Utility-scale Renewable Energy Research Articles

Modeling initiation and propagation of thermal runaway in pouch Li-ion battery cells: Effects of heating rate and state-of-charge

The implementation of lithium-ion batteries (LIB) in battery energy storage systems (BESS) for utility-scale renewable energy generation has led to increased fire and explosion hazards. These hazards are attributable to the heat and flammable gases released during LIB thermal runaway (TR). TR can be triggered within an individual LIB cell and cause intra-cell TR propagation (TRP), the energy release from which causes TR in adjacent cells, leading to inter-cell TRP. Safety assessments are critical to preventing such incidents, and numerical modeling is a key tool in developing such assessments. This work presents an inverse modeling approach utilizing measurements of cell-level experiments of large-format 63Ah pouch cells used in BESS. Such an approach is a practical alternative to existing approaches that rely on a detailed thermochemical characterization of LIB internal components which are seldom available when dealing with commercial batteries encountered in BESS. Owing to the critical role played by gas and solid venting for external flaming and inter-cell TRP, we develop an approach to capture these quantities in the model. Two key parameters affecting TRP are the state-of-charge (SOC) and heating rate. The former provides some control of the system hazard, the latter affects TR behavior of LIB cells subject to different levels of preheating often encountered in BESS fires. We develop the capability to capture the effects of these parameters in the model. To determine model parameters, we rely on existing single-cell experimental data at different heating rates, and augment this with new experiments for the same type of cells at different SOCs. The modeling results recover the experimental TR and intra-cell TRP behavior quantitatively. Analysis reveals that, at lower heating rates, the temperature is greater at the time of the onset of TR, but the location is farther away from the heated cell surface; its location and the greater internal temperature then facilitate faster intra-cell TRP. When SOC is lower, the reduced internal heat release delays the onset of TR, and we find that its location moves away from the heated surface and intra-cell TRP is slower. Our findings provide physical insights to TR initiation and intra-cell propagation in support of large-scale TRP model development.

Wind turbines as new smokestacks: Preserving ruralness and restrictive land-use ordinances across U.S. counties

Renewable energy (RE) facilities provide a global public good of climate mitigation but impose local costs such as landscape disruption and harming the rural character. Because of their land-intensive nature, utility-scale RE facilities tend to be located in rural areas with plentiful and cheap land. In the U.S., about every fourth county (729 of 3,143) has enacted ordinances restricting the siting of RE facilities. Drawing on a novel dataset of county-level restrictions on wind and solar RE facilities for the period 201o-2022, we explore whether, all else equal, levels of ruralness motivate the onset of such restrictions. As the policy literature on problem visibility suggests, we find support for this hypothesis for wind energy facilities only, probably because wind turbines due to their height tend to disrupt the rural landscape and are visible from long distances. We also find that counties are more likely to adopt restrictions for both wind and solar when adjacent counties have enacted them, thereby suggesting a contagion effect in the onset of restrictions. Contrary to the prevalent view on partisanship in climate policy, liberal counties are likely to restrict wind facilities. Our paper points to important sociological and quality-of-life factors that might be impeding the clean energy transition.

IndiGrid: Transitioning into India's First Independent Power Transmission InvIT (B)1

This case is a sequel to the “IndiGrid: Creating India's First Power Transmission InvIT (A)” case. It describes the deal that would replace the trust's original sponsor, Sterlite Power, with a new set of KKR-led financial investors. It provides an opportunity to discuss the consequences of this change on the new investment manager's outlook for management and future acquisitions. The new investment manager, freed from the limiting interest of the original sponsor, had to search for investment opportunities from the perspective of incoming financial investors, which included the new sponsor. It also provides an opportunity to evaluate the trade-offs in investing in operational utility-scale renewable energy assets by the IndiGrid, which had so far only acquired operational transmission assets in its portfolio.

(Un)Just transition in power generation: neoliberal reforms and climate crisis in Sudan

ABSTRACT Given the undisputable reality of climate change, this article explores Sudan's power generation and its approach to the current climate crisis, focusing on the perspective of a just energy transition. It highlights how the power sector's plans remain centralised, favouring urban consumerism, cost-driven energy sources, and inadequate social and environmental evaluations with limited community involvement. Furthermore, the absence of timely adaptation measures has left off-grid populations and those displaced by hydroelectric dams disproportionately vulnerable to worsening climate conditions, loss of traditional livelihoods, and conflicts over dwindling natural resources. This exacerbates instability and regional development disparities. The article advocates for a just energy transition in Sudan that not only reduces CO2 emissions but also minimises adverse impacts on local ecosystems and livelihoods. It suggests a blend of distributed and utility-scale renewable energy sources alongside existing hydro-thermal capacity. It also calls for prioritising power supply to off-grid communities through socially driven financing mechanisms, countering the neoliberal push for privatisation and full-cost recovery.

