost reductions with each doubling of cumulative experience of 9.2%–12.8% for onshore wind and of 15.7%–18.2% for solar. Drawing on expert interviews and archival information, we describe mechanisms regarding how O&M experience led to lower costs, including economies of scale, upsizing, learning by doing, and learning by using and learning by interacting, comparing both technologies. Moreover, regulatory changes fostered competitive pressure toward cost reductions. Our results suggest that dynamic cost reduction potentials for O&M need to be considered in energy system planning, modeling, and optimization.

Smart Sankey picturization for energy management systems in India

India’s energy demand is predicted to rise by 135% within a span of 20 years. Coping up with surging energy demands requires several reforms in both renewable and non-renewable sectors. Factors such as rising population, reduction in the cost of renewable energy technology and their effect on the nation’s GDP, can make policy making a herculean task and the justification for such policies, quite opaque to the public. Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology can help decision makers to quickly draw conclusions from voluminous datasets under different heads. However, AI results need to be post-processed so that they are easily understood by the layperson. This paper focuses on using Sankey diagrams as a post-processing tool for AI systems. Policy formulation often requires an overall assessment of energy sources, production pathways, end used destinations and wastage encountered—these can be easily visualized with a Sankey diagram. For this work, a Sankey protocol was written out in a form where a prompt asks the user to supply information through a spreadsheet interfaced with a customized mobile app—a first anywhere in the subcontinent. India’s mobile sector is vibrant, and the paper presents a enabling the user to have a handle on the dynamics of energy distribution locally. The app gives an instant feel of the apportioned energy across grids, the projected changes for the next decade, the efficiency and feasibility of each sector and lastly a telling visual representation showing the main strengths and weaknesses in the energy sector.

Globalisation as a motor of renewable energy development in Latin America countries

The impact of globalisation on the dissemination of renewable energy was analysed for ten Latin America countries for the period from 1980 to 2014. For that propose, was built a model where install capacity of renewable energy is explained by output, KOF globalisation index, and private capital stock. The richness of the short- and long-run relations between variables was analysed by a panel autoregressive-distributed lag model in the form of an unrestricted error correction mechanism. The results of the model’s estimation support a positive effect of the short-run impact of output per capita and long-run elasticities of globalisation and private capital stock per capita on renewable energy diffusion. That results that show that the globalisation can stimulate renewable energy sources evidencing that the process of integration of Latin America countries in the World is a benefit to the development of green energy technologies. The Latin America region policymakers must take advantage of the process of globalisation to reduce the costs of renewable energy technologies and develop policies encouraging the access of these technologies by households with low income that live in remote or rural regions to reduce the energy poverty, which plagues the countries from the Latin America region.

Spatial and temporal uncertainty in the technological pathway towards a low-carbon power industry: A case study of China

The low-carbon transition of power industry plays a vital role in China's energy system revolution. Both policy support and cost reductions have greatly driven the development of renewable energy technologies, especially wind and solar power generation technologies. Considering the cost uncertainty of renewables, we developed a National Energy Technology-Power model to assess the possible low-carbon transition pathways for six regional power industries using four renewable energy cost change scenarios. Resource endowments and technology developments trends were also considered to achieve an effective and coordinated utilization of various resources. The results show that declining renewable energy costs have a great impact on the spatial and temporal development of power generation technologies, and on the interregional clean power transmission. If the investment costs of renewable energy technologies continue to decline at a high speed and the renewables could be dramatically developed, the CO2 emissions of China's power industry is expected to peak at 3.12 GtCO2 in 2026. Accordingly, the capacity share of renewable energy technologies in regional power industries would exceed 50% except in East China, and the total installed coal-fired technology capacity would fall to 760.2 GW in 2050. In addition, to promote the optimal allocation of resources, the total amounts of interregional clean power transmission are suggested to be 416 TWh in 2035 and 587 TWh in 2050, i.e., 4.9% and 5.5% of the total amount of power generation, respectively. 106 TWh of wind power is expected to be exported from Northwest to Center and East regions in 2050; and 112 TWh of solar power is suggested to be exported from North to Center, East and South regions. The Northwest region is the largest exporter of clean power while the East region is the main importer. These conclusions could support the regional plan of power transmission network.

Multi-stage stochastic optimization framework for power generation system planning integrating hybrid uncertainty modelling

In this paper, a multi-stage stochastic optimization (MSO) method is proposed for determining the medium to long term power generation mix under uncertain energy demand, fuel prices (coal, natural gas and oil) and, capital cost of renewable energy technologies. The uncertainty of future demand and capital cost reduction is modelled by means of a scenario tree configuration, whereas the uncertainty of fuel prices is approached through Monte Carlo simulation. Global environmental concerns have rendered essential not only the satisfaction of the energy demand at the least cost but also the mitigation of the environmental impact of the power generation system. As such, renewable energy penetration, CO2,eq mitigation targets, and fuel diversity are imposed through a set of constraints to align the power generation mix in accordance to the sustainability targets. The model is, then, applied to the Indonesian power generation system context and results are derived for three cases: Least Cost option, Policy Compliance option and Green Energy Policy option. The resulting optimum power generation mixes, discounted total cost, carbon emissions and renewable share are discussed for the planning horizon between 2016 and 2030.

