A review on the pattern of electricity generation and emission in Indonesia from 1987 to 2009

The level of energy demand plays a fundamental role in today's society. It is a vital input in supporting the physical and social development of a country, as well as national economic growth. Looking at the energy demand scenario in present time, the global energy consumption is likely to grow faster than the population growth across the world. Like any other energy sectors, electricity demand has significantly increased in Indonesia over the past years. Currently, there are six types of power plants in the country. The main sources of electrical energy are generated using the gas turbines, steam turbines, combined cycles, geothermal, diesel engine and hydro-powers. Most of Indonesia's power plants are using fossil fuel for electricity generation. Substantial growth in domestic energy demand, however, would be a major challenge for Indonesia's energy supply sector in the future. Over the past decade, thermal power plants generated about 86.69% of electricity and about 13.31% was generated by renewable energy such as hydro-power and geothermal in 2009. The purpose of this study is to chronicle and show a clear view of 23 years trend of Indonesia's electricity generation industry. Furthermore, the capacity of power generation installed and electricity generation from 1987 to 2009 has been gathered for this study. The total pollutant emissions and emission per unit electricity generation for each type of power plants have been also calculated using emission factors. Also, the pattern of electricity generation and emission has been presented. The results show that the implementation and contribution of combined cycle power plants should be increased together with renewable energy and natural gas which are recommended to reduce greenhouse gas emission.     

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.     

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.     

Consumers' willingness to pay for green electricity: A meta-analysis of the literature

At present, electricity generated from power plants using renewable sources costs more than electricity generated from power plants using conventional fuels. Consumers bear these expenses directly or indirectly through higher prices for renewable energy or taxes. The number of studies published over the last few years focusing on people's preferences for renewables has increased steadily, making it more and more difficult to identify key explanatory factors that determine people's willingness-to-pay (WTP) for renewables. We present results of a meta-regression on valuation of consumer preferences for a larger share of renewable energy in their electricity mix. Our meta-regression results reveal a number of important factors that explain the differences in WTP values for renewable energy. Different valuation methods show widely different values, with choice experiments producing the highest estimates. Our results further indicate that consumers' WTP for green electricity differs by source, with hydropower being the least valued. Variables that are often omitted from primary valuation studies are important in explaining differences in values. These variables describe individual and household characteristics as well as information on the type of power plant that will be replaced by renewables. Further, the marginal effect of a survey conducted in the US is pronounced. We also assess the potential for using the results for out-of-sample value transfer and find a median error of 21%.     

Incentives and disincentives for using renewable energy: Turkish students’ ideas

A closed-form questionnaire was used to explore the prevalence of ideas of Turkish school students in years 7 and 8 (age 13–14 years) about renewable power generation. The questionnaire investigated students’ ideas about the characteristics of renewable energy, its perceived advantages and disadvantgaes, and, separately, their views about the importance of the characteristics of energy production; it is likely that a combination of such beliefs could act as incentives or disincentives to the acceptability of renewable power. In terms of cost, about half of the students thought that it is cheaper to generate electricity from renewable sources, and only a quarter thought that renewable power generators would be expensive to dismantle at the end of their working life. There were some concerns about safety; although half of the students thought that renewable power installations were safer than other types of power generators, over half thought that renewable power generators could in some way harm plants, animals or humans that lived nearby. In terms of the capacity of renewable electricity generation, nearly two-third of the students thought that such sources could provide sufficient power for the population, and a similar proportion thought that electricity from renewable sources would be available continuously. Only about half of the students appreciated the contribution that renewable sources could make to a reduction in global warming, and more than half thought that such generators would in fact create environmental problems. Most of the characteristics mentioned were regarded as important, although the cost of electricity appeared less so to these particular students. When the responses about believed characteristics and views about their importance were combined, it appeared that the belief that renewable power could produce a reliable supply of electricity and, encouragingly, that it could contribute to a reduction in global warming, would be persuasive arguments for its implementation.     

Optimal utilization of renewable energy-based IPPs for industrial load management

Share of power generation from renewable energy sources has been steadily increasing all over the world, mainly due to the concern about clean environment. Cost of renewable power generation has reduced considerably during the last two decades due to technological advancements and at present some of the renewable energy sources can generate power at costs comparable with that of fossil fuels. In this paper, application of renewable energy-based power generation is proposed, for load management. The formulation utilizes non-linear programming technique for minimizing the electricity cost and reducing the peak demand, by supplementing power by renewable energy sources, satisfying the system constraints. Case study of twenty-two large-scale industries showed that, significant reduction in peak demand (about 34%) and electricity cost (about 14%) can be achieved, by the optimal utilization of the renewable energy from independent power producers (IPPs).     

