Prospects of renewable energy - a feasibility study in the Australian context

Given the recent increasing public focus on climate change issues, there is a need for robust, sustainable and climate friendly power transmission and distribution systems that are intelligent, reliable, and green. Current power systems create environmental impacts as well as contributing to global warming due to their utilization of fossil fuels, especially coal, as carbon dioxide is emitted into the atmosphere. In contrast to fossil fuels, renewable energy is starting to be used as the panacea for solving climate change or global warming problems. This paper describes a feasibility study undertaken to investigate the potentialities of renewable energy including the prospective locations in Australia for renewable energy generation, in particular solar and wind energy. Initially, a hybrid model has been developed to investigate the prospects of wind energy for typical Australian region considering production cost, cost of energy, emission production and contribution from renewable energy using the Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewable (HOMER), a computer model developed by the USA’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). This model also explores suitable places around Australia for wind energy generation using statistical analysis. Subsequently, the usefulness of solar energy in the Australian context and suitable locations for solar energy generation are also investigated using a similar hybrid model. Finally, the model has been developed to investigate the prospects of renewable energy in particular wind and solar energy including specific locations in Australia that would be suitable for both wind and solar energy generation. From simulation analysis it is clearly observed that Australia has enormous potentialities for substantially increased use of renewable energy; a large penetration of renewable energy sources into the national power system would reduce CO₂ emissions significantly, contributing to the reduction of global warming.     

我国风力发电发展现状和问题分析

能源危机的日趋严重,优化能源结构、发展清洁环保的可再生能源迫在眉睫。风能是一种清洁环保的可再生能源,随着国家政策的支持和风力发电技术的不断发展,风力发电越来越得到人们的重视,并将在新能源发电中扮演重要的角色。概述了我国风能资源的储量和分布,介绍了近年来我国风力发电的总体情况、各省(自治区)风力发电的发展概况以及我国风电企业的发展现状,最后指出了我国风力发电目前出现的一些问题,并进行了分析。     

Quantitative analysis of distributed and centralized development of renewable energy

Global renewable energy has maintained a steady growth in recent years, mainly fostered by national policies and increasing demand. Analyzing the experience of renewable energy development in developed countries can be important to provide reference and guidance for its adoption in other countries. First, we compare and summarize definitions of distributed generation from 18 leading countries and organizations in renewable energy. On this basis, we provide three basic characteristics for successful distributed generation using renewable resources. Then, we empirically analyze the distributed and centralized development of renewable energy in Germany with focus on wind and photovoltaic power. We determined that 95% of the photovoltaic generation and 85% of the wind power generation is distributed in Germany, suggesting that the most suitable generation mode for renewable energy is the distributed approach.     

Study on electrical energy and prospective electricity generation from renewable sources in Australia

Nowadays renewable sources are being used as clean sources to generate electricity and to reduce the dependency on fossil fuels. The uses of renewable sources are being increased in electricity generation and contributed to reduce the greenhouse gas emission. The function of any electrical power system is to connect everyone sufficiently, clean electric power anywhere and anytime of the country. This can be achieved through a modern power system by integrating electrical energy from clean renewable sources into the nation's electric grid to enhance reliability, efficiency and security of the power system. The paper on the status of review the driving force of the generation of renewable energy and proposing electrical energy generation from renewable sources to be ensured at least 20% of total energy of Australia. This paper has been studied the existing electricity generation capacity of Australia from renewable and non-renewable sources. Optimal electricity generation from renewable sources has been examined. The environmental impact of electricity generation from renewable sources has been considered. Under this paper the yearly average wind data of past 20 years and above for some meteorological stations of Australia have been used. The prospective electricity generation from wind turbines and solar photovoltaic panels has been proposed in the paper that will increase electrical energy of the power grid of Australia. It was estimated the capital cost of prospective electricity generation farms from wind and solar PV sources.     

