Review of green electricity production in Slovenia

The article presents a short review of electricity production from renewable energy sources in Slovenia. In Introduction the term of “green electricity” is defined. Comparison of structures of electricity production is presented for the years 1990 and 2003. The main part of the article presents an approximate data for technical and theoretical potentials of renewable energy sources in Slovenia. State-of-the-art regarding individual technologies of electricity production from renewable energy sources and political targets according to Directive 2001/77/EC for green electricity are also presented. At the end of the article different stimulation models are described and uniform prices and premiums for the purchase of green electrical energy are presented.     

NGOs and green electricity

Electricity from renewable energy sources is by definition the environmental “green” product. Sales of green power are usually supported by marketing campaign images of a melting ice cap, polar bears in danger and other environmental catastrophes. Greenprices this month takes a closer look at NGOs, organisations whose task is to raise the environmental awareness of the public, and to try to understand how they position themselves today on the green electricity market. There are to date three ways by which non-governmental organisations can play a role on the market for electricity from renewable energy sources: promoting, selling and labelling green electricity.     

Renewable electricity in Sweden: an analysis of policy and regulations

This study aims to analyse the developments in renewable energy policy making in Sweden. It assesses the energy policy context, changes in the choice of policy instruments, and provides explanations behind policy successes and failures. Swedish renewable energy policy has been developing in a context of uncertainty around nuclear issues. While there has been made a political decision to replace nuclear power with renewables, there is a lack of consensus about the pace of phasing out nuclear power due to perceived negative impacts on industrial competitiveness. Such uncertainty had an effect in the formulation of renewable energy policy. Biomass and wind power are the main options for renewable electricity production. Throughout 1990s, the combined effect of different policy instruments has stimulated the growth of these two renewable sources. Yet, both biomass and wind power are still a minor contributor in the total electricity generation. Lack of strong government commitment due to uncertainty around nuclear issues is a crucial factor. Short-term subsidies have been preferred rather than open-ended subsidy mechanisms, causing intervals without subsidies and interruption to development. Other factors are such as lack of incentives from the major electricity companies and administrative obstacles. The taxation system has been successful in fostering an expansion of biomass for heating but hindered a similar development in the electricity sector. The quota system adopted in 2003 is expected to create high demand on biomass but does not favour wind power. The renewable energy aims are unlikely to be changed. Yet, the future development of renewable energy policies especially for high-cost technologies will again depend strongly on nuclear policies, which are still unstable and might affect the pace of renewable energy development.     

Solar energy in India: Strategies, policies, perspectives and future potential

Renewable energy sources and technologies have potential to provide solutions to the longstanding energy problems being faced by the developing countries like India. Solar energy can be an important part of India's plan not only to add new capacity but also to increase energy security, address environmental concerns, and lead the massive market for renewable energy. Solar thermal electricity (STE) also known as concentrating solar power (CSP) are emerging renewable energy technologies and can be developed as future potential option for electricity generation in India. In this paper, efforts have been made to summarize the availability, current status, strategies, perspectives, promotion policies, major achievements and future potential of solar energy options in India.     

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.     

Valuing the attributes of renewable energy investments

Increasing the proportion of power derived from renewable energy sources is becoming an increasingly important part of many countries's strategies to achieve reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. However, renewable energy investments can often have external costs and benefits, which need to be taken into account if socially optimal investments are to be made. This paper attempts to estimate the magnitude of these external costs and benefits for the case of renewable technologies in Scotland, a country which has set particularly ambitious targets for expanding renewable energy. The external effects we consider are those on landscape quality, wildlife and air quality. We also consider the welfare implications of different investment strategies for employment and electricity prices. The methodology used to do this is the choice experiment technique. Renewable technologies considered include hydro, on-shore and off-shore wind power and biomass. Welfare changes for different combinations of impacts associated with different investment strategies are estimated. We also test for differences in preferences towards these impacts between urban and rural communities, and between high- and low-income households.     

Funding renewable energy: An analysis of renewable portfolio standards

Thirty states have adopted renewable portfolio standards (RPSs) that set targets for renewable energy generation by mandating that electric power utilities obtain a minimum percentage of their power from renewable sources. Our synthetic control (SC) model finds that states with RPSs have experienced increases in electricity prices and decreases in electricity demand relative to non-RPS states with similar economic, political and renewable natural resource characteristics. While both RPS and non-RPS SCs experienced increases in renewable energy generation over the sample time period, we do not find evidence that RPS states have experienced increases in renewable energy generation relative to SCs and weak evidence of emissions reductions.     

How to achieve a 100% RES electricity supply for Portugal?