Detailed evaluation of electric demand load shifting potential of heat pump water heaters in a hot humid climate

Heat pump water heaters (HPWH) are a proven method of reducing water heating energy use over prevailing electric resistance systems (ERWH). Both technologies lend themselves to enhanced control for peak load reduction. Laboratory tests were conducted in Central Florida using the CTA-2045 standard to evaluate load shifting strategies with connected water heaters. Four HPWHs from three manufacturers, including two different tank volumes, were tested alongside an ERWH in a garage-like environment. Tests aimed to shift energy use away from utility peak load periods to off-peak times when excess renewable energy resources are often available. Two load-shifting strategies were shown effective, Shed and Critical Peak, with variation by manufacturer. Beyond draw volume, other factors influenced HPWH load shifting: Florida winter conditions, which increase the energy used per draw, provided the greatest challenges to complete load shift. Inlet water temperature had a large impact on the success of load reduction. Ground temperatures in which water pipes were buried largely determined inlet water temperatures. HPWH efficiency setting: Heat pump water heaters often default to a “hybrid” mode that may use some electric resistance heat to minimize risk of running out of hot water. Operational mode can impact load shifting potential.

Unlocking renewables amid rentierism: Market constraints to Nigeria's energy transition

Tackling climate change requires a rapid transition to renewable energy (RE). However, resource rents and subsidies present multiple challenges to the energy transition in fossil fuel-rich countries. Here, we analyze the complex but often overlooked constraints to utility-scale RE investment in Nigeria, combining qualitative data from 24 interviews with administrative data from public and private stakeholders. Using the Structure-Conduct-Performance-Regulation (SCPR) framework and the Rentier State Theory (RST), we identify three mutually reinforcing constraints related to stakeholder distrust, a monopolistic wholesale market, and a protracted subsidy regime that impede utility-scale RE investment in Nigeria. Bold policy reforms are needed to promote competition, attract investment, improve the efficiency of the market, and meet the country's clean energy goals.

Discursive trends and their socio-ecological implications in Senegal's renewable energy turn

By 2025, Senegal's energy mix will have shifted from one reliant on heavy fuel oil to one consisting primarily of solar and wind energy as well as liquefied natural gas. The expectation is that this will lead to lower greenhouse gas emissions, more affordable power, and broad-based growth and development. Despite the necessity of a transition to renewable energy, scholarship in critical energy geographies has cautioned that such a transition could (re)produce socio-environmental injustices. Yet only a relatively small (but growing) number of studies in the political ecology of renewable energy literature examines how energy transitions are framed and justified as part of national-level narratives in the global South. Understanding this is critical because framing (renewable) energy in relation to national development objectives is a strategy central to the material development of renewable energy projects. Through a case study of Senegal, this paper examines the national-level discourses that underlie the country's turn towards utility-scale renewable energy by analyzing key documents and institutional interviews (carried out between 2018 and 2020). Findings show that a dominant group of development actors along with state institutions mobilizes a “grand narrative” on economic growth and poverty reduction vis a vis renewable energy development to facilitate a shift to renewables that rests on market logics, with questionable implications for equity and justice. The paper reflects on the implications of this narrative for the potential of a just energy transition in Senegal, as well as the broader theoretical and empirical implications of the research.

Value-Driven System Design of Utility-Scale Airborne Wind Energy

In the current auction-based electricity market, the design of utility-scale renewable energy systems has traditionally been driven by the levelised cost of energy (LCoE). However, the market is gradually moving towards a subsidy-free era, which will expose the power plant owners to the fluctuating prices of electricity. This paper presents a computational approach to account for the influence of time-varying electricity prices on the design of airborne wind energy (AWE) systems. The framework combines an analytical performance model, providing the power curve of the system, with a wind resource characterisation based on ERA5 reanalysis data. The resulting annual energy production (AEP) model is coupled with a parametric cost model based on reference prototype data from Ampyx Power B.V. extended by scaling laws. Ultimately, an energy price model using real-life data from the ENTSO-E platform maintained by the association of EU transmission system operators was used to estimate the revenue profile. This framework was then used to compare the performance of systems based on multiple economic metrics within a chosen design space. The simulation results confirmed the expected behaviour that the electricity produced at lower wind speeds has a higher value than that produced at higher wind speeds. To account for this electricity price dependency on wind speeds in the design process, we propose an economic metric defined as the levelised profit of energy (LPoE). This approach determines the trade-offs between designing a system that minimises cost and designing a system that maximises value.

