Non-conventional Renewable Sources Research Articles

Effect of the intermittency of non-conventional renewable energy sources on the volatility of the Colombian spot price

This paper explores one of the side effects and challenges that integrating non-conventional renewable energy sources poses to the Colombian electricity market, the spot price volatility which is directly related to financial risk. We propose a vector error correction model that allows an integrated and dynamic modelling of the offer-side of the spot market by considering bid prices, available energy, renewable energy production and the spot price. To validate the model, we performed statistical tests on the residuals of the model and back-testing. The results show that given a one standard deviation shock in renewable energy production from non-conventional sources, the spot price volatility increases from 12.7 % to 14.5 % in a 365-day horizon, which represents a relative increase of 14.2 %. Also, when evaluating different renewable energy integration scenarios and the official system expansion, we see that assuming 100 % fulfilment of the non-conventional sources integration plan, the volatility goes up to 31.2 % vs. 12.3 %. It is also worth noting that if the plan is fulfilled up to 25 % there is no significant increase in spot price volatility, which can be justified by the simultaneous expansion of conventional sources that compensate for the effects of non-conventional renewable sources.

Financial Investment Valuation Models for Photovoltaic and Energy Storage Projects: Trends and Challenges

Energy production through non-conventional renewable sources allows progress towards meeting the Sustainable Development Objectives and constitutes abundant and reliable sources when combined with storage systems. From a financial viewpoint, renewable energy production projects withstand significant challenges such as competition, irreversibility of investments, high uncertainty levels, and considerable investment amounts. These facts make their financial valuation fundamental for all the agents involved. Using the Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus databases, a scientometric analysis was carried out to understand the methods that have been used in the financial appraisal of photovoltaic energy generation projects with storage systems. The present research project was developed from 268 studies published between 2013 and 2023; tools such as Bibliometrix 4.1.3, VOSViewer 1.6.19, and Tree of Science 0.0.1a9 were used. Two main findings stand out: (i) the most used methods in the literature are the traditional ones, and within them, the levelized cost of energy has been used with greater frequency; and (ii) there is an interest in analyzing the investments of these systems for residences within the framework of distributed energy generation. Two gaps were found in the literature: (i) the studies that were carried out have not comprehensively incorporated the financial challenges faced by these investments; and (ii) the evaluation of these projects has not been addressed from the perspective of a utility-based power generator.

Quantification and analysis of flexibility in a power distribution network with penetration of non-conventional renewable sources

This work shows the quantification of the flexibility in power distribution systems in the scenario in which non-conventional renewable sources are connected to it. From a set of metrics available in the literature, one is selected based on its applicability to operational and distribution system planning scenarios. The theoretical foundation and detail of its computational implementation is shown. On the basis of this, its calculation is addressed for a distribution system in which non-conventional renewable sources and storage systems are present. From the results it is possible to identify quantifiable characteristics of flexibility to the variation in the operation of this type of systems.

Proposing Dynamic Pricing as an Alternative to Improve Technical and Economic Conditions in Rural Electrification: A Case Study from Colombia

Electricity access in rural areas is a critical challenge for global electrification. Most countries have focused on increasing electricity coverage without assessing the long-term sustainability of such solutions. To achieve sustainability in rural electrification solutions, it is necessary to consider five dimensions: technical, environmental, economic, social, and institutional. This paper reviews the state of rural electrification worldwide and proposes a dynamic tariff scheme that increases the technical and economic conditions of implemented solutions over an extended period. The proposed time-of-use (TOU) pricing methodology aims to flatten the system demand curve and utilize on-site renewable energy potentials. For the methodology’s evaluation, we analyzed a case study focused on electrification in isolated areas of Colombia, conducting a sensitivity analysis of user-behavior to the proposed tariff scheme using the concept of price elasticity of demand. We also evaluated the effect of the achieved demand curve flattening on the system frequency. The identified benefits highlight that an accurate pricing scheme can reduce the variation range in the system frequency. Furthermore, the evaluation results show that the implementation of the proposed tariff scheme has the potential to significantly flatten the demand curve and encourage the connection of non-conventional renewable sources to improve network conditions.

Electricity Pricing for Renewable Markets- A Simulation Approach for the Colombian Case

An important technological transformation is taking place in the electricity markets. Increases in the use of non-conventional renewable sources for electricity generation is challenging the system reliability, especially from the suppliers perspective. This context stands out the need to seek market designs and electricity pricing schemes that favor the proper functioning of markets, contributing to the system sustainability and social welfare. This work develops a simulation model that allows evaluating different electricity market designs and pricing schemes under different scenarios of non-conventional renewable sources penetration, using the Colombian electricity market as an application case. Schemes are evaluated under six indicators including price volatility, maximum electricity prices, unattended system demand, average usage of thermal sources, CO2 emissions and generation surpluses. Model results reveal that the market designs and pricing schemes that use levelized costs of electricity provide a favorable performance of the electricity market when the installed capacity of renewable sources increases, considering price volatilities, system CO2 emissions and demand coverage.

A neural network model of PV module temperature as a function of weather parameters prevailing in composite climate zone of India

Photovoltaic (PV) conversion of solar energy appears to be the most promising way of meeting the increasing energy requirements of the future, at a time when conventional sources of energy are being exhausted. Although the solar energy is an inexhaustible source of energy, the energy output of the PV module depends invariably on weather parameters like irradiance, relative humidity, wind speed, ambient temperature, etc. Understanding the dependence of PV output on these weather parameters will help us in setting up realistic goals for power production through non-conventional renewable sources. The most important observable, which affects the power output of a PV panel, is module temperature, which in turn depends on various weather parameters as listed above. Keeping this aim in mind, the present investigation focuses on developing a mathematical model using Artificial Neural Network (ANN) scheme to predict the module temperature using real-time field data of various parameters recorded at National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE), India, which is situated in composite climatic zone. The comparison of temperature obtained from the ANN model and the temperature recorded by the sensors deployed in the PV panels shows an overall coefficient of correlations () of about 99.16% and a regression coefficient () of 98.34%. These results indicate that ANN can be useful in generating good predictions based on completely unknown data consisting of several variables, which can be used to learn solar energy’s potential for any geographical location.