Aligning National Interests and Global Climate Justice: The Role of Human Rights in Enhancing the Ambition of Nationally Determined Contributions to Combat Climate Change

The Paris Agreement on climate change revolves around nationally determined contributions (NDC) and acknowledges that the ambition of the global climate response will be determined by Parties’ understanding of their national interests. Initiatives currently envisaged in NDCs are insufficient to avoid disastrous climate change. Debates about the impact of climate action on economic development and national interests have abated the climate ambition of some governments. Conflicting modeling approaches have contributed to these debates. To scale up global climate efforts, it will be essential to convince Parties that the short-term benefits of robust national climate action outweigh its immediate costs. Innovation is driving progress to address climate change and can deliver substantial development co-benefits, particularly by reducing costs of renewable energy technologies and enabling new business models. However, innovation can take many years to reach deployment stage, can create unforeseen problems of its own, and does not benefit all equally. Climate justice links human rights, development and climate regimes. A climate justice perspective provides a normative, analytical and procedural framework to identify barriers to innovation diffusion, optimize development co-benefits of climate action and help build public support for the adoption of more ambitious NDC pledges.

Generation expansion planning considering renewable energy integration and optimal unit commitment: A case study of Afghanistan

The main focus of the proposed framework is to examine the importance of electricity interconnections with a high share of intermittent Renewable Energy (RE) sources and attempts to link the gap between planning model and operation with considering realistic operating details. Therefore optimal Unit Commitment (UC) is considered to analyze how operational aspects are appropriately done over the planning period. More specifically, a Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) model is developed to address the specific challenges of the underlying UC problem. For modelling purposes, demand forecast, applicable RE potentials and the cost of RE technologies are estimated. To reduce the expenses and improve system stability, energy storage systems (pump storage hydro and thermal energy storage) are considered as well. For optimal UC, a typical day (24 h) is employed to determine the capacity expansion and daily operational planning. Each selected day expresses a part of the year (e.g., a season). Incorporation of short-term decisions into the long-term planning framework can strengthen the accuracy of the decisions and guaranty the stability of power networks. The proposed approach can provide valuable insights into the appropriate energy strategies followed by the investors and policymakers at a national and regional level.

The importance of financial cost for renewable energy projects: economic viability assessment of renewable hybrid mini-grid systems in Indonesia

Still a lot of Indonesia’s population lacks access to electricity, and a large number of those people live in remote areas or on islands. Traditionally, electrification of areas not yet connected to the main electricity grid and too remote for grid extension has mainly been achieved through installation of decentralized generation units with diesel generators. However, with decreased cost of renewable energy technologies, renewable hybrid mini-grid systems are becoming economically viable options in an ever-increasing number of places. This paper analyzes the economic viability of renewable hybrid mini-grid systems with solar Photo-Voltaic cells, batteries, and diesel generators in a typical un-electrified village in Indonesia employing local data. The analysis is conducted by utilizing HOMER simulation techniques to design the optimal renewable hybrid mini-grid systems and the economic viability assessment of the system is performed by comparing the levelized cost of energy of the system with that of the conventional diesel system under different financial scenarios. Further financial analyses, such as Internal Rate of Return and Net Present Value, are performed for the hybrid systems to investigate what kind of financial scenarios (debt/equity ratios) and public aid (international aid and government fund), would make the hybrid systems attractive to private investors. The analysis has clarified that even at the most conservative scenario with 100% equity finance, the levelized cost of energy of the renewable hybrid mini-grid system is lower than that of the diesel system. Further analysis has shown that grant finance that covers 35% of the total project cost could make the hybrid system a profitable investment project for private investors even in the most conservative scenario. The paper also demonstrates that the profitability of renewable hybrid mini-grid systems is highly affected by financial scenarios (debt/equity ratios) in comparison with that of diesel systems, concluding with policy recommendations.

INTEGRATION COSTS OF RENEWABLE ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES IN FUTURE ENERGY GENERATION SCENARIOS

The objective of the paper is to understand the integration costs of renewable energy technologies (RETs) in future energy generation scenarios for South Africa. The study used PLEXOS1 to conduct a bottom-up hourly simulation, incorporating the high renewable energy scenarios of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) for 2030, in which RET penetrations are projected to be below 20 per cent. After verification and validation of the model by PLEXOS subject matter experts, the final model was run with two cases: a base case, and a constraint case. The results for these two cases for the year 2030 exhibited system costs of R0.39/kWh and R0.48/kWh respectively. A secondary output was the levelised cost of energy values for a number of energy generation technologies. A sensitivity analysis subsequently revealed that the largest contributor to a change in system costs is the demand forecast, followed by an increase in renewable energy outputs. Finally, recommendations are made to improve future energy modelling research by addressing the key assumptions of this research inquiry.

