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An economic evaluation of the potential for distributed energy in Australia

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Abstract

Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) recently completed a major study investigating the value of distributed energy (DE; collectively demand management, energy efficiency and distributed generation) technologies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from Australia’s energy sector (CSIRO, 2009). This comprehensive report covered potential economic, environmental, technical, social, policy and regulatory impacts that could result from the wide scale adoption of these technologies. In this paper we highlight the economic findings from the study. Partial Equilibrium modeling of the stationary and transport sectors found that Australia could achieve a present value welfare gain of around $130 billion when operating under a 450 ppm carbon reduction trajectory through to 2050. Modeling also suggests that reduced volatility in the spot market could decrease average prices by up to 12% in 2030 and 65% in 2050 by using local resources to better cater for an evolving supply-demand imbalance. Further modeling suggests that even a small amount of distributed generation located within a distribution network has the potential to significantly alter electricity prices by changing the merit order of dispatch in an electricity spot market. Changes to the dispatch relative to a base case can have both positive and negative effects on network losses.

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  • William Lilley & Luke Reedman & Liam Wagner & Colin Alie & Anthony Szatow, 2012. "An economic evaluation of the potential for distributed energy in Australia," Energy Economics and Management Group Working Papers 16, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.
    • Handle: RePEc:qld:uqeemg:16
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    File URL: http://www.uq.edu.au/eemg/docs/workingpapers/16.pdf
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    Cited by:

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    2. Lynette Molyneaux & Craig Froome & Liam Wagner & John Foster, 2012. "Australian Power: Can renewable technologies change the dominant industry view?," Energy Economics and Management Group Working Papers 13-2012, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.
    3. Wagner, Liam & Molyneaux, Lynette & Foster, John, 2014. "The magnitude of the impact of a shift from coal to gas under a Carbon Price," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 280-291.
    4. Buckman, Greg & Sibley, Jon & Bourne, Richard, 2014. "The large-scale solar feed-in tariff reverse auction in the Australian Capital Territory, Australia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 14-22.
    5. Shaw-Williams, Damian & Susilawati, Connie & Walker, Geoff & Varendorff, Jeremy, 2019. "Valuing the impact of residential photovoltaics and batteries on network electricity losses: An Australian case study," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 1-1.
    6. Molyneaux, Lynette & Froome, Craig & Wagner, Liam & Foster, John, 2013. "Australian power: Can renewable technologies change the dominant industry view?," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 215-221.
    7. John Foster & Liam Wagner & Liam Byrnes, 2014. "A Review of Distributed Generation for Rural and Remote Area Electrification," Energy Economics and Management Group Working Papers 3-2014, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.
    8. Ibrahim Alotaibi & Mohammed A. Abido & Muhammad Khalid & Andrey V. Savkin, 2020. "A Comprehensive Review of Recent Advances in Smart Grids: A Sustainable Future with Renewable Energy Resources," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-41, November.
    9. Cheung, Grace & Davies, Peter J. & Trück, Stefan, 2016. "Financing alternative energy projects: An examination of challenges and opportunities for local government," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 354-364.
    10. Mehigan, L. & Deane, J.P. & Gallachóir, B.P.Ó. & Bertsch, V., 2018. "A review of the role of distributed generation (DG) in future electricity systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 822-836.
    11. Foster, John & Wagner, Liam & Liebman, Ariel, 2015. "Modelling the Electricity and Natural Gas Sectors for the Future Grid: Developing Co-Optimisation Platforms for Market Redesign," MPRA Paper 70114, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Lupangu, C. & Bansal, R.C., 2017. "A review of technical issues on the development of solar photovoltaic systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 950-965.
    13. Foster, John & Liebman, Ariel & Wagner, Liam, 2014. "Project 3: Economic and Investment Models For Future Grids Deliverable 2: The Scenarios," MPRA Paper 89474, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Foster, John & Wagner, Liam & Liebman, Ariel, 2017. "Economic and investment models for future grids: Final Report Project 3," MPRA Paper 78866, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Distributed energy; Economic modeling; Carbon price; Electricity markets;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E17 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models - - - Forecasting and Simulation: Models and Applications
    • Q40 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - General
    • Q42 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Alternative Energy Sources
    • Q47 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Energy Forecasting

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