Power to gas: addressing renewable curtailment by converting to hydrogen

Renewable energy is the key to meeting increasing electricity demand and the decarburization targets in the generation mix. However, due to constrained power network capacity, a large volume of renewable generation is curtailed particularly from wind power, which is a huge waste of resources. There are typically three approaches to addressing excessive renewable: direct curtailment, the reinforcement of networks to expand transfer capacity, and the conversion of excessive renewable into other energy types, such as hydrogen, to transport. The costs and benefits of the three approaches could vary significantly across location, time, and penetration of renewable energy. This paper conducts a cost-benefit analysis and comparison of the three techniques to address wind curtailment. It uses a reduced 16-busbar UK transmission network to analyze the performance of the three approaches. The UK 2020 generation mix is used to quantify the saved renewable energy and incurred costs. The payback time and net present value of the two investment techniques are compared. From demonstration, it is reasonable to conclude that converting excessive wind power into hydrogen to transport is an environmentally friendly and cost-effective way to address wind curtailment.     

佳木斯风能资源形成分布探讨

风能资源是清洁的可再生能源,风能发电是新能源领域中技术最成熟、最具规模开发条件和商业化发展前景的发电方式之一,也是目前清洁能源中利用最方便、最快捷、最少投入的可再生能源之一。已经成为世界能源可持续发展战略的重要组成部分。因此本文从风的形成原因、影响风速大小的因素、佳木斯风能资源的分布状况和可建风电规模（发展目标）等方面予以阐述,为佳木斯的风电发展提供理论参考根据。     

Does a small difference make a difference? Impact of feed-in tariff on renewable power generation in China

This study investigates the effectiveness of regionally differentiated feed-in tariffs (FIT) for the development of renewable energy in China. By using a spatial regression discontinuity design, we estimate the impacts of regionally differentiated FITs on the outcome indicators of wind and solar power generation, such as utilization rate, installed capacity, power generation, and hours of operation. Our findings show that FIT implementation plays an important role in promoting renewable energy development. A small difference in the tariff rate leads to statistically significant differences in outcome indicators among regions. Our results suggest that regionally differentiated FITs might help mitigate the overproduction of wind electricity in regions with abundant wind resources but low electricity demand. In addition, we conclude that enlarged tariff gap among regions can lead to greater impact on increasing installations of renewable power generation facilities in resource-poor regions.     

可再生能源联合发电技术

近年来,随着国家倡导低碳经济,以风电、水电、太阳能、生物质能为代表的新能源得到了快速的发展。风能、水能、太阳能、生物质能等多种可再生能源联合发电是一种有效的可再生能源利用方式。简述了风能、水能,太阳能和生物质能的发电原理,并探讨了目前国内关于多种能源联合互补发电系统的设计研究成果。     

Onshore wind power development in China: Challenges behind a successful story

Wind energy utilization, especially onshore grid-connected wind power generation, has a history of 30 years in China. With the increasing attention to renewable energy development in recent years, wind energy has become the focus of academic research and policy-making. While the potential and advantages of wind energy are widely recognized, many questions regarding the effectiveness of policies and performances of current practices remain unanswered. This paper takes Inner Mongolia, the province that has the most abundant wind energy resources in China, as a case to assess the performance of Chinese onshore wind power projects, focusing on the institutional setting, economic and technological performance, as well as environmental and social impacts. Results show that China is experiencing a rapid growth in wind power generation, which brings China great environmental, energy security and social benefits. However, for a full development of wind energy in China a number of barriers need to be removed: high generation cost, low on-grid price, and stagnating development of domestic manufacture. These findings lead to three policy recommendations.     