Incorporating grid extension into the geospatial multi-criteria analysis of the suitability of multi-renewable energy projects

Geographic information system-assisted multi-criteria analysis is the most popular approach in selecting the most suitable sites for renewable energy projects. The current practice in this approach often takes only one or two technologies at a time (mostly solar and wind), and grid extension has never been considered in the process. This paper presents a methodology for selecting sites for utility-scale renewable energy projects considering solar, wind, biomass, and hydro resources all at once. Splitting the study area according to proximity from the existing grid and extending the latter to relatively distant areas is proposed to account for the possibility that resource quality may outperform grid infrastructure investment. As a parallel research objective, the sensitivity of new (terrain ruggedness index and resource density) and traditional ranking criteria was investigated. The case study showed that a resource over 5 km away from the grid is a better project option when the grid is extended.

Low-carbon Frontier: Renewable Energy and the New Resource Boom in Western China

AbstractChina's west has long been framed as an undeveloped frontier, set apart by poverty and a resource-based economy. Since the 2000s, however, utility-scale renewable energy infrastructure has expanded rapidly in western China, promising local economic benefits tied to national low-carbon transition. This paper contends that these benefits have been precarious and unevenly distributed. I argue that utility-scale renewable energy has remade western China as a “low-carbon frontier,” a resource-rich region that generates low-carbon value for the national green economy. I highlight three features of low-carbon frontiers: they are constructed as spaces of exploitable low-carbon resources, creating an investment boom; they are enclosed through new land arrangements and infrastructure construction, rapidly and with little coordination; and they are reliant on external markets and policy decisions, entrenching dependency. These conditions make it difficult for frontier regions to capture sustained economic development benefits from the boom in the absence of persistent central state supports. I analyse these features by comparing two sets of technologies with similar, but ultimately diverging, trajectories: small and large hydropower in China's south-west, and solar and wind in the north-west.

Demanding development: The political economy of climate finance and overseas investments from China

This paper examines the drivers of Chinese overseas financing in renewable energy and the political economy factors in recipient countries that steer this finance towards climate-friendly projects. We examine utility-scale renewable energy projects in Argentina, Bulgaria, Chile, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Pakistan, and Romania. Through in-depth interviews with policymakers and relevant stakeholders, we gathered data on the factors that led to Chinese policy bank investment in renewables. We find that where host country governments have offered strong policy incentives for renewables, the Chinese banks and developers readily provided bundled financing, technology, and construction services even in markets considered to be risky. Additional risk mitigation instruments were utilized by the Chinese policy banks in some cases. In five of the nine countries studied, political agreements preceded the investments. Developing countries are found to value the bundled nature of finance, technology, and construction services offered by China as well as the timeliness of construction. As governments move towards policies utilizing competitive price discovery mechanisms, such as reverse auctions where developers compete to submit the lowest bid, the Chinese policy bank appetite for low-carbon investments may wane. Potential future synergies between China's policy banks and other multilateral development banks are explored.

A real options approach to investment timing decisions in utility-scale renewable energy in Ghana

Private capital is required to urgently complement government's efforts to meet initial capital outlay in renewable energy investments. However, minimising the downside risks for a given return in such a venture presents valuation challenges, including the timing of such investments. Investment timing is therefore relevant to consider when making investments in utility-scale renewable energy technologies which require high initial capital.This study assesses the value of investment delay in renewable energy projects using real options analysis. A model that combines binomial trees and Monte Carlo simulations are used to evaluate the optimal investment timing of the first cycle of Ghana's Renewable Energy Master Plan. The model incorporates multiple dimensions of uncertainties related to market, economic and technological factors to determine the value of delaying utility-scale renewable energy investments.The results show value in delaying investments until uncertainties are reduced and maximum benefit is obtained. Also, high system capacities and favourable renewable energy policies that border on attractive feed-in tariffs are required to drive private investment in utility-scale renewable energy.

