Wind energy development policy and prospects in Lithuania

According to the EU Directive 2001/77/EC 7% of all electricity production is to be generated from renewable energy sources (RES) in Lithuania in 2010. Electricity production from RES is determined by hydro, biomass and wind energy resources in Lithuania. Further development of hydro power plants is limited by environmental restrictions, therefore priority is given to wind energy development. The aim of this paper is to show estimation of the maximum wind power penetration in the Lithuanian electricity system using such criteria as wind potential, possibilities of the existing electricity network, possible environmental impact, and social and economical aspects. Generalization of data from the meteorological stations and special measurements shows that the highest average wind speed in Lithuanian territory is in the coastal region and at 50 m above ground level reaches 6.4 m/s. In regard to wind resource distribution in this region, arrangement of electricity grid and environment protection requirements, six zones have been determined for wind power plant construction. Calculations have shown that the largest total installed capacity of wind farms, which could cause no significant increase in power transmission expenses, is 170 MW. The threshold, which cannot be passed without capital reconstruction of electricity network, is 500 MW of total capacity of wind farms.     

Trends of distributed generation development in Lithuania

The closure of Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant, impact of recent global recession of the economy, as well as changes and problems posed by the global climate change require significant alterations in the Lithuanian energy sector development. This paper describes the current status and specific features of the Lithuanian power system, and in particular discusses the role of the distributed generators. Country's energy policy during last two decades was focused on substantial modernisation of the energy systems, their reorganisation and creation of appropriate institutional structure and necessary legal basis. The most important factors stimulating development of distributed generation in Lithuania are the following: international obligations to increase contribution of power plants using renewable energy sources into electricity production balance; development of small (with capacity less than 50 MW) cogeneration power plants; implementation of energy policy directed to promotion of renewable energy sources and cogeneration. Analysis of the legal and economic environment, as well as principles of regulation of distributed generation and barriers to its development is presented.     

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.     

Wind electricity in Greece: recent developments, problems and prospects

Electricity generation from renewable energy sources (RES) in Greece is regulated by the energy law 2244/94 which provides incentives to attract private investments in the RES sector. The wind energy sector is highly attractive due to the verified large wind potential in many regions of the country. This paper presents the current situation concerning wind energy exploitation, analyses the technical problems following the penetration of wind power into electricity grids, and the consequent technical solutions proposed by the Public Power Corporation (PPC). It also describes the perspectives for high wind power penetration into Greek power system.     

Representation of variable renewable energy sources in TIMER,an aggregated energy system simulation model

The power system is expected to play an important role in climate change mitigation. Variable renewable energy (VRE) sources, such as wind and solar power, are currently showing rapid growth rates in power systems worldwide, and could also be important in future mitigation strategies. It is therefore important that the electricity sector and the integration of VRE are correctly represented in energy models. This paper presents an improved methodology for representing the electricity sector in the long-term energy simulation model TIMER using a heuristic approach to find cost optimal paths given system requirements and scenario assumptions. Regional residual load duration curves have been included to simulate curtailments, storage use, backup requirements and system load factor decline as the VRE share increases. The results show that for the USA and Western Europe at lower VRE penetration levels, backup costs form the major VRE cost markup. When solar power supplies more than 30% of the electricity demand, the costs of storage and energy curtailments become increasingly important. Storage and curtailments have less influence on wind power cost markups in these regions, as wind power supply is better correlated with electricity demand. Mitigation scenarios show an increasing VRE share in the electricity mix implying also increasing contribution of VRE for peak and mid load capacity. In the current scenarios, this can be achieved by at the same time installing less capital intensive gas fired power plants. Sensitivity analysis showed that greenhouse gas emissions from the electricity sector in the updated model are particularly sensitive to the availability of carbon capture and storage (CCS) and nuclear power and the costs of VRE.     

Sustainable electricity generation fuel mix analysis using an integration of multicriteria decision-making and system dynamic approach

