The phase-out of fossil fuels, and a growing use of variable renewable energy sources, increase the flexibility needs of the power sector. In this context, different energy storage technologies become more relevant. Yet the role and use of electricity storage depends on many factors, for example technology costs and availabilities, as well as the level and flexibility of sector coupling strategies...
Natural gas could play an increasing role in the German energy system following the coal exit decided in July 2020 by the German parliament. However, natural gas has no climate benefit compared to coal. What is more, Europe risks to become a battleground for the conflict between Russia and the United States. The construction of the Baltic Sea pipeline Nordstream 2 has set in motion a downward...
Green hydrogen can help to decarbonize transportation, but its power sector interactions are not well understood. It may contribute to integrating variable renewable energy sources if production is sufficiently flexible in time. Using an open-source co-optimization model of the power sector and four options for supplying hydrogen at German filling stations, we find a trade-off between energy efficiency ...
As COVID-19 spreads worldwide, governments have been implementing a wide range of measures to contain it, from movement restrictions to economy-wide shutdowns. Understanding their impacts is essential to support better policies for countries still experiencing outbreaks or in case of emergence of subsequent pandemic waves. Here we show that the cumulative decline in electricity consumption within the ...
Poland is the largest hard coal and second largest lignite producer in the EU, generating around 80 percent of its electricity from coal. Resistance to a reduction in coal production and consumption comes from various actors, namely, coal corporations, unions, parts of civil society and the government – as well as their coalitions. Their opposition centres around the prospect of losing their business, ...
Reductions in the cost of PV and batteries encourage households to invest in PV battery prosumage. We explore the implications for the rest of the power sector by applying two open-source techno-economic models to scenarios in Western Australia for the year 2030. Household PV capacity generally substitutes utility PV, but slightly less so as additional household batteries are installed. Wind power ...
This paper discusses the potential role of fossil natural gas (and other gases) in the process of the energy transformation in Europe on its way to complete decarbonization. Mainstream conventional wisdom has it that natural gas, perhaps in combination with other gases, should maintain an important role in the energy mix, first, as a “bridge fuel”, and then through a gradual transition toward decarbonized ...
In the transition to a renewable energy system, the occurrence of low-wind-power events receives increasing attention. We analyze the frequency and duration of such events for onshore wind power in Germany, based on 40 years of reanalysis data and open software. We find that low-wind-power events are less frequent in winter than in summer, but the maximum duration is distributed more evenly between ...
Using electricity for heating can contribute to decarbonization and provide flexibility to integrate variable re-newable energy. We analyze the case of electric storage heaters in German 2030 scenarios with an open-sourceelectricity sector model. We find that flexible electric heaters generally increase the use of generation tech-nologies with low variable costs, which are not necessarily renewables. ...
We analyze the gross welfare gains from real-time retail pricing in electricity markets where carbon taxation induces investment in variable renewable technologies. Applying a stylized numerical electricity market model, we find a U-shaped association between carbon taxation and gross welfare gains. The benefits of introducing real-time pricing can accordingly be relatively low at relatively high carbon ...
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