Zoning for Climate Change

No one seriously questions that an improved and decarbonized energy supply system is a key component of climate change mitigation, but the United States’ system of federalism complicates the siting of utility-scale renewable energy facilities. The new Biden Administration presents the United States with an opportunity to reimagine how this country regulates renewable energy siting, allowing for substantial national progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Currently, primary siting authority for renewable energy projects rests with state and local governments, which generally exercise that authority through zoning and land use planning, while the federal government approves most interstate energy delivery systems. This fragmented system of governance can delay and even deter project development, simultaneously thwarting the optimal logic in developing a national renewable energy generation system. Proactive renewable energy project planning offers one potentially effective – and constitutional – solution to this renewable energy federalism dilemma, particularly in conjunction with negotiated siting guidelines and a centralized siting agency. Drawing upon the substantial body of scholarly work that advocates for federal or regional collaboration in renewable energy policymaking and for more balanced and dynamic federalism in the energy sector, this Article further advances those goals while also shifting the focal axis and underscoring renewable energy as the locus for expanding energy federalism and mitigating climate change.

Measurement-Based Fast Coordinated Voltage Control for Transmission Grids

The increasing integration of utility-scale renewable energy sources (RESs) brings emerging challenges to the classical problems of voltage control in transmission grids, including increased potential for voltage violations. To address this challenge, we present a novel measurement-based coordinated voltage control scheme that can enable fast participation of RESs. In this approach, RESs are coordinated with the traditional voltage control devices such as synchronous generators (SGs) and static var compensators (SVCs) to maintain all bus voltages within operational limits while respecting device power limits. The control scheme allows different priorities to be assigned to different control resources, and ensures that both voltage and reactive power constraints are met in steady-state whenever it is possible to do so. The controller design requires only an approximate model of the steady-state relationships between voltage and reactive power in the system, and in online operation, processes voltage and reactive power measurements to produce set-point updates for RESs, SVCs, and SGs; this feedback provides robustness against both model uncertainty and unmeasured disturbances. The feasibility and effectiveness of the controller is demonstrated via simulation case studies on a detailed power system model.

Counteracting market concentration in renewable energy auctions: Lessons learned from South Africa

Competitive bidding programmes, or auctions, are becoming the dominant method for procuring utility-scale renewable energy generation capacity and have coincided with significant cost reductions of renewable energy (RE) technologies. The use of price in auctions as the main awarding criterion has been criticized for apparently leading to market concentration and dominance in project ownership. We investigate: to what extent South Africa's renewable energy auction programme has contributed to market concentration and dominance; if market concentration and dominance have a negative impact on electricity cost in the auction; and to what extent measures taken to counteract market concentration and dominance have led to improved competition and diversity of project ownership.The study analyses bidding data from awarded solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind projects, complemented by interviews with key stakeholders in the industry and in government. While there has been some degree of market concentration, it was not observed to have an adverse impact on project pricing or market development. Introducing preferential conditions for small, local players has been more effective at counteracting market concentration than an overall lowering of entry barriers. Finally, policy certainty and predictability seem more important to counteract market concentration and dominance than any auction design measures.

A high-resolution suitability index for solar farm location in complex landscapes

Abstract The introduction of renewable energy legislation in the European Union aims to encourage development of utility-scale renewable energy sources. Site location is a key part of strategic planning for renewables such as solar energy and is hampered in complex landscapes due to high spatial heterogeneity. This heterogeneity needs to be accounted for and incorporated into decision-making processes. This study used high-resolution spatial data in a Geographic Information System (GIS) alongside Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) to determine the potential for large-scale solar developments using Northern Ireland as a case study. Criteria were analysed using a weighted sum overlay, with weights calculated using a pairwise comparison method. The resulting Suitability Index model defined the level of suitability for 10% of the region with 392 km2 identified as very suitable. Two potential site size criteria were then defined, based on manually mapped extents of current solar developments that identified 462 potential sites. A validation exercise identified modelled potential sites had high coincidence with existing and planned solar developments in the study area. The methodology can be applied across regions with complex landscape and settlement patterns with high accuracy and can be utilised by policymakers or renewable energy developers to efficiently target potential utility-scale solar developments.

Integrating Land-Use and Renewable Energy Planning Decisions: A Technical Mapping Guide for Local Government

