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The value of carbon emission reduction induced by Renewable Energy Sources in the Italian power market

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  • Beltrami, Filippo
  • Fontini, Fulvio
  • Grossi, Luigi

Abstract

In this paper we investigate the role of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) on the Italian power exchange. The purpose of this analysis is to assess the impact of electricity generation from RES on the reduction of CO2 emissions and on the value of the power supply. The study is based on hourly zonal micro-data for 2018 from the Italian power market and identifies the amount of avoided carbon emissions related both to crowded-out thermal units and to potential “load-shedding” situations. Finally, the investigation leads to the assessment of both the economic value of RES penetration and to the economic value of the CO2 emissions avoided by renewable power generation. The results show that the annual savings of carbon emissions nationwide amount to nearly 22 Mt CO2 whereas the value of CO2 reduction is estimated at €348 million. The economic savings from large and small-scale wind and solar generation in 2018 account for nearly €19 billion and welfare is increased by 44%, thus confirming the net positive effect arising from RES promotion.

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  • Beltrami, Filippo & Fontini, Fulvio & Grossi, Luigi, 2021. "The value of carbon emission reduction induced by Renewable Energy Sources in the Italian power market," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:189:y:2021:i:c:s092180092100207x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2021.107149
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    Cited by:

    1. Xiaofeng Xu & Xiangyu Chen & Yi Xu & Tao Wang & Yifan Zhang, 2022. "Improving the Innovative Performance of Renewable Energy Enterprises in China: Effects of Subsidy Policy and Intellectual Property Legislation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-24, July.
    2. Filippo Beltrami & Fulvio Fontini & Monica Giulietti & Luigi Grossi, 2022. "The Zonal and Seasonal CO2 Marginal Emissions Factors for the Italian Power Market," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 83(2), pages 381-411, October.
    3. Wang, Delu & Li, Chunxiao & Mao, Jinqi & Yang, Qing, 2023. "What affects the implementation of the renewable portfolio standard? An analysis of the four-party evolutionary game," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 204(C), pages 250-261.
    4. Md. Hasanur Rahman & Liton Chandra Voumik & Md. Jamsedul Islam & Md. Abdul Halim & Miguel Angel Esquivias, 2022. "Economic Growth, Energy Mix, and Tourism-Induced EKC Hypothesis: Evidence from Top Ten Tourist Destinations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-16, December.
    5. Silvia Golia & Luigi Grossi & Matteo Pelagatti, 2022. "Machine Learning Models and Intra-Daily Market Information for the Prediction of Italian Electricity Prices," Forecasting, MDPI, vol. 5(1), pages 1-21, December.
    6. Lu Gan & Dirong Xu & Xiuyun Chen & Pengyan Jiang & Benjamin Lev & Zongmin Li, 2023. "Sustainable portfolio re-equilibrium on wind-solar-hydro system: An integrated optimization with combined meta-heuristic," Energy & Environment, , vol. 34(5), pages 1383-1408, August.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    CO2 emissions; Electricity markets; Load shedding; Merit-order; Renewable energy sources;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • P18 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Energy; Environment
    • Q41 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Demand and Supply; Prices
    • Q42 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Alternative Energy Sources
    • Q51 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Valuation of Environmental Effects

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