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.     

Geothermal resources in Iran: The sustainable future

Because of disadvantages of fossil fuels, renewable energy sources are getting importance for sustainable energy development and environmental protection. Among the renewable sources, Iran has geothermal energy potential. The Iranian government is considerable attention to the utilization of renewable energy, especially wind, solar and geothermal energies. Due to recent advancements in geothermal energy, many investors in the country have become interested in investing in this type of energy. Geothermal studies in Iran started in 1975 with a cooperative between the ministry of Energy of Iran and ENEL Company from Italy. Preliminary studies indicated potential for geothermal power generation in four areas in northern Iran (Khoy-Maku, Sabalan, Sahand and Damavand at Azarbaijan Gharbi, Ardebil, Azarbaijan Sharghi and Tehran provinces), respectively. Geothermal development in Iran has gained momentum in the last five years with increased exploration and industry growth in the country. Iran is developing a geothermal plant for power production. Iran government plans to build 2000 MW of renewable energy capacity over the next five years. Total projected use (geothermal capacity) has been estimated 100 MW at the end of 2010. Exploration drilling is currently in-progress for Meshkinshahr project in North-Western Iran. The Sabalan geothermal power plant is expected to produce 50 MW electric powers in 2011. The plants are planned by Iran Ministry of Energy and the Renewable Energy Organization of Iran (SUNA). This study presents a brief introduction to the resource, status and prospect of geothermal energy in Iran.     

Potential of renewable energy in electrical energy production and sustainable energy development of Turkey: Performance and policies

Generating electricity, from renewable energy sources has become a high priority in the energy policy strategies at a national level as well as on a global scale. Although Turkey has many energy resources only coal and hydropower are significant at present, and as demand had risen, it has been necessary to import fuels to meet the total energy demand. The fossil resources, both indigenous and imported, have become expensive and also have undesirably high emissions. Turkey has an extensive shoreline and mountains and is rich in renewable energy potential. The share of renewables on total electricity generation is 35% while that of thermal power is 65% for the year 2010. Turkey is one of those countries that are considered rich and abundant in renewable energy resources.Turkey is facing serious challenges in satisfying its growing energy demand. To fuel a rapidly growing economy, the country’s electricity consumption is increasing by an average of 8–9% every year, and significant investments are needed in generation, transmission and distribution facilities to balance the power system’s supply and demand. With very limited oil and gas reserves, Turkey is increasingly turning to renewable energy sources as a means to improve its energy security and curb dependence on imported gas from Russia and Iran. This paper investigates the potential of renewable energy resources in Turkey at present and the magnitude of their present and future contributions to the national energy consumption. Energy politics are also considered.     

Electricity generation from renewable energy sources in Germany — Potentials, costs and implementation strategies

The objective of this paper is to analyse the technical potentials and the costs of renewable energy sources for electricity generation in Germany and to define and discuss possible strategies for a largescale implementation of such renewable sources into the German power generation system. Four renewable options are discussed: hydropower, windtechnical and photovoltaic electricity generation and the possible electricity production of biomass. First the technical potentials are identified for the present and future reference years. Then the specific costs are analysed, as well for the present and the future. Finally an exemplary implementation strategy is defined and discussed leading to a total renewable electricity generation in the year 2020 of about 86 TWh/a which would be a share of about 19 % of the total present electrical energy demand.     

Reducing cycling costs in coal fired power plants through power to hydrogen

The increase of renewable share in the energy generation mix makes necessary to increase the flexibility of the electricity market. Thus, fossil fuel thermal power plants have to adapt their electricity production to compensate these fluctuations. Operation at partial load means a significant loss of efficiency and important reduction of incomes from electricity sales in the fossil power plant. Among the energy storage technologies proposed to overcome these problems, Power to Gas (PtG) allows for the massive storage of surplus electricity in form of hydrogen or synthetic natural gas. In this work, the integration of a Power to Gas system (50 MWe) with fossil fuel thermal power plants (500 MWe) is proposed to reduce the minimum complaint load and avoid shutdowns. This concept allows a continuous operation of power plants during periods with low demand, avoiding the penalty cost of shutdown. The operation of the hybrid system has been modelled to calculate efficiencies, hydrogen and electricity production as a function of the load of the fossil fuel power plant. Results show that the utilisation of PtG diminishes the specific cost of producing electricity between a 20% and 50%, depending on the framework considered (hot, warm and cold start-up). The main contribution is the reduction of the shutdown penalties rather than the incomes from the sale of the hydrogen. At the light of the obtained results, the hybrid system may be implemented to increase the cost-effectiveness of existing fossil fuel power plants while adapting the energy mix to high shares of variable renewable electricity sources.     

