Policy stakeholders and deployment of wind power in the sub-national context: A comparison of four U.S. states

As climate change mitigation gains attention in the United States, low-carbon energy technologies such as wind power encounter both opportunities and barriers en route to deployment. This paper provides a state-level context for examining wind power deployment and presents research on how policy stakeholders perceive wind energy in four states: Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, and Texas. Through semi-structured interviews, state-level energy policy stakeholders were asked to explain their perceptions of wind energy technology within their state. Interview texts were coded to assess how various drivers promote or hinder the deployment of wind power in sub-national contexts. Responses were dominated by technical, political, and economic frames in all four states, but were often driven by a very different rationale. Environmental, aesthetic, and health/safety frames appeared less often in the discourse. This analysis demonstrates that each state arrived at its current level of deployment via very different political, economic, and technical paths. In addition to helping explain why and how wind technology was – or was not – deployed in each of these states, these findings provide insight into the diversity of sub-national dialogues on deployment of low-carbon energy technologies.     

Offshore wind power policy and planning in Sweden

The main objective of this paper is to analyze the role of policy support schemes and planning systems for inducing offshore wind power development in Sweden. Specifically, it highlights the different types of economic, political and planning-related conditions that face offshore wind power investors in Sweden, and provides brief comparisons to the corresponding investment conditions in Denmark, Norway and the UK. The analysis shows that in Sweden existing policy incentives are generally too weak to promote a significant development of offshore wind power, and the paper provides a discussion about a number of political and economic aspects on the choice between different support schemes for offshore wind in the country. Swedish permitting and planning procedures, though, appear favorable to such a development, not the least in comparison to the corresponding processes in the other major offshore wind countries in Europe (e.g., the UK). On a general level the paper illustrates that the success and failure stories of national offshore wind policies and institutions cannot be easily transferred across country borders, and the analysis shows that both the political and the legal frameworks governing the investment situation for offshore wind farms in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and the UK differ significantly.     

The economics of offshore wind

This paper presents an overview of the main issues associated with the economics of offshore wind. Investment in offshore wind systems has been growing rapidly throughout Europe, and the technology will be essential in meeting EU targets for renewable energy in 2020. Offshore wind suffers from high installation and connection costs, however, making government support essential. We review various support policies used in Europe, concluding that tender-based feed-in tariff schemes, as used in Denmark, may be best for providing adequate support while minimising developers’ rents. It may prove economic to build an international offshore grid connecting wind farms belonging to different countries that are sited close to each other.     

英国海上风电发展模式及借鉴意义

英国具有丰富的海上风能资源,经过10余年的发展,英国已经成为世界海上风电第一大国,海上风电装机容量超过全球海上风电装机总量的一半,目前英国是全球海上风电发展最为成熟的国家.本文回顾了英国海上风电的发展历程,研究了英国促进海上风电发展的政策支持体系,以及技术发展路线和特点,并由此提出我国可借鉴英国海上风电发展的成功经验,加快推动海上风电发展.     

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.     

Enhancing information for solar and wind energy technology deployment in Brazil

Brazil's primary energy matrix is based on more than 47% of renewables, and more than 85% of its electricity is generated by hydro power sources. Despite this large fraction of renewable energy resources, less than 0.3% of the national energy supply comes from solar or wind sources. This paper presents a diagnostic review on the penetration of the solar and wind energy technologies in Brazil. It also includes a survey of the latest government policies and incentives for renewable energies deployment by entrepreneurs, industry and commercial and residential consumers. In addition, the paper analyses how to best meet the requirements for policy support and information technology to boost the deployment of solar technology and wind energy in Brazil. This study was mostly based on results of a widely distributed survey covering key issues, and also by personal interviews carried out with key stakeholders in order to better understand the issues highlighted in the survey responses. The study pointed out some of the main obstacles to effectively promote and improve government policies and actions for investment in solar and wind energy market in Brazil.     