Portugal is a country with an energy system highly dependent on oil and gas imports. Imports of oil and gas accounted for 85% of the country’s requirements in 2005 and 86% in 2006. Meanwhile, the share of renewable energy sources (RES) in the total primary energy consumption was only 14% in 2006. When focusing only on electricity production, the situation is somewhat better. The share of RES in gross electricity production varies between 20% and 35% and is dependent on the hydropower production in wet and dry years. This paper presents, on a national scale, Portugal’s energy system planning and technical solutions for achieving 100% RES electricity production. Planning was based on hourly energy balance and use of H₂RES software. The H₂RES model provides the ability to integrate various types of storages into energy systems in order to increase penetration of the intermittent renewable energy sources or to achieve a 100% renewable island, region or country. The paper also represents a stepping-stone for studies offering wider possibilities in matching and satisfying electricity supply in Portugal with potential renewable energy sources. Special attention has been given to intermittent sources such as wind, solar and ocean waves that can be coupled to appropriate energy storage systems charged with surplus amounts of produced electricity. The storage systems also decrease installed power requirements for generating units. Consequently, these storages will assist in avoiding unnecessary rejection of renewable potential and reaching a sufficient security of energy supply.     

State of the art of the virtual utility: the smart distributed generation network

The world of energy has lately experienced a revolution, and new rules are being defined. The climate change produced by the greenhouse gases, the inefficiency of the energy system or the lack of power supply infrastructure in most of the poor countries, the liberalization of the energy market and the development of new technologies in the field of distributed generation (DG) are the key factors of this revolution. It seems clear that the solution at the moment is the DG. The advantage of DG is the energy generation close to the demand point. It means that DG can lower costs, reduce emissions, or expand the energy options of the consumers. DG may add redundancy that increases grid security even while powering emergency lighting or other critical systems and reduces power losses in the electricity distribution. After the development of the different DG and high efficiency technologies, such as co‐generation and tri‐generation, the next step in the DG world is the interconnection of different small distributed generation facilities which act together in a DG network as a large power plant controlled by a centralized energy management system (EMS). The main aim of the EMS is to reach the targets of low emissions and high efficiency. The EMS gives priority to renewable energy sources instead of the use of fossil fuels. This new concept of energy infrastructure is referred to as virtual utility (VU). The VU can be defined as a new model of energy infrastructure which consists of integrating different kind of distributed generation utilities in an energy (electricity and heat) generation network controlled by a central energy management system (EMS). The electricity production in the network is subordinated to the heat necessity of every user. The thermal energy is consumed on site; the electricity is generated and distributed in the entire network. The network is composed of one centralized control with the EMS and different clusters of distributed generation utilities and heat storage tanks. Each of these clusters is controlled by a local management station (LMS). Every LMS has information about the requirements (heat, cold and electricity) of the users connected to its cluster and the state of the utilities and water level of the storage tanks in its cluster. The EMS receives the information from the LMSs and sets the electricity input or output of every cluster in the network. With the information ordered by the EMS, the LMS set the run or stand‐by of the utilities of its cluster. The benefits of the VU are the optimization of the utilization yield of the whole network, the high reliability of the electricity production, the complete control of the network for achieving the main aim of the EMS, the high velocity for assuming quick changes in the demand of the system and high integration of renewable energy sources, plus the advantages of the DG. This paper indicates the state of the art of the VU concept, analyses the projects that are being developed in this field and considers the future of the VU concept. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The role of public policy in optimizing renewable energy development in the greater southern Appalachian mountains

This research presents a third component of a comprehensive decision support system for energy planning that allows for combining existing electricity generating capabilities with increased use of renewable energy sources. It focuses on energy planning at the regional level, and concentrates specifically on the greater southern Appalachian mountains of the eastern United States: a region that was chosen for analysis not only due to its heavy dependence on coal for electricity, but also because of its potential for increased use of wind and solar power. Previous research used a geographic information system (GIS) model for identifying renewable energy potential to provide input data for a multi-objective linear programming (MOLP) model to determine the optimal constrained mix of renewable energy sources and existing fossil fuel facilities by balancing annual generation costs against the corresponding greenhouse gas emissions. This new component of the system analyzes three potential public policies—renewable portfolio standard, carbon tax, and renewable energy production tax credit—that have been used to foster increased renewable energy usage. These policies require minor modifications to the MOLP model for implementation. The results of these policy cases were then analyzed to determine the impact that these policies have on generation cost and pollution emissions within the region.     

