J.M. Clancy; F. Gaffney; J.P. Deane; J. Curtis; B.P. Ógallachóir, 2015
Summary
Several electricity systems supply significant proportions of electricity from weather dependent renewable sources. Different quantification methods have estimated the associated historical savings of fuel and CO2 emissions. Primary energy equivalent and econometric methods do not readily quantify factors like operational changes to fossil fuel generation arising from the integration of renewable energy. Dispatch models can overcome these limitations, but are generally applied to future scenarios. A dispatch model is applied to ex-post data for the 2012 All Island system in Ireland. Renewable electricity accounted for 20.4 % of total generation, 15.8 % from wind. The results show renewable generation averted a 26 % increase in fossil fuels (valued at €297 million) and avoided an 18 % increase in CO2 emissions (2.85 MtCO2), as compared to the simulated 2012 system without renewable generation. Each MWh of renewable electricity avoided on average 0.43 tCO2 with wind avoiding 0.46 tCO2/MWh. Additional renewable related balancing requirements had minor impacts on fossil fuel generation efficiency; CO2 production rates increased by <2%. Policy measures to alleviate network congestion, increase system flexibility and increase financial penalties on emissions can increase savings from renewable generation.
Akbi Amine; Noureddine Yassaa; Rachid Boudjema; Boualem Aliouat, 2015
Summary
The high generation cost of renewable energy is one of the main barriers to their development and large-scale deployment. This is the case of Algeria, in which despite its significant renewable energy potential, more than 96% of electricity is generated with gas turbines to cover increasing national demand. This choice is also driven by the important natural gas reservoirs in Algeria in addition to the low cost of electricity that is generated by this fossil fuel. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the cost of electricity production from a renewable source, substituting conventional fossil fuel processes. An economic value can be captured through the trade of greenhouse gas emissions and the reallocation of fuel savings to export. This approach is particularly well supported considering the growing local demand for natural gas, threatening the country’s natural gas export capacity on which the economy of Algeria is tightly dependent. The conventional evaluation of the generation cost of electricity, using the Levelized Cost Of Electricity (LCOE) and the cost structure of electricity production is selected for comparing the cost of electricity generation from gas power and photovoltaic plants. The environmental benefits and their financial valuation mechanisms are discussed. To illustrate all these parameters, a case study of a photovoltaic plant with a capacity of one megawatt (1 MW) installed in Algeria is presented and the potential benefits in terms of fuel savings and CO2 equivalent emission is assessed.
Margarita Ortega-Izquierdo; Pablo del Río, 2016
Summary
The European Union is committed to the deployment of electricity from renewable energy sources (RES-E). However, the large and recent increase in the RES-E penetration has raised the concern of policy makers in the EU Member States about the costs of public promotion of RES-E. Nevertheless, an economic analysis of the RES-E contribution should include the policy costs of RES-E deployment, but also its benefits. This would contribute to support the debate on renewable energy policy targets in the EU and its MS. The aim of this paper is to close this gap in the literature with a novel methodology and put those policy costs into perspective by evaluating some of the most relevant benefits of RES-E deployment. The results show that RES deployment due to RES-E support has led to two main benefits (lower CO2 emissions and fossil fuel savings), which are slightly below those costs. Behind this broader picture, significant country and technology differences emerge. The benefits are above policy costs for hydro and wind, and below those costs for bioenergy, solar photovolatics and other RES-E.