Feasibility study of offshore wind turbine installation in Iran compared with the world

Renewable energies have potential for supplying of relatively clean and mostly local energy. Wind energy generation is expected to increase in the near future and has experienced dramatic growth over the past decade in many countries. Offshore winds are generally stronger and more constant than onshore winds in many areas. The economic feasibility for utilization of offshore wind energy depends on the favorable wind conditions in the area. The present paper analyses offshore wind speed in global scale and also studies feasibility of introducing this technology for harnessing wind in Persian Gulf, Caspian Sea, Urmia Lake and Gulf of Oman. Wind speed data were collected from different sources. The ocean surface winds at a 10 m height from satellite passes as processed by NOAA/NESDIS, from near real-time data collected by NASA/JPL's Sea Winds Scatterometer aboard the QuikSCAT. Development of renewable energy is one of priority research goals in Iran. There are many installed wind turbines in suitable regions like Manjil and Binalood, but there has not been any offshore wind installation yet in Iran. It is suggested that policy makers to invest and pay more attentions toward harnessing renewable energy sources like offshore wind in Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman in southern parts of Iran.     

海上风力发电进展

近年来风力发电工业发展迅速，海上风能以其突出的优势受到重视。本文对近年来国外几种典型的海上风能资源评估方法做出述评，简要叙述了国外海上风电技术发展与应用的现状，分析了海上风能利用的经济性，并介绍了一些主要国家进一步发展海上风电的计划。     

Learning from experience? The development of the Renewables Obligation in England and Wales 2002–2010

The UK has enviable renewable resources, both onshore (wind) and offshore (wind, wave and tidal) (The Offshore Valuation Group, 2010). The government has had policy mechanisms in place since 1990 to encourage these resources to be developed. The current mechanism, the Renewables Obligation (RO), was specifically designed to emphasise competition and therefore to fit in with the UK’s overall strategic approach to energy policy. However, as yet, it has not delivered the capacity that it was designed to do, and as a result the UK faces a difficult challenge in attempting to meet European-wide renewable energy targets for 2020, as well as longer term decarbonisation targets. This paper explores some of the major reasons why the RO has performed so poorly to date and considers the prospects for improvement up to 2020. It concludes that the strategic emphasis on competition in the support mechanisms has played a key role in limiting renewables development, but that the mechanism has changed significantly since it was introduced. However, these changes, together with proposals for electricity market reform, still do not address important elements of risk in comparison with a standard Feed In Tariff.     

The renewables NFFO: A review

There have been three Orders of the renewables NFFO and a fourth has recently been announced. This paper explains the creation of the NFFO, the application procedures for each Order and the status of the contracts for each Order. It goes on to discuss the key lessons to be learnt from the process: namely that a market enablement programme should coordinate with the R&D programme; second, that competition as the basis for support of renewables, while bringing prices down rapidly, has a number of disbenefits; third, that the NFFO process has led to the development of renewable energy industry in the UK with a stake in its future; fourth, the deployment of renewable energy technologies as a result of the NFFO has led to a dawning of an understanding by the renewable energy industry of the key issues that renewable energy has to address and the importance of the attitudes of the financial institutions and electricity systems to the successful outcome of those issues; fifth, it describes the development of a de facto policy for renewable energy by OFFER; and finally, that the renewable support mechanism should be coordinated with a planning policy.     

Evaluating the competitiveness and uncertainty of offshore wind-to-hydrogen production: A case study of Poland

Offshore wind is currently the most rapidly growing renewable energy source on a global scale. The increasing deployment and high economic potential of offshore wind have prompted considerable interest in its use for hydrogen production. In this context, this study develops a Monte Carlo-based framework for assessing the competitiveness of offshore wind-to-hydrogen production. The framework is designed to evaluate the location-based variability of the levelised cost of hydrogen (LCOH) and explore the uncertainty that exists in the long-term planning of hydrogen production installations. The case study of Poland is presented to demonstrate the application of the framework. This work provides a detailed analysis of the LCOH considering the geographical coordinates of 23 planned offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea. Moreover, it presents a comparative analysis of hydrogen production costs from offshore and onshore wind parks in 2030 and 2050. The results show that hydrogen from offshore wind could range between €3.60 to €3.71/kg H₂ in 2030, whereas in 2050, it may range from €2.05 to €2.15/kg H₂.     