Land-based, utility-scale renewable energy (RE) systems using wind or solar resources to generate electricity is becoming a decisive solution to meet long-term carbon emission reduction goals. Local governments are responding in kind, by adopting their own goals and/or establishing policies to facilitate successful implementations of RE in their jurisdiction. One factor to successful RE development is to locate the most suitable lands, while continuing to sustain land-based economies and ecosystem services. Local governments often have limited resources; and this is especially true for small, land-constrained local governments. In this paper, we illustrate how a standardized RE technical mapping framework can be used by local governments to advance the implementation of RE in land-constrained areas, through a case study in the Town of Canmore, Alberta. Canmore has a limited municipal area surrounded by the Canadian Rockies, along with complex land-use bylaw and environmentally sensitive habitats. This mapping framework accounts for these conditions as it considers theoretical resources, technically recoverable lands, legally accessible lands, and the spatial capital cost of connecting new RE facilities. Different land-use planning scenarios are considered including changing setback buffers and expanding restrictions on development to all environmentally sensitive districts. The total RE potentials are then estimated based on the least-conflict lands. Technically speaking, even under restrictive land suitability scenarios, Canmore holds enough land to achieve ambitious RE targets, but opportunities and challenges to implementation remain. To eventually succeed in its long-term emission reduction goal, the most decisive step for Canmore is to balance the growth of energy demands, land-use changes, and practicable RE development. Mapping systems that can study the influence of land-use planning decisions on RE potential are critical to achieving this balance.

Explaining inclusivity in energy transitions: Local and community energy in Aotearoa New Zealand

International literature on citizen, local and community energy (LCE) has grown exponentially but has focussed on European and North American context. This paper contributes to understanding inclusivity in country-specific energy transition pathways, setting out an empirical analysis of grassroots energy innovation practices in a country that has to date followed an incumbent-led energy transition pathway – Aotearoa (New Zealand). A groundswell of emerging LCE initiatives face protracted feasibility stages and high failure rates, primarily due to lack of market access and risk exposure, and a lack of policy co-ordination and streamlining, with no popularised articulation of a collective energy transition strategy as such. Barring changes in discourse, regulation, and institutional arrangements, future LCE development is likely to be oriented primarily to accommodate utility-scale renewable energy through energy efficiency and demand side management. Within this unsupportive regime context however, we observe uniquely resourced forms of LCE, and identify strategies and policies for a more inclusive pathway. Our findings reveal the limits of grassroots agency and the dependence of wider diffusion of LCE on an enabling institutional context, suggesting there are understudied transition pathways in which opportunities for LCE are relatively constrained.

Neoliberal energy transitions: The renewable energy boom in the Chilean mining economy

Political-economic approaches are increasingly used in the study of low-carbon energy transitions. This article brings attention to two dimensions that have been less explored by this scholarship. First, research on the political economy of energy transitions, which has centered on the fossil fuel industry and to a lesser degree on the residential sector, has not sufficiently considered the role that industrial energy users play in resisting and in shaping energy transitions. Second, empirical analyses have focused on the limitations to a transition toward low-carbon energy systems that neoliberal forms of energy governance generate, thereby leaving unexplored cases in which neoliberal restructurings enacted by the state accelerate energy transitions. By analyzing the relationship between the recent boom in renewables energy investments in Chile and the energy consumption practices of the copper mining industry, I show the importance that changes in energy systems can have in the reproduction of specific regimes of accumulation. Drawing on insights from the political economy of energy and the scholarship on the role of socio-natural reconfigurations in addressing capitalist crisis tendencies, I argue that the recent changes in the energy sector in Chile can be understood as a “socioecological fix” to alleviate the threatened accumulation process of its mining economy. I describe the new energy policy implemented in Chile to show how the neoliberal model for promoting renewable energies and the increased financialization of the renewable energy sector, while successful in quickly stimulating a utility-scale renewable energy sector, has also created socioecological impacts and uncertainties in energy forecasts.

A Double-Edged Sword? Understanding Support and Opposition Toward Renewable Energy Development in Rural Utah

The majority of utility-scale renewable energy facilities are constructed in rural areas where both large tracks of open land and renewable energy resources are plentiful, such as in much of the Intermountain West. Though communities in the rural West are frequently accustomed to energy development projects, renewable energy may be uniquely received due to cultural and ideological meanings assigned. This study analyzes interview transcripts with twenty-three individuals living in a rural county where significant renewable energy development has occurred to understand the factors related to support and opposition. Results indicate almost unanimous support for renewable energy, though even supportive individuals voiced substantial points of hesitation. Most relevant to residents’ support for renewable energy was economic development and appreciation of the technology’s logic. Barriers to support included the understanding that most jobs created were not permanent, neoliberal economic beliefs, hesitancy toward renewable energy’s association with liberal politics, and concern about its technical reliability as an energy source. Overall, this research suggests that the economic contribution of renewable energy is a highly salient communication strategy for rural communities. However, those seeking to foster more renewable energy development in rural places must attempt to neutralize partisan dimensions as much as possible, including the impulse to justify it on the grounds of climate mitigation.