RenewableS 2013 GlObal STaTUS RePORT - REN21

Feature: SYSTEM TRANSFORMATION
1 See R. Sims et al., “Integration of Renewable Energy into Present
and Future Energy Systems,” Chapter 8 in O. Edenhofer et al.,
eds., IPCC Special Report on Renewable Energy Sources and
Climate Change Mitigation (Cambridge, U.K. and New York:
Cambridge University Press, 2012), and International Energy
Agency (IEA), Harnessing Variable Renewables – A Guide to the
Balancing Challenge (Paris: 2011).
2 For a comprehensive overview, see Sims, op. cit. note 1.
3 For more on the flexibility challenge for the electricity system, see
IEA, op. cit. note 1.
4 See Sims, op. cit. note 1, and also Institute for Solar Energy
Supply Systems (ISET), University of Kassel (Germany),
“Kombikraftwerk,” 31 April 2008, at www.kombikraftwerk.de/
index.php?id=27. This study about a combined renewable energy
power plant demonstrated the technical feasibility of a 100%
renewables-based power supply combined with storage capacities.
In April 2011, a three-year follow-up project, “Kombikraftwerk
2” (see www.kombikraftwerk.de/index.php?id=25) was launched,
taking into account grid stability including frequency control and
other technical requirements, thus further refining research about
system transformation.
5 Frank Sensfuss, Analysen zum Merit Order Effekt erneuerbarer
Energien (Karlsruhe: 4 November 2011), at www.bmu.de/
fileadmin/bmu-import/files/pdfs/allgemein/application/pdf/
gutachten_merit_order_2010_bf.pdf; European Wind Energy
Association (EWEA), Wind Energy and Electricity Prices: Exploring
the Merit Order Effect (Brussels: April 2010).
6 For more on the limitations of marginal cost based power markets
and potential alternatives (such as capacity markets, capacity
payments, etc.), see Bundesverband Erneuerbare Energie
e.V. (BEE, German Renewable Energy Federation), Die Zukunft
des Strommarktes (Bochum: 2011), and BEE, Kompassstudie
Marktdesign. Leitideen für ein Design eines Strommarktsystems
mit hohem Anteil fluktuierender Erneuerbarer Energien (Bochum:
2012).
7 The Danish government has decided that the country’s electricity
and heating needs should be fully sourced from renewables by
2050; see Danish Energy Agency, “Danish Climate and Energy
Policy,” www.ens.dk/EN-US/POLICY/DANISH-CLIMATE-AND-
ENERGY-POLICY/Sider/danish-climate-and-energy-policy.aspx.
In its 2010 energy concept, the German government’s objective
was set to reach a renewables share of 60% in final energy
consumption and to reach 80% in the electricity sector. These
targets were underlined in 2011, when—after the Fukushima
catastrophe—the government committed to the complete
phase-out of nuclear power by 2022. The Energy Concept of
2010, revised in 2012, can be found at Federal Ministry for the
Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU),
“The Federal Government's energy concept of 2010 and the
transformation of the energy system of 2011,” www.bmu.
de/fileadmin/bmu-import/files/english/pdf/application/pdf/
energiekonzept_bundesregierung_en.pdf.
8 An estimated 15% of PV and 30% of wind in Europe in 2030 would
require around 100 GW of storage systems (out of which 80 GW
of pumped hydro), according to European Photovoltaic Industry
Association, Connecting the Sun: Solar Photovoltaics on the Road
to Large-Scale Grid Integration (Brussels: September 2012).
9 The cost reduction in Germany amounted to USD 0.007/kWh
(EUR 0.005/kWh) in 2011, and is expected to increase to more
than USD .01/kWh (EUR 0.008/kWh) in 2013, per BMU, “Häufig
gestellte Fragen,” www.erneuerbare-energien.de/fileadmin/
ee-import/files/pdfs/allgemein/application/pdf/faq_eeg-umlage_2013_bf.pdf
(exchange rate as of 31 December 2012). The
effect has also been seen in Denmark, Spain, and other countries.
10 Sensfuss, op. cit. note 5; EWEA, op. cit. note 5.
11 BEE, op. cit. note 6, both references.
12 Ibid.
13 Based on data for January through September 2012, from
Danish Energy Agency, “Monthly Energy Statistics,” www.ens.
dk/EN-US/INFO/FACTSANDFIGURES/ENERGY_STATISTICS_
AND_INDICATORS/MONTHLY%20STATISTIC/Sider/Forside.aspx,
viewed 15 April 2013.
14 Data for 2011 from Danish Energy Agency, “Renewables now
cover more than 40% of electricity consumption,” press release
(Copenhagen: 24 September 2012); end of 2012 from Global Wind
Energy Council, Global Wind Report – Annual Market Update 2012
(Brussels: April 2013).
15 In March 2012, the Danish Parliament enacted the decision to
phase out fossil fuels for power production and in the heating
and cooling sector at the latest by 2050, from “Denmark
Passes Legislation: 100% Renewable Energy by 2050!”
SustainableBusiness.com, 30 March 2012, and from Danish
Ministry of Climate, Energy and Building, Accelerating Green
Energy Towards 2020: The Danish Energy Agreement of March
2012 (Copenhagen: 2012).
16 Energinet.dk, “Infrastructure Projects—Electricity,” www.
energinet.dk/EN/ANLAEG-OG-PROJEKTER/Anlaegsprojekter-el/
Sider/default.aspx, viewed 26 December 2012.
17 All 27 EU progress reports can be found at European Commission,
“Renewable Energy: 2011 Progress Reports,” http://ec.europa.eu/
energy/renewables/reports/2011_en.htm, viewed 26 December
2012.
18 This statement should not be misunderstood to be celebrating
recent policy changes such as the moratorium for all new
renewables capacities, but CECRE remains a good example for
how to deal with high shares of variable renewables. CECRE was
established in 2006 by RED Eléctrica de España, the Spanish
transmission system operator, as a special section of the central
power control. For details of the operation as well as actual data
about power flows within the country and between Spain and
neighbours, see RED Eléctrica de España, “Centro de control de
régimen especial,” www.ree.es/operacion/cecre.asp, viewed 26
December 2012.
19 For details on the development of the Renewable Energy
Law since 2000, and the recent 2012 amendment, see
BMU, “Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) 2009,” www.
erneuerbare-energien.de/en/topics/acts-and-ordinances/
renewable-energy-sources-act/eeg-2009/.
20 BMU, “Further growth in renewable energy in
2012,” 2013, at www.erneuerbare-energien.de/en/
topics/data-service/renewable-energy-in-figures/
further-growth-in-renewable-energy-in-2012/.
21 See, for example, BMU, “Chronology of the Transformation of the
Energy System,” www.bmu.de/en/topics/climate-energy/transformation-of-the-energy-system/chronology/,
updated October 2011.
22 For capacity markets and other measures with the intention of
securing sufficient power capacities, see IEA, op. cit. note 1;
BEE, Die Zukunft des Strommarktes. Anregungen für den Weg
zu 100 Prozent Erneuerbare Energie (Berlin: 2011); and BEE,
Kompassstudie Marktdesign (Berlin: December 2012).
23 See M. Fischedick et al., “Mitigation Potential and Costs,” Chapter
10 in O. Edenhofer et al., op. cit. note 1. The report analyses 164
scenarios with regard to renewables potentials, costs, contribution
to greenhouse gas mitigation and various other aspects, and
provides an in-depth analysis of four model scenarios.
24 Ibid. The scenario highlighted is Greenpeace International
and European Renewable Energy Council, Energy [R]evolution
(Amsterdam and Brussels: 2012).
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