Governmental policy and prospect in electricity production from renewables in Lithuania

In Lithuania, the generation of electricity is based on the nuclear energy and on the fossil fuels. After the decommissioning of Ignalina nuclear power plant in 2009, the Lithuanian Power Plant and other thermal plants will become the major sources of electricity. Consequently, the Lithuanian power sector must focus on the implementation of renewable energy projects, penetration of new technologies and on consideration of the future opportunities for renewables, and Government policy for promoting this kind of energy. Production of electricity from renewable energy is based on hydro, biomass and wind energy resources in Lithuania. Due to the typical climatic condition in Lithuania the solar photovoltaics and geothermal energy are not used for power sector. Moreover, the further development of hydropower plants is limited by environmental restrictions, therefore priority is given to wind energy development and installation of new biomass power plants. According to the requirements set out in the Directive 2001/77/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 September 2001 on the promotion of electricity produced from renewable energy sources in the internal electricity market [Official Journal L283, 33–40, 27 October 2001], 7% of gross consumption of electricity will be generated from renewable energy by 2010 in Lithuania. The aim of this paper is to show the estimation of the maximum renewable power penetration in the Lithuanian electricity sector and possible environmental impact.     

Renewable energy in the Palestinian Territories: Opportunities and challenges

The Palestinian Territories relies on Israel for 100% of its fossil fuel imports and for 87% of its electricity imports. Total energy consumption in the Palestinian Territories is the lowest in the region and costs more than anywhere else in the Middle East. The purpose of this paper is to present the current energy situation in the Palestinian Territories, evaluate the potential of renewable energies in meeting part of the energy demand and discuss the challenges and benefits of using these types of energies. It is shown that the main renewable energy sources in the Palestinian Territories are solar, wind and biomass. Using the available renewable energy sources in the Palestinian Territories may significantly decrease the energy reliance on neighboring countries and improve the Palestinian population's access to energy. It is estimated that solar sources have the potential to account for 13% of electricity demand and wind energy for 6.6%. The conversion of animal waste into biogas has the potential to meet the needs of 20% of the rural population. The conversion of unused agricultural residue into biodiesel could replace 5% of the imported diesel.     

Electricity sector reforms in four Latin-American countries and their impact on carbon dioxide emissions and renewable energy

This paper analyzes carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions related to energy consumption for electricity generation in four Latin-American countries in the context of the liberalization process. From 1990 to 2006, power plants based on renewable energy sources decreased its share in power installed capacity, and the carbon index defined as CO₂ emission by unit of energy for electricity production stayed almost constant for all countries with the exception of Colombia, where the index reduced due to increase in hydroelectricity generation in the last years. The paper also presents a new set of policies to promote renewable energy sources that have been developed in the four countries. The paper concludes that restructuring did not bring about environmental benefits related to a decrease in CO₂ emissions because this depend on the existence of committed policies, and dedicated institutional and regulatory frameworks.     

Potential and use of renewable energy sources in Croatia

The current share of renewable energy sources in electricity production in Croatia is very high, around 50%. Nevertheless it is expected that the share of renewables will have to rise and efficient strategies must be examined and adopted. The Croatian government has recognised the important role renewable energy sources could play in Croatian energy and electricity supply. The most important barrier for a wider deployment of renewables in energy production is their cost which is still above those of conventional energy sources. As the energy market is currently undergoing the process of liberalisation, support mechanisms that are compatible with an open market philosophy must be adopted. The characteristics of the Croatian power system, the expected consumption, growth and possible future role of renewables in energy and electricity production is presented. The current legislative framework relevant for renewables is analysed and discussed.     

U.S. state policies for renewable energy: Context and effectiveness

Over the past decade, state policies on renewable energy have been on the rise in the U.S., providing states with various options for encouraging the generation of renewable electricity. Two promising policies, the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) and the Mandatory Green Power Option (MGPO), have been implemented in many states but the evidence about their effectiveness is mixed. In this paper, we argue that recognizing the natural, social, and policy context under which MGPO and RPS are adopted is necessary in order to measure their true effectiveness. This is because the context rather than the policy might lead to positive outcomes and there is the possibility for sample bias. When controlling for the context in which the policies are implemented, we find that RPS has a negative impact on investments in renewable capacity. However, we find that investor-owned utilities seem to respond more positively to RPS mandates than publicly owned utilities. By contrast, MGPO appears to have a significant effect on installed renewable capacity for all utilities regardless of the context in which it is implemented.     

