IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v147y2020ics0301421520306157.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Are we seeing clearly? The need for aligned vision and supporting strategies to deliver net-zero electricity systems

Author

Listed:
  • Ford, Rebecca
  • Hardy, Jeffrey

Abstract

This paper explores the trends, step changes and innovations that could impact the integration of renewable energy into electricity systems, explores interventions that may be required, and identifies key areas for policy makers to consider. A Delphi approach is used to collect, synthesise, and seek consensus across expert viewpoints. Over sixty experts across a range of geographies including the US, Europe, New-Zealand, Australia, Africa, India and China participated. They identified 26 trends, 20 step changes, and 26 innovations that could lead to major shifts in the design, operation, or management of electricity systems. Findings suggest that key challenges are not technological. Instead they are with delivering an aligned vision, supported by institutional structures, to incentivise, facilitate, and de-risk the delivery of a completely different type of energy system. There is a clear role for government and policy to provide a future energy vision and steer on strategic issues to deliver it; to create space for new actors and business models aligned with this vision; and to create an environment where research, development, demonstration and deployment can promote technologies, system integration and business model innovation at a rate commensurate with delivering net-zero electricity systems.

Suggested Citation

  • Ford, Rebecca & Hardy, Jeffrey, 2020. "Are we seeing clearly? The need for aligned vision and supporting strategies to deliver net-zero electricity systems," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:147:y:2020:i:c:s0301421520306157
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2020.111902
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421520306157
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2020.111902?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Heard, B.P. & Brook, B.W. & Wigley, T.M.L. & Bradshaw, C.J.A., 2017. "Burden of proof: A comprehensive review of the feasibility of 100% renewable-electricity systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 1122-1133.
    2. Klessmann, Corinna & Nabe, Christian & Burges, Karsten, 2008. "Pros and cons of exposing renewables to electricity market risks--A comparison of the market integration approaches in Germany, Spain, and the UK," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(10), pages 3646-3661, October.
    3. Rasmussen, Morten Grud & Andresen, Gorm Bruun & Greiner, Martin, 2012. "Storage and balancing synergies in a fully or highly renewable pan-European power system," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 642-651.
    4. Heide, Dominik & Greiner, Martin & von Bremen, Lüder & Hoffmann, Clemens, 2011. "Reduced storage and balancing needs in a fully renewable European power system with excess wind and solar power generation," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(9), pages 2515-2523.
    5. Geels, Frank W., 2012. "A socio-technical analysis of low-carbon transitions: introducing the multi-level perspective into transport studies," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 471-482.
    6. Dreidy, Mohammad & Mokhlis, H. & Mekhilef, Saad, 2017. "Inertia response and frequency control techniques for renewable energy sources: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 144-155.
    7. Steinke, Florian & Wolfrum, Philipp & Hoffmann, Clemens, 2013. "Grid vs. storage in a 100% renewable Europe," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 826-832.
    8. Howell, Shaun & Rezgui, Yacine & Hippolyte, Jean-Laurent & Jayan, Bejay & Li, Haijiang, 2017. "Towards the next generation of smart grids: Semantic and holonic multi-agent management of distributed energy resources," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 193-214.
    9. Diesendorf, Mark & Elliston, Ben, 2018. "The feasibility of 100% renewable electricity systems: A response to critics," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 318-330.
    10. Rowe, Gene & Wright, George, 1999. "The Delphi technique as a forecasting tool: issues and analysis," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 353-375, October.
    11. Judson, E. & Fitch-Roy, O. & Pownall, T. & Bray, R. & Poulter, H. & Soutar, I. & Lowes, R. & Connor, P.M. & Britton, J. & Woodman, B. & Mitchell, C., 2020. "The centre cannot (always) hold: Examining pathways towards energy system de-centralisation," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    12. Lund, H. & Mathiesen, B.V., 2009. "Energy system analysis of 100% renewable energy systems—The case of Denmark in years 2030 and 2050," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 524-531.
    13. Mathiesen, B.V. & Lund, H. & Connolly, D. & Wenzel, H. & Østergaard, P.A. & Möller, B. & Nielsen, S. & Ridjan, I. & Karnøe, P. & Sperling, K. & Hvelplund, F.K., 2015. "Smart Energy Systems for coherent 100% renewable energy and transport solutions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 139-154.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jan Brzóska & Lilla Knop & Monika Odlanicka-Poczobutt & Dagmara K. Zuzek, 2022. "Antecedents of Creating Business Models in the Field of Renewable Energy Based on the Concept of the New Age of Innovation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-25, July.