Collateral effects of renewable energies deployment in Spain: Impact on thermal power plants performance and management

The quest for renewable energy sources has been strong in Spain for a couple of decades, and has produced outstanding results, notably in windpower. Solar technologies also had a prompt response to the promoting legislation of 2007. This evolution has generated side effects in the electricity generation system as a whole, and all this phenomenology is analysed in this paper under the consideration of the three objectives theoretically guiding electricity policy nowadays: security of supply (at macro and micro level), environmental quality, and economic competitiveness. The analysis points out some unbalance among the objectives, which can evolve to a scenario where back-up power is going to be a critical point for the stability of the system. Such a back-up service will surely be provided by gas-fired combined cycles (GFCC). The estimated projections of the generation system show that the required back-up power will grow about 8–9 GW by year 2020, for complying with the objective of attaining a share of 40% renewable electricity. However, collateral effects as the decline in the load factor of GFCC, as well as a reduction in spot price of electricity, can cast many doubts about the feasibility to reach that back-up power level.     

An estimation of the Swiss hydropower rent

The electricity generation in Switzerland is mostly based on hydropower (∼58%) and nuclear power (∼38%). The exploitation of water in the hydropower sector can generate significant economic rent. One possibility to capture this rent is through royalties or fees. This system has been used in Switzerland since many decades. However, the actual water fee system is not flexible and does not take into consideration different production costs between the type and location of hydropower plants. Furthermore, storage plants can sell electricity to a higher price than run-of-river plants. A flexible system is needed in a liberalized electricity market, to take into account these different production situations and the fact that prices may vary considerably over time. The main goal of this paper is to calculate the potential economic rent that could be generated in the Swiss hydropower sector under a future liberalized market. Based on the results of the paper, it can be concluded that the introduction of a flexible fee system could improve the competitiveness of the hydropower sector and promote an energy system based on renewable energy sources.     

An optimal mix of solar PV,wind and hydro power for a low-carbon electricity supply in Brazil

Brazil has to expand its power generation capacities due to significant projected growth of demand. The government aims at adding hydropower capacities in North–Brazil, additional to wind and thermal power generation. However, new hydropower may affect environmentally and socially sensitive areas in the Amazon region negatively while thermal power generation produces greenhouse gas emissions. We therefore assess how future greenhouse gas emissions from electricity production in Brazil can be minimized by optimizing the daily dispatch of photovoltaic (PV), wind, thermal, and hydropower plants. Using a simulation model, we additionally assess the risk of loss of load. Results indicate that at doubled demand in comparison to 2013, only 2% of power production has to be provided by thermal power. Existing reservoirs of hydropower are sufficient to balance variations in renewable electricity supply at an optimal mix of around 37% of PV, 9% of wind, and 50% of hydropower generation. In a hydro-thermal only scenario, the risk of deficit increases tenfold, and thermal power production four-fold. A sensitivity analysis shows that the choice of meteorological data sets used for simulating renewable production affects the choice of locations for PV and wind power plants, but does not significantly change the mix of technologies.     

Geographic aggregation and wind power output variance in Denmark

At modest penetration, wind power merely substitutes electricity generated typically at thermal power plants. In this case, wind power only provides economic benefits in terms of saved marginal fuel and operation and maintenance costs. At higher penetrations, it becomes increasingly important for the energy system to be able to operate without costly reserve capacity awaiting fluctuations in demand or wind power generation. Existing transmission interconnections have mainly been established in order to assist in reducing the reserve capacity of thermal power systems. While indeed relevant in thermal systems, this is typically even more important in renewable energy-based systems, in which fluctuations to a large extent are uncontrollable. This makes interconnected systems an interesting option for integrating electricity produced from such energy sources. Using a Danish example, this article demonstrates how different demand and wind production variations in different geographical areas assist in evening out fluctuations and reducing imbalances in systems with high penetrations of wind power. By exploiting these variations, the needs for reserve capacity and condensing mode power generation are reduced. However, the article also demonstrates that there are limits to what can be gained on this account.     