A multi‐predictor model to estimate solar and wind energy generations

Recent technological developments in renewable energy systems and significant growth of solar and wind energy have made these 2 renewable sources potential viable alternatives for conventional energy sources. However, due to intermittent nature, their reliability and availability are not similar to traditional sources. Hence, it is crucial to estimate the solar and wind availability and contribution more accurately. There are various factors affecting the generation capacity of renewable sources. There has been a vast research on the impact of factors related to climate condition such as wind speed, air temperature, and humidity on renewable energy generation. However, there are several other factors with indirect impact on renewable capacity and generation mostly overshadowed by the climate factors. In this study, a multi‐predictor regression model is developed and presented for solar and wind energy generation capacity across the USA. Our study of 50 states shows how the generation capacity can be affected by several indexes including human development index. Variables with the more significant impacts have been chosen using a regression analysis. A recommendation on the best transformation of the response variables and sensitivity analysis of the results has also been presented. The results provide a model to estimate the generation capacity using significant predictors. For instance, the impact of population growth on the wind turbine generation can be explored using these models.     

Characteristic analysis and forecast of electricity supply and demand in APEC

The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) comprises of the world’s largest producers and consumers of energy, accounting for 60.3% of primary energy supply, 50.0% of final energy consumption, and 63.0% of electricity generation worldwide in 2016. This study discusses the primary energy supply and final energy consumption situation of the APEC and analyzes the characteristics of electricity in terms of its generation structure based on fuel, consumption by the end-use sector, access to electricity, and so on. The renewable energy and electricity generation projections up to 2030 based on trends in the APEC are also assessed. It is seen that electricity in final energy consumption has been on an upward trend, with an average annual growth rate of about 4.8% during 2006-2016; in 2016, its share reached 24.3%. The industry sector consumes the largest share of electricity, accounting for about 45.5% in 2016. Coal supply and consumption peaked in 2011 and then began to decline, while renewable energy has been on an upward trend, with its primary energy supply share increasing from 4.80% in 2010 to 6.29% in 2016. Solar photovoltaic and onshore wind power are on the verge of costing less than the operating cost of existing coal-fired plants in 2018. In the APEC’s target scenario in which renewable energy is doubled, the predicted net growth from 2017 to 2030 of solar, wind, and hydro power is about 963, 497, and 157 GW, respectively, and to reach this target, the APEC economies need to accelerate renewable energy development.     

欧盟可再生能源发展形势和2020年发展战略目标分析

2010年,欧盟可再生能源发展呈现出新的形势:一方面,风电满足了欧盟5.3%的电力需求,已经开始发挥替代能源的战略作用;另一方面,光伏发电新增装机容量首次超过风电,显示出分布式光伏发电的巨大优势。在欧盟可再生能源"20-20-20"发展目标的基础上,欧盟各成员国相继制定了具有法律效力的国家可再生能源行动方案,规定了各国在不同时期的可再生能源的发展目标和实现路径。     

Offshore wind development in China and its future with the existing renewable policy

Based on independent studies, this paper focuses on the significant discrepancy of 15 GW between the installed onshore wind generation capacity and what has been actually connected to the power network to reveal the challenges in meeting the Chinese renewable energy target. The recent accidents in Chinese North-Western transmission network (in February–April, 2011) demonstrated the urgent need for a fundamental review of the Chinese renewable energy policy. Offshore wind has been identified as the most feasible alternative to onshore wind to help deliver electricity to Eastern China during the summer peak time. By investigating and summarizing first hand experiences of participation in the Chinese renewable market, the authors provide the economic figures of the first cohort of Chinese offshore wind schemes. Large state owned enterprises (SOE) are dominating the offshore wind development, repeating their previous practices on the land. While this paper acknowledges the critical role of offshore wind generation in meeting Chinese renewable energy targets, it envisages an installed offshore capacity of approximately 2000 MW by 2015, much less than the 10000 MW governmental estimation, which can be attributed to the lack of detailed energy policy, network constraints, offshore wind installation difficulties and quality issues in the manufacture of turbines.     