Boosting new renewable technologies towards grid parity – Economic and policy aspects

The intensity of market penetration and hence the relevance of clean energy technologies in mitigating climate change will greatly depend on their cost-effectiveness. This paper discusses the economic and policy aspects of speeding up the market of these technologies to reach cost parity. A combination of historical energy market dynamics, technology diffusion and endogenous learning models were employed in the analyses. Starting from giving a preferential position to emerging renewable energy technologies in the energy and climate policy, which also means securing adequate financial resources for their deployment, could lead in the base scenario to a full-cost breakthrough of wind power around 2027 and of photovoltaics in 2032. The combined global market share of renewable electricity in 2050 could reach 62% of all electricity (now 19%) of which wind and solar power alone could account for almost two-thirds corresponding to a carbon saving in the range of 8–16 GtCO₂. However, if the new technologies were downgraded in the energy and climate policy context, the combined impact of solar and wind could remain at no less than 11% which would marginalize these technologies in the fight against climate change. The estimates for financial support to achieve cost parity were very sensitive to the assumptions of the input parameters: in the base case the extra costs or learning investments for solar power were €1432 billion and for wind power €327 billion, but with more conservative input data these values could grow manifold. On the other hand, considering the potentially cheaper electricity from new technologies above the cost parity point and putting a price on carbon could result in a positive yield from public support instead of it being regarded merely as unnecessary spending. The findings stress the necessity of long-term policies and strong commercialization strategies to bring the new energy technologies to breakeven point, but also highlight the complexity of assessing the true costs of making new energy technologies fully competitive.     

Why is South Korea's renewable energy policy failing? A qualitative evaluation

This study explores the causes of the South Korean government's failure to successfully deploy its renewable energy policy. Despite the South Korean government’s ongoing efforts since 2002 to promote the deployment of renewable energy, the established deployment target has not been met and the share of renewable energy supply in total primary energy supply is poor compared to peer countries with a similar level of economic development. Therefore, we attempt to find the causes of this policy failure using qualitative evaluation methods. Through the analyses, conducted using focused interviews and secondary data, we found that the domination of the fossil fuel and nuclear power industry's interests, inconsistent policy shifts, policy design that lacks sufficient support schemes, poorly coordinated government activities, and unsystemic and untimely monitoring and feedback have led to the failure of renewable energy deployment policies in South Korea. To overcome these problems, we suggest that the South Korean government should set more ambitious policy goals, establish a new independent organization that focuses on energy policy issues, use a varied policy mix, and secure political support from diverse policy actors.     

An investigation into the potential barriers facing the development of offshore wind energy in Scotland: Case study – Firth of Forth offshore wind farm

The Scottish Executive has set ambitious targets of achieving 100% of electricity from renewable sources by 2020. As Scotland has the best offshore wind resources in Europe, the development of this energy source is crucial for reaching these targets. However, the development of offshore wind raises a number of issues related to economic viability, grid connection and public acceptability. This paper investigates these areas in greater depth, using a case study of the Firth of Forth offshore wind farm, in order to determine if these barriers can be overcome in time to make a valuable contribution to 2020 targets. Through interviews with relevant stakeholders, it emerged that there are various obstacles which are impeding progress in offshore wind development in Scotland. It became evident that stakeholder opposition, an inadequate renewable energy support mechanism, and the insufficient grid infrastructure off the Scottish coast are posing barriers, and hindering development. It became apparent that in order to overcome these barriers, a number of changes need to take place. A more inclusive approach to stakeholder engagement is required, which facilitates the sharing of knowledge. In order to improve the economic viability of offshore wind in Scotland, adopting a new mechanism which reduces risk and provides developers and investors with more certainty, would be more effective in encouraging offshore wind development. Finally, in order to overcome the most significant barrier, the grid, a more integrated and collaborative approach is required, which will share the burden of responsibility between the developer, Ofgem, and the National Grid.     

An energy pricing scheme for the diffusion of decentralized renewable technology investment in developing countries

The purpose of this paper is to investigate price support for market penetration of renewable energy in developing nations through a decentralized supply process. We integrate the new decentralized energy support: renewable premium tariff, to analyze impacts of tariff incentives on the diffusion of renewable technology in Senegal. Based on photovoltaic and wind technologies and an assessment of renewable energy resources in Senegal, an optimization technique is combined with a cash flow analysis to investigate investment decisions in renewable energy sector. Our findings indicate that this support mechanism could strengthen the sustainable deployment of renewable energy in remote areas of Senegal. Although different payoffs emerged, profits associated with a renewable premium tariff are the highest among the set of existing payoffs. Moreover in analyzing impacts of price incentives on social welfare, we show that price tariffing schemes must be strategically scrutinized in order to minimize welfare loss associated with price incentives. Finally we argue that a sustainable promotion of incentive mechanisms supporting deployment of renewable technology in developing nations should be carried out under reliable institutional structures. The additional advantage of the proposed methodology is its ability to integrate different stakeholders (producers, investors and consumers) in the planning process.     