To achieve a national energy access target of 90% urban and 51% rural by 2035, combat climate change, and diversify the energy sector in the country, the Zambian government is planning to integrate other renewable energy resources (RESs) such as wind, solar, biomass, and geothermal into the existing hydro generation–based power system. However, to achieve such targets, it is essential for the government to identify suitable combination of the RESs (electricity generation fuel mix) that can provide the greatest sustainability benefit to the country. In this paper, a multicriteria decision-making framework based on analytic hierarchy process and system dynamics techniques is proposed to evaluate and identify the best electricity generation fuel mix for Zambia. The renewable energy generation technologies considered include wind, solar photovoltaic, biomass, and hydropower. The criteria used are categorized as technical, economic, environmental, social, and political. The proposed approach was applied to rank the electricity generation fuel mix based on nine sustainability aspects: land use, CO₂ emissions, job creation, policy promotion affordability, subsidy cost, air pollution reduction, RES electricity production, RES cumulative capacity, and RES initial capital cost. The results indicate that based on availability of RESs and sustainability aspects, in overall, the best future electricity generation mix option for Zambia is scenario with higher hydropower (40%) penetration, wind (30%), solar (20%), and lower biomass (10%) penetration in the overall electricity generation fuel mix, which is mainly due to environmental issues and availability of primary energy resources. The results further indicate that solar ranks first in most of the scenarios even after the penetration weights of RES are adjusted in the sensitivity analysis. The wind was ranked second in most of the scenarios followed by hydropower and last was biomass. These developed electricity generation fuel mix pathways would enable the country meeting the future electricity generation needs target at minimized environmental and social impacts by 2035. Therefore, this study is essential to assist in policy and decision making including planning at strategic level for sustainable energy diversification.     

Role of hydrogen in future North European power system in 2060

The Balmorel model has been used to calculate the economic optimal energy system configuration for the Scandinavian countries and Germany in 2060 assuming a nearly 100% coverage of the energy demands in the power, heat and transport sector with renewable energy sources. Different assumptions about the future success of fuel cell technologies have been investigated as well as different electricity and heat demand assumptions. The variability of wind power production was handled by varying the hydropower production and the production on CHP plants using biomass, by power transmission, by varying the heat production in heat pumps and electric heat boilers, and by varying the production of hydrogen in electrolysis plants in combination with hydrogen storage. Investment in hydrogen storage capacity corresponded to 1.2% of annual wind power production in the scenarios without a hydrogen demand from the transport sector, and approximately 4% in the scenarios with a hydrogen demand from the transport sector. Even the scenarios without a demand for hydrogen from the transport sector saw investments in hydrogen storage due to the need for flexibility provided by the ability to store hydrogen. The storage capacities of the electricity storages provided by plug-in hybrid electric vehicles were too small to make hydrogen storage superfluous.     

The renewable energy potential of Norway and strategies for its development

Electricity generated in hydro power stations provide 55 % of the energy used in Norway. The paper focuses on strategies to make electricity from renewable sources available for export. Depending on energy prices, it is concluded that an export of the order of 80 TWh/year of electricity is possible. This can be obtained by energy conservation and by the use of biomass energy for heating purposes, to replace both oil and much of the electricity used as resistance heating. Development of the remaining hydro power system may provide more than 40 TWh/year of electric power. Norway also has large areas suitable for the development of wind power. The hydro power system will easily even out the fluctuations in the available wind energy. Operation of the two sources in parallel is shown to give a synergy effect due to opposite phases in the annual cycles. Wave energy and the dynamics of technology development in general are briefly discussed. The environmental effects of the development in Norway are found to be acceptable, assuming that the exported energy is used to replace electricity generated in coal fired plants. Political challenges to make such a development possible are briefly discussed.     

Are government policies effective in promoting deployment of renewable electricity resources?

Using a panel data over 50 US states and years 1991–2007, this paper uses a state fixed-effects model with state-specific time-trends to estimate the effects of state policies on the penetration of various emerging renewable electricity sources, including wind, biomass, geothermal, and solar photovoltaic. Renewable portfolio standards with either capacity or sales requirements have a significant impact on the penetration of all types of renewables—however, this impact is variable depending on the type of renewable source: it is negative for combined renewables, wind, and biomass; and positive for geothermal and solar. Further, clean energy funds and required green power options mostly result in increasing the penetration of all types of renewables. On the other hand, voluntary renewable portfolio standards as well as state green power purchasing programs are found to be ineffective in increasing the penetration of any type of renewable source. Finally, economic variables, such as electricity price, natural gas price, and per capita GDP as well as structural variables, such as league of conservation voters rating and the share of coal-generated electricity are found to be generally insignificant, suggesting the crucial role of policy in increasing the penetration of renewables.     

