IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/renene/v120y2018icp35-50.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Modeling the optimal mix and location of wind and solar with transmission and carbon pricing considerations

Author

Listed:
  • Deetjen, Thomas A.
  • Martin, Henry
  • Rhodes, Joshua D.
  • Webber, Michael E.

Abstract

This study develops a model for calculating the optimal amount of transmission, wind, and solar capacity that should be built in a grid's different regions. It also presents a framework for choosing CO2 prices by balancing increasing system cost and flexibility requirements with CO2 emissions reductions. In a simulation of the ERCOT grid, the model suggests a 60 $/ton CO2 price and an optimal investment of 27.0 GW of transmission capacity to five different regions. These regions install a total of 26.6 GW of wind and 11.1 GW of solar, representing a grid with about 60% thermal and 40% renewable capacity. This renewable mix produces 110 TWh of energy per year, 34% of the total electricity demand. The grid emits 82.2 million tons of CO2 per year under this scenario, a 65% reduction from the 237 million tons produced when no renewable capacity is installed. At the optimal renewable development solution, all coal and natural gas boiler generators have capacity factors less than 20% with many of them not being dispatched at all. While these results are specific to ERCOT, the methods and model can be used by any grid with an aim for renewable energy capacity expansion.

Suggested Citation

  • Deetjen, Thomas A. & Martin, Henry & Rhodes, Joshua D. & Webber, Michael E., 2018. "Modeling the optimal mix and location of wind and solar with transmission and carbon pricing considerations," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 35-50.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:120:y:2018:i:c:p:35-50
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2017.12.059
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148117312636
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.renene.2017.12.059?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. Heide, Dominik & von Bremen, Lueder & Greiner, Martin & Hoffmann, Clemens & Speckmann, Markus & Bofinger, Stefan, 2010. "Seasonal optimal mix of wind and solar power in a future, highly renewable Europe," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(11), pages 2483-2489.
    2. Hirth, Lion & Ueckerdt, Falko & Edenhofer, Ottmar, 2015. "Integration costs revisited – An economic framework for wind and solar variability," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 925-939.
    3. Franco, Alessandro & Salza, Pasquale, 2011. "Strategies for optimal penetration of intermittent renewables in complex energy systems based on techno-operational objectives," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 743-753.
    4. Schaber, Katrin & Steinke, Florian & Hamacher, Thomas, 2012. "Transmission grid extensions for the integration of variable renewable energies in Europe: Who benefits where?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 123-135.
    5. Connolly, D. & Lund, H. & Mathiesen, B.V. & Pican, E. & Leahy, M., 2012. "The technical and economic implications of integrating fluctuating renewable energy using energy storage," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 47-60.
    6. Sinha, Sunanda & Chandel, S.S., 2015. "Review of recent trends in optimization techniques for solar photovoltaic–wind based hybrid energy systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 755-769.
    7. Zhou, Wei & Lou, Chengzhi & Li, Zhongshi & Lu, Lin & Yang, Hongxing, 2010. "Current status of research on optimum sizing of stand-alone hybrid solar-wind power generation systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(2), pages 380-389, February.
    8. Deetjen, Thomas A. & Garrison, Jared B. & Rhodes, Joshua D. & Webber, Michael E., 2016. "Solar PV integration cost variation due to array orientation and geographic location in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 607-616.
    9. Denholm, Paul & Hand, Maureen, 2011. "Grid flexibility and storage required to achieve very high penetration of variable renewable electricity," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 1817-1830, March.
    10. 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.
    11. da Graça Carvalho, Maria, 2012. "EU energy and climate change strategy," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 19-22.
    12. Schaber, Katrin & Steinke, Florian & Mühlich, Pascal & Hamacher, Thomas, 2012. "Parametric study of variable renewable energy integration in Europe: Advantages and costs of transmission grid extensions," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 498-508.
    13. Carlos J. Pereira Freitas & Patrícia Pereira Da Silva, 2013. "Evaluation of dynamic pass-through of carbon prices into electricity prices - a cointegrated VECM analysis," International Journal of Public Policy, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 9(1/2), pages 65-85.
    14. Bilgili, Mehmet & Ozbek, Arif & Sahin, Besir & Kahraman, Ali, 2015. "An overview of renewable electric power capacity and progress in new technologies in the world," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 323-334.
    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. Hu, Jing & Li, Yu & Wörman, Anders & Zhang, Bingyao & Ding, Wei & Zhou, Huicheng, 2023. "Reducing energy storage demand by spatial-temporal coordination of multienergy systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 329(C).
    2. Li, Canbing & Chen, Dawei & Li, Yingjie & Li, Furong & Li, Ran & Wu, Qiuwei & Liu, Xubin & Wei, Juan & He, Shengtao & Zhou, Bin & Allen, Stephen, 2022. "Exploring the interaction between renewables and energy storage for zero-carbon electricity systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 261(PA).