上海风能利用前景分析

风电作为成熟的规模化可再生能源技术,在建造成本和技术方面与其它形式的可再生能源相比具有很大的竞争优势。根据国际、国内风电发展形势,结合上海市风力资源和地理位置,分析了上海市发展风能产业的潜力。     

Effect of increased wind penetration on system prices in Korea's electricity markets

In this paper, we examine the effect of increased wind penetration on system marginal prices (SMPs) in South Korea's electricity market. Korea's renewable portfolio standard (RPS) went into effect in 2012, with a goal of increasing the share of renewable generation to 10% of the total load by 2022. We examine the output of wind installations across the Korean peninsula and simulate an increase in wind penetration consistent with Korea's RPS targets. Under a variety of assumptions on demand elasticity, we find that higher shares of wind generation in total supply reduce both the average SMP and its variation. In particular, we find that wind energy output on the Korean peninsula is more correlated with peak electricity demand than has been reported for other regions. The per‐unit value of wind energy to owners of wind assets is thus higher for South Korea than would be the case for European or North American locations with a similar mix of fuels other than wind. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effectiveness of state incentives for promoting wind energy: A panel data examination

Over the last decade, India has started to concentrate earnestly on renewable energy. The Indian government, as well as different state governments, are adopting policy instruments such as feed in tariff, captive consumption, renewable purchase obligation and generation based incentive etc. aimed at renewable energy development. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of state level incentives for the development of wind energy in India. Fixed effect panel data modelling technique of econometric analysis is used to analyse the data of 26 Indian states in 11 years. The results show that feed in tariff and captive consumption are the significant predictors of wind energy development. However, renewable purchase obligation does not affect wind energy significantly.     

Analysis and characterization of wind-solar-constant torque spring hybridized model

Solar and wind are the most promising renewable energy resources. But their unpredictable and varying nature prevents them from being used as the sole resource for power generation. This paper presents a model of wind and solar thermal hybrid power plant with a spring storage system which is expected to play an efficient role in combating with the drawbacks related to renewable power generation. In the proposed scheme, wind energy is harnessed by a hybrid vertical axis wind turbine, solar energy is utilized by a Stirling engine, and the surplus energy is stored in a winding spring. The paper discusses the working methodologies and analyses the performance of such 2.6 kW hybrid power plant model. It has been observed that the plant is capable of consistently generating 50% of its rated capacity irrespective of limitations in solar and wind resources.     

世界风电产业发展综述

风力发电是目前最具商业化和市场竞争力的可再生能源技术。随着风电技术日趋成熟,风电产业在全球范围得到大力发展,并保持持续增长的势头。全世界风力资源丰富,风力发电将成为最重要的替代能源之一,但风电产业的发展受政策影响较大。文章阐述了世界风力发电产业的现状,分析了世界风电产业的发展趋势。     

A review of energy in Rwanda

During the last two decades, Rwanda has experienced an energy crisis mostly due to lack of investment in the energy sector. With the growing of the population and increasing industrialization in urban areas, energy provided by existing hydro and thermal power plants has been increasingly scarce with high energy costs, and energy instability. Furthermore, as wood fuel is the most important source of energy in Rwanda, the enduring dependence on it and fossil fuel consumption as well, will continue to impact on the process of environmental degradation. Rwanda is rich with abundant renewable energy resources such as methane gas in Lake Kivu, solar, biomass, geothermal; and wind energy resource is currently being explored. Recently, the Government has given priority to the extension of its national electrical grid through development of hydro power generation projects, and to rural energy through development of alternative energy projects for rural areas where access to national grid is still difficult. This paper presents a review of existing energy resources and energy applications in Rwanda. Recent developments on renewable energy are also presented.     

Wind farm electrical power production model for load flow analysis

The importance of renewable energy increases in activities relating to new forms of managing and operating electrical power: especially wind power. Wind generation is increasing its share in the electricity generation portfolios of many countries. Wind power production in Spain has doubled over the past four years and has reached 20 GW. One of the greatest problems facing wind farms is that the electrical power generated depends on the variable characteristics of the wind. To become competitive in a liberalized market, the reliability of wind energy must be guaranteed. Good local wind forecasts are therefore essential for the accurate prediction of generation levels for each moment of the day.This paper proposes an electrical power production model for wind farms based on a new method that produces correlated wind speeds for various wind farms. This method enables a reliable evaluation of the impact of new wind farms on the high-voltage distribution grid.