Turkey's Renewable Energy Facilities in the Near Future

In this work, renewable energy facilities of Turkey were investigated. Electricity is mainly produced by thermal power plants, consuming coal, lignite, natural gas, fuel oil and geothermal energy, and hydro power plants in Turkey. Turkey has no large oil and gas reserves. The main indigenous energy resources are lignite, hydro and biomass. Turkey has to adopt new, long-term energy strategies to reduce the share of fossil fuels in primary energy consumption. For these reasons, the development and use of renewable energy sources and technologies are increasingly becoming vital for sustainable economic development of Turkey. The most significant developments in renewable production are observed hydropower and geothermal energy production. Renewable electricity facilities mainly include electricity from biomass, hydropower, geothermal, and wind and solar energy sources. Biomass cogeneration is a promising method for production bioelectricity.     

电力部门要承担起发展清洁能源的重任

我国"十二五"期间要实现能源结构调整和电力发展方式的转变,大力发展清洁能源。应当说,新能源、可再生能源、非化石能源和新兴能源都是清洁能源,它包括洁净煤、天然气(含煤层气、页岩气、致密砂岩气等)、核电、水电、风能、太阳能、生物质能等。由于清洁能源大部分需要通过电力来实现,所以在清洁能源发展中电力部门必然是主力军。电力部门一是要研究开发清洁能源新技术,把清洁能源转变成安全、稳定、经济的电力;二是要使清洁能源生产出来的电力能为广大用户所接受。只有达到这两个条件,由清洁能源转变而来的电力才能提高其在电力总供应量中的比重。在IEA和BP的世界一次能源统计中,中国"非化石能源+天然气"的比重都非常低,均不到20%。统计数据反映出的中国能源结构的突出问题是煤炭比例太高,石油、天然气、核电比例太低。因此,与发达国家不同,中国改善能源结构、发展清洁能源的重点应该是主攻洁净煤技术(包括CCS),同时加快发展天然气、核能和水电。     

Wind energy,electricity, and hydrogen in the Netherlands

The curbing of greenhouse gases (GHG) is an important issue on the international political agenda. The substitution of fossil fuels by renewable energy sources is an often-advocated mitigation strategy. Wind energy is a potential renewable energy source. However, wind energy is not reliable since its electricity production depends on variable weather conditions. High wind energy penetration rates lead to losses due to power plant operation adjustments to wind energy. This research identifies the potential energetic benefits of integrated hydrogen production in electricity systems with high wind energy penetration. This research concludes that the use of system losses for hydrogen production via electrolysis is beneficial in situations with ca. 8 GW or more wind energy capacity in the Netherlands. The 2020 Dutch policy goal of 6 GW will not benefit from hydrogen production in terms of systems efficiency. An ancillary beneficial effect of coupling hydrogen production with wind energy is to relieve the high-voltage grid.     

Promotional policy and perspectives of usage renewable energy in Lithuania

The article outlines renewable energy (RE) sources according to the energy efficiency policy in Lithuania as well as practical experience of implementation of RE projects within the framework of the government policy to promote RES use due to the requirement of the European Union. The main goal of the country is to reduce the import of fossil fuel, to improve environment conditions and to reduce the climate change impact. Analysis of implemented RE projects and forecasts for the future projects are also presented. Most of the efforts in Lithuania were aimed at drafting the biomass (wood chips, wood waste, straw, biogas) and small hydro projects and their subsequent implementation. At present the total capacity of wood-chip-fuelled boilers reached above 251 MW. No serious obstacles can be seen for the extension of wood fuel use. At present, new demonstrational projects have been started covering geothermal energy, solar energy, biogas, biofuels for transport and other. In this time, the RE sources comprise 7.69% of national energy balance. Taking into account feasible resources of RE (it is more than 19.85 TWh/year) and the ongoing implementation of projects it is clear that the share of RE sources will constitute 12–13% of national energy balance in 2010 year. The main factor limiting further growth is high investment costs. The electricity production from local and RE sources in Lithuania is mainly based on hydro energy. At this time the wind energy is not used for this purpose. The electricity production from local and renewable energy sources is about 3.22% of the total consumption.     

Strategies for optimal penetration of intermittent renewables in complex energy systems based on techno-operational objectives

Renewable energy sources (RES) are mainly used in the electrical sector. Electricity is not a storable commodity. Hence it is necessary to produce the requested quantity and distribute it through the system in such a way as to ensure that electricity supply and demand are always evenly balanced. This constraint is actually the main problem related to the penetration of new renewables (wind and photovoltaic power) in the context of complex energy systems. Moreover the design of optimal energy resource mixes in climate change mitigation actions is a challenge faced in many places.The paper analyzes the problem of new renewable energy sources penetration. The case of Italian scenario is considered as a meaningful reference due to the characteristic size and the complexity of the same.The various energy scenarios are evaluated with the aid of a multipurpose software taking into account the interconnections between the different energetic uses. In particular it is shown how the penetration of new renewable energy sources is limited at an upper level by technological considerations and it will be more sustainable if an integration of the various energy uses (thermal, mobility and electrical) will be considered. A series of optimized scenarios are developed. In each case the maximum RES penetration feasible with the constraints was defined. Then analysis is applied to an energy system model of Italy showing how an integrated development of CHP and electric mobility can aid a further integration of wind and photovoltaic energy power. Finally the primary energy consumption saving possible in case of consistent penetration of intermittent renewables and CHP was identified.     

