IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/resene/v70y2022ics0928765522000471.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Financing renewables in the age of falling technology costs

Author

Listed:
  • Neuhoff, Karsten
  • May, Nils
  • Richstein, Jörn C.

Abstract

Cost of renewable energies have dropped, approaching wholesale power price levels. As a result, the role of renewable energy policy design is shifting – from covering incremental costs towards facilitating risk-hedging. An analytical model of the financing structure of renewable investment projects is developed to assess this effect und used to compare different policy design choices: contracts for differences, sliding premia, fixed premia and a setting without dedicated remuneration mechanism. The expected benefit for electricity consumers from reduced risk and financing costs is approximated at the example of a 2030 scenario for Germany. Policies like sliding premia, previously evaluated as providing low-risk investment environments, provide for less risks hedging, when technology costs approach wholesale power prices. Contracts for differences provide in all scenarios the most effective hedge for investors against power prices uncertainty, enabling low-cost financing and reducing costs for consumers, while also hedging electricity consumers against high power prices.

Suggested Citation

  • Neuhoff, Karsten & May, Nils & Richstein, Jörn C., 2022. "Financing renewables in the age of falling technology costs," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:resene:v:70:y:2022:i:c:s0928765522000471
    DOI: 10.1016/j.reseneeco.2022.101330
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0928765522000471
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.reseneeco.2022.101330?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. Dominique Finon, 2011. "Investment and Competition in Decentralized Electricity Markets: How to Overcome Market Failure by Market Imperfections?," Chapters, in: Jean-Michel Glachant & Dominique Finon & Adrien de Hauteclocque (ed.), Competition, Contracts and Electricity Markets, chapter 3, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. M. Pahle and H. Schweizerhof, 2016. "Time for Tough Love: Towards Gradual Risk Transfer to Renewables in Germany," Economics of Energy & Environmental Policy, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 2).
    3. Kitzing, Lena, 2014. "Risk implications of renewable support instruments: Comparative analysis of feed-in tariffs and premiums using a mean–variance approach," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 495-505.
    4. Green, Richard, 2002. "Retail Competition and Electricity Contracts," Royal Economic Society Annual Conference 2002 93, Royal Economic Society.
    5. Gawel, Erik & Purkus, Alexandra, 2013. "Promoting the market and system integration of renewable energies through premium schemes: A case study of the German market premium," UFZ Discussion Papers 4/2013, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Division of Social Sciences (ÖKUS).
    6. Newbery, David, 2018. "Policies for decarbonizing a liberalized power sector," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 12, pages 1-24.
    7. May, Nils, 2017. "The impact of wind power support schemes on technology choices," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 343-354.
    8. Nils May and Karsten Neuhoff, 2021. "Financing Power: Impacts of Energy Policies in Changing Regulatory Environments," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 4).
    9. Newbery, David, 2016. "Missing money and missing markets: Reliability, capacity auctions and interconnectors," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 401-410.
    10. Roques, Fabien A. & Newbery, David M. & Nuttall, William J., 2008. "Fuel mix diversification incentives in liberalized electricity markets: A Mean-Variance Portfolio theory approach," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 1831-1849, July.
    11. Changyun Wang, 2001. "Investor Sentiment and Return Predictability in Agricultural Futures Markets," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(10), pages 929-952, October.
    12. Richard Schmalensee, 2012. "Evaluating Policies to Increase Electricity Generation from Renewable Energy," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 6(1), pages 45-64.
    13. Steffen, Bjarne, 2018. "The importance of project finance for renewable energy projects," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 280-294.
    14. Tietjen, Oliver & Pahle, Michael & Fuss, Sabine, 2016. "Investment risks in power generation: A comparison of fossil fuel and renewable energy dominated markets," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 174-185.
    15. Florian Egli & Bjarne Steffen & Tobias S. Schmidt, 2018. "A dynamic analysis of financing conditions for renewable energy technologies," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 3(12), pages 1084-1092, December.
    16. de Maere d’Aertrycke, Gauthier & Ehrenmann, Andreas & Smeers, Yves, 2017. "Investment with incomplete markets for risk: The need for long-term contracts," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 571-583.
    17. Thorsten Helms & Sarah Salm & Rolf Wüstenhagen, 2015. "Investor-Specific Cost of Capital and Renewable Energy Investment Decisions," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Charles W Donovan (ed.), RENEWABLE ENERGY FINANCE Powering the Future, chapter 4, pages 77-101, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    18. Schmidt, J. & Lehecka, G. & Gass, V. & Schmid, E., 2013. "Where the wind blows: Assessing the effect of fixed and premium based feed-in tariffs on the spatial diversification of wind turbines," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 269-276.
    19. Stiglitz, Joseph E & Weiss, Andrew, 1981. "Credit Rationing in Markets with Imperfect Information," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 71(3), pages 393-410, June.
    20. Hirth, Lion, 2013. "The market value of variable renewables," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 218-236.
    21. Gawel, Erik & Purkus, Alexandra, 2013. "Promoting the market and system integration of renewable energies through premium schemes—A case study of the German market premium," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 599-609.
    22. Gauthier DE MAERE D’AERTRYCKE & Andreas EHRENMANN & Yves SMEERS, 2017. "Investment with incomplete markets for risk: the need for long-term contracts," LIDAM Reprints CORE 2849, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    23. Bessembinder, Hendrik, 1992. "Systematic Risk, Hedging Pressure, and Risk Premiums in Futures Markets," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 5(4), pages 637-667.
    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. Neuhoff, Karsten & Richstein, Jörn C. & Kröger, Mats, 2023. "Reacting to changing paradigms: How and why to reform electricity markets," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    2. Anna L. SOBIECH & UCHIDA Hirofumi, 2023. "Characteristics of Green Loan Users and the Green Policy Mix," Discussion papers 23072, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).