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%.     

Pre-feasibility study of wind power generation in holyrood, newfoundland

The largest commercial thermal generating plant in Newfoundland is in Holyrood, Conception Bay. It has a generating capacity of 500 MW of electricity. During peak generation (winter months), the plant runs at near capacity with generation reaching as high as 500 MW. In addition to thermal generation about 900 MW is supplied to the grid by a number of hydro plants. This paper presents a pre-feasibility study of 25% of thermal power generation using wind turbines in the Holyrood area. Purpose of supplementing power generation from the thermal plant is to reduce emissions and fuel costs. Simulation results indicate that 16 Enercon's E-66, 2 MW wind turbines if installed near the site will provide a 25% renewable fraction. Supplementing 25% of the generation at Holyrood with wind power will reduce the cost of energy by CA$0.013/kWh. It will also reduce carbon emissions by almost 200,000 tons/year. This study indicates that a wind farm project at the Holyrood thermal generation station site is feasible.     

Facilitation of renewable electricity using price based appliance control in Ireland’s electricity market

Abstract Ireland’s share of electricity generated from RES-E (renewable energy sources) is due to increase from 14.4% in 2009 to 40% in 2020. With this target predominantly fulfilled with wind generated electricity, the need for increased grid flexibility to facilitate this intermittent energy source is becoming ever more significant. As smart metering becomes available, demand side participation will be one option for achieving this flexibility. Using an immersion heated hot water tank as an example, this paper examines the impact that price optimised load scheduling has on the facilitation of wind generated electricity. To replicate real-world data availability, optimisation is performed using day-ahead predicted prices while the results are calculated using final prices and metered generation data. The results demonstrate a correlation between the day-ahead predicted half-hourly price of electricity and real-time wind availability. This supports the use of price as a means of providing an incentive for load response in order to increase the amount of renewable energy that can be facilitated on the electrical grid. Furthermore, various thermal storage efficiencies were examined for the device to reveal that as the energy loss rate of the device is reduced, the financial savings increase, wind generation increases, and conventional generation decreases.     

Upgrading biogas produced at dairy farms into renewable natural gas by methanation

Renewable natural gas can be produced from raw biogas, a product of the anaerobic decomposition of organic material, by upgrading its CO₂ content (25‐50%) via thermocatalytic hydrogenation (CO₂ methanation). The H₂ needed for this reaction can be generated by water electrolysis powered by carbon emission‐free energy sources such as renewable or nuclear power, or using surplus electricity. Herein, after briefly outlining some aspects of biogas production at dairy farms and highlighting recent developments in the design of methanation systems, a case study on the renewable natural gas generation is presented. The performance of a system for renewable natural gas generation from a 2000‐head dairy farm livestock manure is evaluated and assessed for its economic potential. The project is predicted to generate revenue through the sale of energy and carbon credits with the payback period of 5 years, with a subsidized energy price.     

US electric industry response to carbon constraint: a life-cycle assessment of supply side alternatives

This study explores the boundaries of electric industry fuel switching in response to US carbon constraints. A ternary model quantifies how supply side compliance alternatives would change under increasingly stringent climate policies and continued growth in electricity use. Under the White House Climate Change Initiative, greenhouse gas emissions may increase and little or no change in fuel-mix is necessary. As expected, the more significant carbon reductions proposed under the Kyoto Protocol (1990—7% levels) and Climate Stewardship Act (CSA) (1990 levels) require an increase of some combination of renewable, nuclear, or natural gas generated electricity. The current trend of natural gas power plant construction warrants the investigation of this technology as a sustainable carbon-mitigating measure. A detailed life-cycle assessment shows that significant greenhouse gas emissions occur upstream of the natural gas power plant, primarily during fuel-cycle operations. Accounting for the entire life-cycle increases the base emission rate for combined-cycle natural gas power by 22%. Two carbon-mitigating strategies are tested using life-cycle emission rates developed for US electricity generation. Relying solely on new natural gas plants for CSA compliance would require a 600% increase in natural gas generated electricity and almost complete displacement of coal from the fuel mix. In contrast, a 240% increase in nuclear or renewable resources meets the same target with minimal coal displacement. This study further demonstrates how neglecting life-cycle emissions, in particular those occurring upstream of the natural gas power plant, may cause erroneous assessment of supply side compliance alternatives.