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‘Standard’ incentive regulation hinders the integration of renewable energy generation

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  • Nykamp, Stefan
  • Andor, Mark
  • Hurink, Johann L.

Abstract

The connection and distribution of growing, decentralized electricity generation from renewable energy sources (RES-E) is leading to massive investment needs. Besides investing in additional ‘conventional’ assets (e.g. cables), grid operators can also invest in innovative ‘smart solutions’ like local storage capacities or voltage regulation appliances, which may be a more suitable way of integrating RES-E. This paper investigates the influence of incentive regulation on the investment decision of grid operators to integrate RES-E. We describe the technical and regulatory background, explain the advantages of ‘smart solutions’ and present an approach for comparing investment scenarios. As an example, we calculate the profitability of investments in a case study of the German electricity market. We apply Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) to show the influence of the investment alternatives on grid operator efficiency objectives. We demonstrate that under current ‘standard’ incentive regulation, the grid operators gain profitability by avoiding investments and – if they are forced to invest – by not implementing ‘smart solutions’. The results highlight the need to consider innovation in the regulation design. Further research should investigate specific instruments that can be used to account for innovation. Our brief discussion of such instruments provides a starting point.

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  • Nykamp, Stefan & Andor, Mark & Hurink, Johann L., 2012. "‘Standard’ incentive regulation hinders the integration of renewable energy generation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 222-237.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:47:y:2012:i:c:p:222-237
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2012.04.061
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    10. Matschoss, Patrick & Bayer, Benjamin & Thomas, Heiko & Marian, Adela, 2019. "The German incentive regulation and its practical impact on the grid integration of renewable energy systems," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 727-738.
    11. Lo Schiavo, Luca & Delfanti, Maurizio & Fumagalli, Elena & Olivieri, Valeria, 2013. "Changing the regulation for regulating the change: Innovation-driven regulatory developments for smart grids, smart metering and e-mobility in Italy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 506-517.
    12. Anna Pechan, 2014. "Which Incentives Does Regulation Give to Adapt Network Infrastructure to Climate Change? - A German Case Study," Working Papers V-365-14, University of Oldenburg, Department of Economics, revised May 2014.
    13. Spiros Livieratos & Vasiliki-Emmanouela Vogiatzaki & Panayotis G. Cottis, 2013. "A Generic Framework for the Evaluation of the Benefits Expected from the Smart Grid," Energies, MDPI, vol. 6(2), pages 1-21, February.
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