The development and deployment of low-carbon energy technologies: The role of economic interests and cultural worldviews on public support

Large-scale deployment of low-carbon energy technologies is crucial to mitigating climate change, and public support is an important barrier to policies and projects that facilitate deployment. This paper provides insights to the origins of public opposition that can impede the adoption of low-carbon technologies by investigating how perceptions are shaped by local economic interests and individual cultural worldviews. The research considers both carbon capture and storage and wind energy technologies because they differ in maturity, economic impact and resource base. Further, for each technology, the research examines support for two types of policies: deployment in local community and public funding for research and development. Results indicate the influence of economic interests and cultural worldviews is policy specific. Individual cultural worldviews do not affect support for the deployment of technology, but they do significantly influence a person׳s support for publicly funded research and development. Conversely, local economic interests have a significant role in determining support for deployment, while they do not affect support for research and development.     

Mobilising for marine wind energy in the United Kingdom

Since 2000, the United Kingdom has enthusiastically adopted marine wind energy as a potentially major source of electricity production and has become the leading nation in terms of output. This is in contrast to its relatively poor attainment of wind energy on land, and raises questions about the reasons for this difference in performance. This article traces the phases of development of marine wind energy in the UK with reference to factors that are instrumental in the uptake of this form of renewable energy. A number of features emerge from this analysis that stand in some contrast to the situation on land and help to explain the UK's current status. These include: recognition of an exceptional resource and relative ease of exploitation; government commitment and policy geared to controlled growth and strategic oversight, adequate economic support and start-up investment; the unusual rights and interests of the Crown Estate; and growing scale, confidence and organisation on the part of the industry. Set against these factors are the complexities of consenting, supply bottlenecks, and some stakeholder and public resistance, though these are outmatched by the drivers in favour of development and are being partly addressed.     

Offshore Project Financing : Issues relating to wind farm developments in the UK

The development of the renewable electricity generation industry is set to speed up now that the UK Government has stated its commitment, via the Renewables Obligation, to increase the level of the country's electricity needs met from renewable sources to 10% by 2010. With up to £150m proposed as grant funding for offshore wind farms and the prospect of up to 18 developments that recently pre-qualified for a sea bed lease from the Crown Estate, offshore wind is set to make an important contribution to the UK Government's targets. Neil Robertson, of NORD/LB London Project Finance gives an outline of the rationale behind, the mechanisms of and the potential issues relating to the raising of non-recourse, cost efficient project finance for offshore wind farm developments.     

Network externality perspective of feed-in-tariffs (FIT) instruments—Some observations and suggestions

Existing energy policy frameworks revolving around the acceleration of deployment¹ of renewable energy technology can be broadly classified as the quantity vs. price approach. With this brief viewpoint, this paper suggests another perspective of viewing these instruments in terms of a more fundamental basis: whether the deployment in capacity is in terms of a cost minimization approach or a network externality approach. We suggest that the generic price or feed in tariff (FIT) approach in subsidizing renewable electricity generation and associated income would create a bandwagon or self-propagation effect among users rendering the renewable energy technology spreads like a software or information technology. Our objective is to raise awareness of this technology dynamics oriented perspective in renewable deployment supplementing the conventional installation subsidies perspective. We hope that it would inspire more empirical works and studies relating to the policy implications of this viewpoint.     

Offshore wind energy policy for India—Key factors to be considered

Indian Economy is growing at a healthy pace during the last few years. To sustain this growth, power sector needs to build additional generation capacity. However, continued dependence on fossil fuels to power the growth of electricity generation capacity, is hardly sustainable. Renewable Energy source forms a miniscule portion (25 GW,∼12%) of India's overall power generation today (202 GW). The share of wind energy (17 GW) is 67% of the total renewable energy basket. But the contribution from offshore wind farms is non-existent, as all the wind energy generated in India is only through onshore wind farms. India needs a policy framework to encourage the development of offshore wind farms. Several European countries have effective offshore wind energy policies that have helped them to accelerate the growth of their offshore wind energy sector. This paper does an exhaustive literature survey, to identify 21 building blocks of a successful offshore wind energy policy initiative adopted by select European countries, which have been classified under 5 broad categories—Government support, Fiscal and quota based incentives, Availability of local expertise, Capital for investments and Building an enabling ecosystem, which can be leveraged by India to articulate its own offshore wind energy policy.