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.     

Hydropower for sustainable water and energy development

Turkey has a total gross hydropower potential of 433 GWh/year, but only 125 GWh/year of the total hydroelectric potential of Turkey can be economically used. By the commissioning of new hydropower plants, which are under construction, 36% of the economically usable potential of the country would be tapped. Turkey presently has considerable renewable energy sources. The most important renewable sources are hydropower, biomass, geothermal, solar and wind. Turkey's geographical location has several advantages for extensive use of most of these renewable energy sources. Over the last two decades, global electricity production has more than doubled and electricity demand is rising rapidly around the world as economic development spreads to emerging economies. Not only has electricity demand increased significantly, it is the fastest growing end-use of energy. Therefore, technical, economic and environmental benefits of hydroelectric power make it an important contributor to the future world energy mix, particularly in the developing countries.     

对我国风电发展战略的冷思考

我国风电发展迅速,计划2010年风电装机容量要达到3500×10^4kW,2020年达到1.5×10^8kW。据IEA预测,2030年世界能源供应仍以化石能源为主,其比重由2006年的80.8%下降到80.4%;2030年世界发电能源结构也以化石能源发电为主,其比重由2006年的74%下降到73%。中国到21世纪中叶传统化石能源仍将居绝对优势地位。因此在可再生能源和新能源的开发过程中,不要急于求成,片面追求能源和电源结构优化不可取。我国未来要依靠核电和新能源发电,但需要通过对其技术经济的进一步研究,才能确定主要靠核电还是风电、太阳能发电或生物质能发电。目前我国风电发展的主要问题是对风电的技术要求起点低,技术路线不对,从国外引进了落后的风电技术。为了我国风电的健康发展,必须加快风电合理利用的研究,包括风电储能和风电直接利用的研究。     

我国可再生能源发展对策

可再生能源的开发利用是应对气候变化和满足能源需求持续增长的最现实的举措。2009年我国风电和太阳能光伏发电保持了快速发展势头,其中风电装机容量估计达到约2200×104kW,但非化石能源消费量在能源消费总量中所占的比重仍然很低。2009年,我国能源消费总量约为31×108t标煤,其中水电、核电、风电等商品化非化石能源消费量约为2.3×108t标煤,约占能源消费总量的7.4%。要完成到2020年我国非化石能源在能源消费总量中所占比例达到15%的目标,任务非常艰巨。加快开发利用可再生能源是能源发展的重要任务之一,到2020年,可再生能源开发利用总量将在2008年的基础上增加2倍以上。我国目前和今后10多年时间内,可再生能源发展的重点是水电、风电、太阳能和生物质能。加快发展我国可再生能源的举措有:①继续做好水电建设工作,促进水电持续健康发展;②有序推进风电的规模化发展,显著提高风电在电力结构中的比重;③加快推广太阳能利用技术,扩大太阳能开发利用规模;④因地制宜开发利用生物质能,提高生物质能利用的现代技术水平。     

Review of Japan's power generation scenarios in light of the Fukushima nuclear accident

Following on from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident, the Japanese government is now in the throes of reviewing its power policy. Under continuing policies of economic revival and greenhouse gas reduction, it is crucial to consider scenarios for the country to realize reliable, low‐carbon, and economic electricity systems in the future. On the other hand, the social acceptance of nuclear power will affect the final political decision significantly. Therefore, in the present study, proposed power generation scenarios in Japan in light of the Fukushima accident were reviewed comprehensively from economic, environmental, technological, resource, security, and social perspectives. The review concludes that in Japan, (i) renewable energy mainly solar and wind needs to be developed as fast as possible subject to various constraints, (ii) more gas power plants will be used to absorb the fluctuations of intermittent renewable energy and supply electricity gap, (iii) nuclear power will be reduced in the future, but a 0% nuclear power scenario by 2030 is unlikely to be a reasonable choice on most measures and (iv) the effective communication with the public is vital important. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.