Interrelationship simulations among Brazilian electric matrix sources

Electricity in Brazil is mainly supplied by renewable sources. However, thermal sources are necessary to meet the demand in periods of climatic adversity. The research aimed to identify the existing relationships among Brazilian generating sources and to examine the effects of these relationships for each source, using a system of dynamic equation with VAR modeling and parameters estimated by SUR. The variable analyzed was electricity amount generated (GWh), divided by: biomass; coal; fuels; hydropower; natural gas; nuclear; and wind power. Monthly values ​​were collected at the National Electric Energy Agency website from January 2000 to June 2019. The dynamic equations parameters were estimated by SUR, which provided more functional equations and efficient predictions. The scenario simulations made it possible to verify hydropower generation and its dependence on thermal sources. The adjusted system exposed the reverse effects to this dependence, which suggest an increase in the use of non-conventional renewable sources, such as biomass and solar energy. As another alternative to reduce the matrix thermal dependency, the possibility of encouraging thermal generation from natural gas was identified, as it is a low carbon source, and the development of energy storage solutions, such as batteries, to maintain the electricity supply stability.

Application of Life-Cycle Assessment for the Study of Carbon and Water Footprints of the 16.5 MWe Wind Farm in Villonaco, Loja, Ecuador

Wind technology is considered to be among the most promising types of renewable energy sources, and due to high oil prices and growing concerns about climate change and energy security, it has been the subject of extensive considerations in recent years, including questions related to the relative sustainability of electricity production when the manufacturing, assembly, transportation and dismantling processes of these facilities are taken into account. The present article evaluates the environmental impacts, carbon emissions and water consumption, derived from the production of electric energy of the Villonaco wind farm, located in Loja, Ecuador, during its entire life cycle, using the Life Cycle Analysis for this purpose. Finally, it is concluded that wind energy has greater environmental advantages since it has lower values of carbon and water footprints than other energy sources. Additionally, with the techniques Cumulative Energy Demand and Energy Return on Investment, sustainability in the production of electricity from wind power in Ecuador is demonstrated; and, that due to issues of vulnerability to climate change, the diversification of its energy mix is essential considering the inclusion of non-conventional renewable sources such as solar or wind, this being the only way to reduce both the carbon footprint and the water from the energy supply.

THE FIRST AUCTION OF NON-CONVENTIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY IN COLOMBIA: RESULTS AND PERSPECTIVES

In Colombia, as a historic milestone, the first long-term auction of non-conventional renewable sources was held in 2019, with the aim of the National Government to take a major step in the energy transition policy. The auction organized by the Ministerio de Minas y Energía (MME) defined the objectives, rules and type of auction. The results of the first auction indicate that eight project were selected by a pay-as-bid auction scheme, five wind and three solar projects will imitate operations at 2021accounting for 1298.8 MW. This paper presents a review of auction in various countries of South America in order to compare final prices for technology. Finally, this paper discusses perspectives for the energy sector in Colombia according to the implications of this auction. Keywords: Non-conventional Renewable Energy, Energy Policy , Auction Mechanism. JEL Classifications: O13, Q28, Q42, Q48 DOI: https://doi.org/10.32479/ijeep.10010

The Chilean energy “transition”: between successful policy and the assimilation of a post-political energy condition

The Chilean energy transition has been internationally recognized as a case of successful public policy in the promotion of renewable energies, even being defined as an “energy revolution”. However, a preliminary analysis of the process allow us to sustain that the incorporation of non-conventional renewable sources to the energy matrix has not modified the technocratic model ofmarket-based management, the ownership structure of the projects, nor has it implied an advance towards democratic and decentralized energy systems that promote local development and the effective participation of communities in energy decision-making. It is concluded that the socio-technical process of the Chilean energy transition has given rise to a post-political energy condition, and that behind the technological success and consensus around the transition there is a perpetuation of power relations and structures of capitalist appropriation and management of energy resources.

Incentivo a la generación distribuida en el Ecuador

La reducción de los costos de la infraestructura solar es una de las principales razones de su crecimiento mundial. En Ecuador se requiere realizar reajustes al marco jurídico que incentive la instalación de pequeños emprendimientos solares fotovoltaicos (de clientes del servicio eléctrico) conectados a las redes de distribución de baja tensión para consumo propio, y los excedentes sean inyectados a la red. Se plantean tres modelos de negocios para la microgeneración distribuida fotovoltaica, mismos que consideran dos sistemas de medición aplicables: el primero denominado \emph{netmetering} donde se determina el valor neto de la energía (diferencia entre la inyectada a la red y la consumida), y el segundo conocido como «\emph{Feed-in Tariff}» – FIT donde se determina la energía inyectada a la red a un precio especial como incentivo. El costo de la energía producida por un sistema fotovoltaico en el Ecuador es de USD/kWh 0,1342 con la tasa de descuento del 7 %, el CF (factor de capacidad) = 15 \%, mientras que con la tasa de descuento del 10 %, CF = 20 % el costo de la energía alcanza a USD/kWh 0,1229, valores que no contemplan el banco de baterías ni de los terrenos, estos valores son cada vez más competitivos en relación con las fuentes renovables no convencionales.