Low carbon scenarios and policies for the power sector in Botswana

ABSTRACTThe Government of Botswana has pledged a nationally determined contribution (NDC) as a commitment to the Paris Agreement. For the power sector, the NDC states that the government expects renewable energy (RE) to meet 25% of peak electricity demand by 2030. However, due to high initial cost of RE technologies, the government plans to maintain a coal-based power system in the future. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to examine Botswana’s national plan from an economic perspective, using scenario and cost analysis, to explore the possibility of the power sector’s low carbon transition in the light of Botswana’s NDC. Five scenarios are designed to reflect a range of investment cost changes of RE technologies. While most scenarios only achieve 19% (P3, P4 and P5) and 54% (P6) of the NDC’s power sector target, the P7 scenario far exceeds the goal by achieving 188% of the NDC target. Furthermore, as the difference of levelized cost of electricity among the scenarios is minimal, the P7 scenario is the most attractive pathway for the government. Even for other scenarios, the government should still deploy the suggested capacity of solar photovoltaic (PV) as it is both economically and socially beneficial in the long term. However, in these cases, the government’s political will to meet the NDC’s power sector target and to promote the solar PV industry will be critical in designing future power sector policies.Key policy insightsModel results show coal as the cheapest resource for electricity generation in Botswana up to 2030, but the cost competitiveness of solar photovoltaic (PV) against coal will continue to increase over time.It is economically and socially beneficial to adjust the current national plan and substitute some share of coal with solar PV in the future energy mix.Government support is critical in achieving the power sector’s NDC target, as cost reduction of solar PV alone does not guarantee success.Encouraging independent power producers (IPP) with financial support mechanisms would be a suitable business model for developing the renewable energy industry.

A Return on Investment Model for the Implementation of New Technologies on Wind Turbines

Renewable energy from wind and solar is considered to be the main alternative to fossil fuels. The costs of renewable energy technologies are high and without tax credits they are not currently competitive with fossil fuels in many markets. Improvements in the performance or reduction in operational costs will have significant impacts on the price of renewable energy and ultimately impact their competitiveness. New technologies targeted at improving the efficiency of the current systems or reducing their life-cycle costs will help; however, these technologies are expensive and detailed cost tradeoff and return on investment (ROI) analysis are required to make business cases for them. In this paper, we formulate an ROI model and describe its implementation in a stochastic discrete-event simulator to calculate financial tradeoffs and enable business cases for technology insertion into wind farms. The new ROI model includes changes in revenue and operations costs (including changes in reliability due to the technology insertion) and introduces the concept of identical timeline conditions to guarantee a meaningful ROI calculation. A case study for using light detection and ranging (LIDAR) to increase the efficiency and improve the reliability of wind turbines in a wind farm is provided.

Is it wise to compromise renewable energy future for the sake of expediency? An analysis of Pakistan's long-term electricity generation pathways

Pakistan's acute energy crisis has critically affected its already fragile economy, costing in recent years up to 4% it's of Gross Domestic Product. Political expediency in the wake of the current power crisis in Pakistan together with the current high investment costs of renewable energy technologies have shifted focus of the policy to thermal power plants in the short run to meet the deficit. This paper presents a long-term view of the current power policy and forecasts electricity demand in Pakistan in the long run congruent with anticipated strong economic growth, as envisaged in 'Pakistan Vision 2025', its medium-term development framework. Using Long Range Energy Alternatives Planning (LEAP), a bottom-up scenario modelling framework, different electricity generation scenarios are developed to meet an estimated annual requirement of 303.7 terawatt-hours (TWh) by 2035. Government policy (GP) scenario models the current economic and power policy, while Renewable Energy (REN) and Demand Side Management (DSM) scenarios provide alternative power generation pathways. These scenarios are compared based on net present cost (NPC) at different discount rates (5%, 7% and 10%). Interestingly, the REN scenario with a 35% share of solar PV and wind power turns out to be economically more viable than GP and DSM scenarios saving $26 billion and $17 billion in NPC respectively, due to sizeable savings on imported fuels. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with all three scenarios over the study period are also estimated, whereby the RE scenario appears to save over 221 MtCO2 and 159 MtCO2 more emissions compared to GP and DSM scenarios. The results of the least cost scenario are also analysed to depict falling investment and installation costs of renewable energy technologies making them more profitable as a long run energy security option for Pakistan. Policy implications in the light of the study are discussed.

The politics of renewable energy trade: The US-China solar dispute

The Chinese and US governments played significant roles in the development of renewable energy industries, seeing them as key growth sectors and crucial to addressing climate change. While the US and China cooperated in renewable energy development, since 2011 the countries have engaged in a protracted and major trade dispute in the solar photovoltaics industry. We propose that the US government's decision to impose, and then expand, tariffs on a number of Chinese solar producers can be explained though a model of coalitional politics, drawing on Actor-Centered Institutionalism and the Advocacy Coalition Framework. We show that a coalition of domestic manufacturers and congressional interests formed a protectionist coalition that utilized US trade law to their advantage. In doing so they sidelined a free trade coalition representing the majority of US solar photovoltaic firms. The institutional design of US trade law also facilitated the successful application of trade remedies. Our analysis suggests that the domestic politics of renewable energy trade make trade conflicts a likely outcome, leaving limited scope for policy to carefully manage the trade-off between protecting parts of manufacturing through tariffs and lowering the cost of renewable energy technologies to mitigate climate change.