    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. Karsten Neuhoff & Nils May & Jörn C. Richstein, 2018. "Renewable Energy Policy in the Age of Falling Technology Costs," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1746, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    2. Keppler, Jan Horst & Quemin, Simon & Saguan, Marcelo, 2022. "Why the sustainable provision of low-carbon electricity needs hybrid markets," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    3. Steffen, Bjarne, 2020. "Estimating the cost of capital for renewable energy projects," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    4. Winkler, Jenny & Gaio, Alberto & Pfluger, Benjamin & Ragwitz, Mario, 2016. "Impact of renewables on electricity markets – Do support schemes matter?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 157-167.
    5. Botor, Benjamin & Böcker, Benjamin & Kallabis, Thomas & Weber, Christoph, 2021. "Information shocks and profitability risks for power plant investments – impacts of policy instruments," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    6. Christian Haas & Karol Kempa, 2023. "Low-Carbon Investment and Credit Rationing," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 86(1), pages 109-145, October.
    7. May, Nils, 2017. "The impact of wind power support schemes on technology choices," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 343-354.
    8. Đukan, Mak & Kitzing, Lena, 2023. "A bigger bang for the buck: The impact of risk reduction on renewable energy support payments in Europe," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    9. Neuhoff, Karsten & Richstein, Jörn C. & Kröger, Mats, 2023. "Reacting to changing paradigms: How and why to reform electricity markets," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    10. Egli, Florian, 2020. "Renewable energy investment risk: An investigation of changes over time and the underlying drivers," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    11. Đukan, Mak & Kitzing, Lena, 2021. "The impact of auctions on financing conditions and cost of capital for wind energy projects," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    12. Thomas Weyman-Jones, 2023. "Energy Price Decoupling and the Split Market Issue," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-17, August.
    13. Polzin, Friedemann & Sanders, Mark & Serebriakova, Alexandra, 2021. "Finance in global transition scenarios: Mapping investments by technology into finance needs by source," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    14. Gohdes, Nicholas & Simshauser, Paul & Wilson, Clevo, 2022. "Renewable entry costs, project finance and the role of revenue quality in Australia's National Electricity Market," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    15. Auer, Benjamin R., 2016. "How does Germany's green energy policy affect electricity market volatility? An application of conditional autoregressive range models," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 621-628.
    16. Inzunza, Andrés & Muñoz, Francisco D. & Moreno, Rodrigo, 2021. "Measuring the effects of environmental policies on electricity markets risk," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    17. Newbery, David M., 2016. "Towards a green energy economy? The EU Energy Union’s transition to a low-carbon zero subsidy electricity system – Lessons from the UK’s Electricity Market Reform," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 1321-1330.
    18. Naoki Makimoto & Ryuta Takashima, 2023. "Capacity Market and Investments in Power Generations: Risk-Averse Decision-Making of Power Producer," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-19, May.
    19. Nils May and Karsten Neuhoff, 2021. "Financing Power: Impacts of Energy Policies in Changing Regulatory Environments," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 4).
    20. David Wozabal & Christoph Graf & David Hirschmann, 2016. "The effect of intermittent renewables on the electricity price variance," OR Spectrum: Quantitative Approaches in Management, Springer;Gesellschaft für Operations Research e.V., vol. 38(3), pages 687-709, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Investments under uncertainty; Financing costs; Renewable energy policy; Contracts for difference;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q42 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Alternative Energy Sources
    • Q55 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Technological Innovation
    • O38 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Government Policy

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:resene:v:70:y:2022:i:c:s0928765522000471. 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/inca/505569 .

    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.