    2. Bovera, Filippo & Lo Schiavo, Luca, 2022. "From energy communities to sector coupling:a taxonomy for regulatory experimentation in the age of the European Green Deal," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    3. Thomas Pownall & Iain Soutar & Catherine Mitchell, 2021. "Re-Designing GB’s Electricity Market Design: A Conceptual Framework Which Recognises the Value of Distributed Energy Resources," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-26, February.
    4. Oduro, Richard A. & Taylor, Peter G., 2023. "Future pathways for energy networks: A review of international experiences in high income countries," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    5. Veseli, Argjenta & Moser, Simon & Kubeczko, Klaus & Madner, Verena & Wang, Anna & Wolfsgruber, Klaus, 2021. "Practical necessity and legal options for introducing energy regulatory sandboxes in Austria," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hansen, Kenneth & Breyer, Christian & Lund, Henrik, 2019. "Status and perspectives on 100% renewable energy systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 175(C), pages 471-480.
    2. Child, Michael & Kemfert, Claudia & Bogdanov, Dmitrii & Breyer, Christian, 2019. "Flexible electricity generation, grid exchange and storage for the transition to a 100% renewable energy system in Europe," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 139, pages 80-101.
    3. Copp, David A. & Nguyen, Tu A. & Byrne, Raymond H. & Chalamala, Babu R., 2022. "Optimal sizing of distributed energy resources for planning 100% renewable electric power systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PE).
    4. Diesendorf, Mark & Elliston, Ben, 2018. "The feasibility of 100% renewable electricity systems: A response to critics," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 318-330.
    5. Blanco, Herib & Faaij, André, 2018. "A review at the role of storage in energy systems with a focus on Power to Gas and long-term storage," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 81(P1), pages 1049-1086.
    6. Maruf, Md. Nasimul Islam, 2021. "Open model-based analysis of a 100% renewable and sector-coupled energy system–The case of Germany in 2050," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 288(C).
    7. Zerrahn, Alexander & Schill, Wolf-Peter, 2017. "Long-run power storage requirements for high shares of renewables: review and a new model," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 1518-1534.
    8. Weitemeyer, Stefan & Kleinhans, David & Vogt, Thomas & Agert, Carsten, 2015. "Integration of Renewable Energy Sources in future power systems: The role of storage," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 14-20.
    9. Jacobson, Mark Z. & Delucchi, Mark A. & Cameron, Mary A. & Mathiesen, Brian V., 2018. "Matching demand with supply at low cost in 139 countries among 20 world regions with 100% intermittent wind, water, and sunlight (WWS) for all purposes," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 236-248.
    10. Pleßmann, Guido & Blechinger, Philipp, 2017. "Outlook on South-East European power system until 2050: Least-cost decarbonization pathway meeting EU mitigation targets," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 1041-1053.
    11. Mark Z. Jacobson & Anna-Katharina von Krauland & Zachary F.M. Burton & Stephen J. Coughlin & Caitlin Jaeggli & Daniel Nelli & Alexander J. H. Nelson & Yanbo Shu & Miles Smith & Chor Tan & Connery D. W, 2020. "Transitioning All Energy in 74 Metropolitan Areas, Including 30 Megacities, to 100% Clean and Renewable Wind, Water, and Sunlight (WWS)," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-40, September.
    12. Zappa, William & Junginger, Martin & van den Broek, Machteld, 2019. "Is a 100% renewable European power system feasible by 2050?," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 233, pages 1027-1050.
    13. Lund, Henrik & Thellufsen, Jakob Zinck & Sorknæs, Peter & Mathiesen, Brian Vad & Chang, Miguel & Madsen, Poul Thøis & Kany, Mikkel Strunge & Skov, Iva Ridjan, 2022. "Smart energy Denmark. A consistent and detailed strategy for a fully decarbonized society," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    14. Nayak-Luke, Richard & Bañares-Alcántara, René & Collier, Sam, 2021. "Quantifying network flexibility requirements in terms of energy storage," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 869-882.
    15. Fernandes, Liliana & Ferreira, Paula, 2014. "Renewable energy scenarios in the Portuguese electricity system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 51-57.
    16. Bartlett, Stuart & Dujardin, Jérôme & Kahl, Annelen & Kruyt, Bert & Manso, Pedro & Lehning, Michael, 2018. "Charting the course: A possible route to a fully renewable Swiss power system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 942-955.
    17. Tafarte, Philip & Das, Subhashree & Eichhorn, Marcus & Thrän, Daniela, 2014. "Small adaptations, big impacts: Options for an optimized mix of variable renewable energy sources," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 80-92.
    18. Connolly, D. & Lund, H. & Mathiesen, B.V., 2016. "Smart Energy Europe: The technical and economic impact of one potential 100% renewable energy scenario for the European Union," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 1634-1653.
    19. Rodríguez, Rolando A. & Becker, Sarah & Andresen, Gorm B. & Heide, Dominik & Greiner, Martin, 2014. "Transmission needs across a fully renewable European power system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 467-476.
    20. Jacobson, Mark Z., 2021. "The cost of grid stability with 100 % clean, renewable energy for all purposes when countries are isolated versus interconnected," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 1065-1075.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:147:y:2020:i:c:s0301421520306157. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.