    3. Satoshi Nakano & Ayu Washizu, 2021. "Analysis of inter-regional effects caused by the wide-area operation of the power grid in Japan: an implication for carbon pricing schemes," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 23(3), pages 535-556, July.
    4. Johnson, Samuel C. & Papageorgiou, Dimitri J. & Mallapragada, Dharik S. & Deetjen, Thomas A. & Rhodes, Joshua D. & Webber, Michael E., 2019. "Evaluating rotational inertia as a component of grid reliability with high penetrations of variable renewable energy," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 258-271.
    5. Zhao, Dongwei & Jafari, Mehdi & Botterud, Audun & Sakti, Apurba, 2022. "Strategic energy storage investments: A case study of the CAISO electricity market," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 325(C).
    6. Amro M Elshurafa & Abdel Rahman Muhsen, 2019. "The Upper Limit of Distributed Solar PV Capacity in Riyadh: A GIS-Assisted Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(16), pages 1-20, August.
    7. Mehigan, L. & Al Kez, Dlzar & Collins, Seán & Foley, Aoife & Ó’Gallachóir, Brian & Deane, Paul, 2020. "Renewables in the European power system and the impact on system rotational inertia," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 203(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. Rodriguez, Rolando A. & Becker, Sarah & Greiner, Martin, 2015. "Cost-optimal design of a simplified, highly renewable pan-European electricity system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 658-668.
    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. Chattopadhyay, Kabitri & Kies, Alexander & Lorenz, Elke & von Bremen, Lüder & Heinemann, Detlev, 2017. "The impact of different PV module configurations on storage and additional balancing needs for a fully renewable European power system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 176-189.
    4. Mads Raunbak & Timo Zeyer & Kun Zhu & Martin Greiner, 2017. "Principal Mismatch Patterns Across a Simplified Highly Renewable European Electricity Network," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-13, November.
    5. Becker, Sarah & Frew, Bethany A. & Andresen, Gorm B. & Zeyer, Timo & Schramm, Stefan & Greiner, Martin & Jacobson, Mark Z., 2014. "Features of a fully renewable US electricity system: Optimized mixes of wind and solar PV and transmission grid extensions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 443-458.
    6. Scholz, Yvonne & Gils, Hans Christian & Pietzcker, Robert C., 2017. "Application of a high-detail energy system model to derive power sector characteristics at high wind and solar shares," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 568-582.
    7. Pietzcker, Robert C. & Ueckerdt, Falko & Carrara, Samuel & de Boer, Harmen Sytze & Després, Jacques & Fujimori, Shinichiro & Johnson, Nils & Kitous, Alban & Scholz, Yvonne & Sullivan, Patrick & Ludere, 2017. "System integration of wind and solar power in integrated assessment models: A cross-model evaluation of new approaches," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 583-599.
    8. 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.
    9. Gils, Hans Christian & Scholz, Yvonne & Pregger, Thomas & Luca de Tena, Diego & Heide, Dominik, 2017. "Integrated modelling of variable renewable energy-based power supply in Europe," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 173-188.
    10. 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.
    11. Andresen, Gorm B. & Rodriguez, Rolando A. & Becker, Sarah & Greiner, Martin, 2014. "The potential for arbitrage of wind and solar surplus power in Denmark," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 49-58.
    12. Deetjen, Thomas A. & Rhodes, Joshua D. & Webber, Michael E., 2017. "The impacts of wind and solar on grid flexibility requirements in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 637-654.
    13. Gábor Pintér & Henrik Zsiborács & Nóra Hegedűsné Baranyai, 2022. "Aspects of Determining the Energy Storage System Size Linked to Household-Sized Power Plants in Hungary in Accordance with the Regulatory Needs of the Electric Energy System," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-19, February.
    14. Schlachtberger, D.P. & Brown, T. & Schramm, S. & Greiner, M., 2017. "The benefits of cooperation in a highly renewable European electricity network," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 469-481.
    15. Schlachtberger, D.P. & Brown, T. & Schäfer, M. & Schramm, S. & Greiner, M., 2018. "Cost optimal scenarios of a future highly renewable European electricity system: Exploring the influence of weather data, cost parameters and policy constraints," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 100-114.
    16. Miklós Gyalai-Korpos & László Zentkó & Csaba Hegyfalvi & Gergely Detzky & Péter Tildy & Nóra Hegedűsné Baranyai & Gábor Pintér & Henrik Zsiborács, 2020. "The Role of Electricity Balancing and Storage: Developing Input Parameters for the European Calculator for Concept Modeling," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-26, January.
    17. Hahn, Henning & Krautkremer, Bernd & Hartmann, Kilian & Wachendorf, Michael, 2014. "Review of concepts for a demand-driven biogas supply for flexible power generation," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 383-393.
    18. 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.
    19. Dalala, Zakariya & Al-Omari, Murad & Al-Addous, Mohammad & Bdour, Mathhar & Al-Khasawneh, Yaqoub & Alkasrawi, Malek, 2022. "Increased renewable energy penetration in national electrical grids constraints and solutions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 246(C).
    20. Huber, Matthias & Dimkova, Desislava & Hamacher, Thomas, 2014. "Integration of wind and solar power in Europe: Assessment of flexibility requirements," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 236-246.

    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:renene:v:120:y:2018:i:c:p:35-50. 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.journals.elsevier.com/renewable-energy .

    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.