Additionality of wind energy investments in the U.S. voluntary green power market

In the United States, electricity consumers are told that they can “buy” electricity from renewable energy projects, versus fossil fuel-fired facilities, through participation in voluntary green power markets. The marketing messages communicate to consumers that they are causing additional renewable energy generation and reducing emissions through their participation and premium payments for a green label. Using a spatial financial model and a database of registered Green-e wind power facilities, the analysis in this paper shows that the voluntary Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) market has a negligible influence on the economic feasibility of these facilities. Nevertheless, voluntary green power marketers at least implicitly claim that buying their products creates additional renewable energy. This study indicates the contrary. Participants in U.S. voluntary green power markets associated with wind power, therefore, appear to be receiving misleading marketing messages regarding the effect of their participation. In the process of completing this analysis, a potentially relevant factor in explaining investor behavior was identified: the potential for the overlap of voluntary REC markets with compliance REC markets that supply utilities need to meet their obligations of Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard (RPS). The majority of state RPS rules allow for regional or even national sourcing of RECs, meaning that projects are generally eligible to provide compliance RECs to utilities not only in their home states, but in several other states.     

A market for renewable energy credits in the Indian power sector

Electricity generation from renewable energy sources in India has been promoted through a host of fiscal policies and preferential tariff for electricity produced from the same. The fiscal policies include tax incentives and purchase of electricity generated through renewable energy sources. The enactment of the Electricity Act 2003 (the Act) has lent further support to renewable energy by stipulating purchase of a certain percentage of the power procurement by distribution utilities from renewable energy sources. The renewable portfolio obligation as well as the feed-in tariff for power procurement has been specified by a number of State Electricity Regulatory Commissions (SERCs) for the respective state under their jurisdiction. A feed-in tariff determined through a cost-plus approach under a rate of return framework lacks incentive for cost minimisation and does not encourage optimal utilisation of renewable energy resources in the country. Such regulatory provisions differ across states.The prevalent practice of fixing a renewable portfolio obligation along with cost-based feed-in tariffs disregards economic efficiency. The paper proposes nationally tradable renewable energy credits scheme for achieving the targets set by the respective SERCs as renewable portfolio obligation. This would reduce the cost of compliance to a renewable portfolio obligation, and would encourage efficient resource utilisation and investment in appropriate technologies. The paper highlights its advantages and implementation issues. This paper discusses regulatory developments for promotion of renewable energy in various Indian states. The paper also identifies a number of issues related to regulations concerning renewable portfolio obligation.     

Mapping the potential for decentralized energy generation based on renewable energy sources in the Republic of Croatia

There are regions in the Republic of Croatia (underdeveloped, devastated by war, depopulated, as well as islands and mountainous areas) which are still disconnected from the electricity network or where the current network capacity is insufficient. In addition, these regions have good renewable energy potential. Since the decentralized energy generation (DEG) covers a broad range of technologies, including many renewable energy technologies (RET) that provide small-scale power at sites close to the users, this concept could be of interest for these locations. This paper identifies the areas in Croatia where such systems could be applied. Consideration is given to geographical locations as well as possible applications. Wind, hydro, solar photovoltaic, geothermal, and biomass conversion systems were analyzed from a technological and economic point of view. Since the renewable energy sources (RES) data for Croatia are rather scarce, the intention was to give a survey of the present situation and an estimate of future potential for DEG based on RES. The energy potential (given as capacity and energy capability) and production costs were calculated on a regional basis and per type of RET. Finally, the RES cost–supply curves for 2006 and 2010 are given.     

Status and future prospects of renewable energy in Iraq

Iraq suffers from electricity shortages, and many challenges will have to be overcome to meet future increases in electrical demands. This investigation found that solar, wind and biomass energy are not being utilized sufficiently at present, but these energies could play an important role in the future of Iraq’s renewable energy. Additionally, the potential of offshore-wind energy in the Gulf (near Basrah in the southern part of Iraq) needs to be investigated. The Iraqi government's attempts to utilize renewable energy have been discussed. This paper aims to review and discuss the status and future of renewable energy in Iraq. The uses of renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind and biomass, have been reviewed. This paper concludes with recommendations for the utilization of these energy resources.     

Research on the generation of electricity from the geothermal resources in Simav region, Turkey

One of the greatest problems in using renewable energy sources is the great variability of energy level, both in the short and long term. Geothermal energy, by nature, has high availability because the source is not dependent on weather conditions, so it is among the most stable renewable energy sources. Geothermal energy has the potential to play an important role in the future energy supply of Turkey. Although Turkey has the second-highest geothermal energy potential in Europe, electricity generation from geothermal energy is rather low.This study examines the use of geothermal energy in electricity generation and investigates the applicability of the existent geothermal energy resources to electricity generation in the Kütahya–Simav region, Turkey. The binary cycle is used in the designed power plant for electricity generation from geothermal fluid in which the percentage of liquid is high and which is at lower temperature. In this power plant, R134a is chosen as the secondary fluid, whose boiling point temperature is lower than that of water, and is used instead of geothermal fluid in a second cycle. The thermal efficiency of the designed power plant is measured to be 12.93%.