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Renewable energy and its impact on thermal generation

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  • Graf, Christoph
  • Marcantonini, Claudio

Abstract

Electricity production from renewable sources generally displaces thermal generation, which leads to lower CO2 emissions in the power sector. However, the intermittent nature of many renewable technologies in combination with less residual demand leads to greater inefficiencies in the operation of existing fossil power plants. This inefficiency translates into a higher rate of emissions relative to output. In this paper we focus on Italian power installations between 2005 and 2014. Using panel econometrics, we show that a 10% increase in photovoltaics and wind infeed has reduced yearly CO2 emissions of the average thermal installation by about 2% while the average plants emissions relative to its output have increased by about 0.3%.

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  • Graf, Christoph & Marcantonini, Claudio, 2017. "Renewable energy and its impact on thermal generation," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 421-430.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:66:y:2017:i:c:p:421-430
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2017.07.009
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    3. Vadim A. Golubev & Viktoria A. Verbnikova & Ilia A. Lopyrev & Daria D. Voznesenskaya & Rashid N. Alimov & Olga V. Novikova & Evgenii A. Konnikov, 2021. "Energy Evolution: Forecasting the Development of Non-Conventional Renewable Energy Sources and Their Impact on the Conventional Electricity System," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-19, November.
    4. Haxhimusa, Adhurim, 2018. "The Effects of German Wind and Solar Electricity on French Spot Price Volatility: An Empirical Investigation," Department of Economics Working Paper Series 258, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    5. Mikovits, Christian & Wetterlund, Elisabeth & Wehrle, Sebastian & Baumgartner, Johann & Schmidt, Johannes, 2021. "Stronger together: Multi-annual variability of hydrogen production supported by wind power in Sweden," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 282(PB).
    6. Boffino, Luigi & Conejo, Antonio J. & Sioshansi, Ramteen & Oggioni, Giorgia, 2019. "A two-stage stochastic optimization planning framework to decarbonize deeply electric power systems," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    7. Ortega-Izquierdo, Margarita & Río, Pablo del, 2020. "An analysis of the socioeconomic and environmental benefits of wind energy deployment in Europe," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 1067-1080.
    8. Liebensteiner, Mario & Wrienz, Matthias, 2020. "Do Intermittent Renewables Threaten the Electricity Supply Security?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    9. Genc, Talat S. & Thille, Henry & ElMawazini, Khaled, 2020. "Dynamic competition in electricity markets under uncertainty," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    10. Mauro Lafratta & Matthew Leach & Rex B. Thorpe & Mark Willcocks & Eve Germain & Sabeha K. Ouki & Achame Shana & Jacquetta Lee, 2021. "Economic and Carbon Costs of Electricity Balancing Services: The Need for Secure Flexible Low-Carbon Generation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-21, August.
    11. Sirin, Selahattin Murat & Uz, Dilek & Sevindik, Irem, 2022. "How do variable renewable energy technologies affect firm-level day-ahead output decisions: Evidence from the Turkish wholesale electricity market," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    12. Graf, Christoph & Quaglia, Federico & Wolak, Frank A., 2021. "(Machine) learning from the COVID-19 lockdown about electricity market performance with a large share of renewables," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    13. Michael C. Ferris & Andy Philpott, 2023. "Renewable electricity capacity planning with uncertainty at multiple scales," Computational Management Science, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 1-40, December.
    14. Abrell, Jan & Kosch, Mirjam & Rausch, Sebastian, 2019. "Carbon abatement with renewables: Evaluating wind and solar subsidies in Germany and Spain," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 172-202.
    15. Liu, Tingting & Xu, Jiuping, 2021. "Equilibrium strategy based policy shifts towards the integration of wind power in spot electricity markets: A perspective from China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    16. Braeuer, Fritz & Finck, Rafael & McKenna, Russell, 2020. "Comparing empirical and model-based approaches for calculating dynamic grid emission factors: An application to CO2-minimizing storage dispatch in Germany," Working Paper Series in Production and Energy 44, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Institute for Industrial Production (IIP).
    17. Christoph Graf & Federico Quaglia & Frank A. Wolak, 2022. "(Machine) Learning from the COVID-19 Lockdown about Electricity Market Performance with a Large Share of Renewables," Papers 2211.02196, arXiv.org.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Emission factors; Load-cycling; Inefficiency;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L94 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Electric Utilities
    • Q40 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - General
    • 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
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming

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