Pub Date : 2023-01-01DOI: 10.5547/2160-5890.12.1.tjam
Tooraj Jamasb, Manuel Llorca, Leonardo Meeus, Tim Schittekatte
In this age of low-cost capital and stimulus packages, is it the best time to heavily invest in tomorrow’s energy networks and research infrastructure? In the academic literature it is widely acknowledged that innovation is key to decarbonise the energy sector and foster sustainable development. However, post liberalisation has been struggling to promote R&D and innovation. Is this the case of business, regulatory, or policy failure, or are there other factors involved? In this paper, we discuss the reasons for slow uptake of new technologies in energy networks and propose some remedies for the European context, where innovation in the area of energy networks is crucial for the implementation of the Green Transition. The solutions to address this shortfall need to be considered in an overarching manner. The specific points raised here are based on incentive regulation, the establishment of competitive funding models like Ofgem’s Low Carbon Network Fund and a large European collaborative research hub.
{"title":"Energy Network Innovation for Green Transition: Economic Issues and Regulatory Options","authors":"Tooraj Jamasb, Manuel Llorca, Leonardo Meeus, Tim Schittekatte","doi":"10.5547/2160-5890.12.1.tjam","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5547/2160-5890.12.1.tjam","url":null,"abstract":"In this age of low-cost capital and stimulus packages, is it the best time to heavily invest in tomorrow’s energy networks and research infrastructure? In the academic literature it is widely acknowledged that innovation is key to decarbonise the energy sector and foster sustainable development. However, post liberalisation has been struggling to promote R&D and innovation. Is this the case of business, regulatory, or policy failure, or are there other factors involved? In this paper, we discuss the reasons for slow uptake of new technologies in energy networks and propose some remedies for the European context, where innovation in the area of energy networks is crucial for the implementation of the Green Transition. The solutions to address this shortfall need to be considered in an overarching manner. The specific points raised here are based on incentive regulation, the establishment of competitive funding models like Ofgem’s Low Carbon Network Fund and a large European collaborative research hub.","PeriodicalId":45808,"journal":{"name":"Economics of Energy & Environmental Policy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135181005","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-01-01DOI: 10.5547/2160-5890.11.1.drit
David Ritter, Christoph Heinemann, D. Bauknecht, Christian Winger, Franziska Flachsbarth
The analysis is based on reviewing the following indicators that are derived from a model-based scenario analysis: CO 2 emissions of electricity generation; regional levels of self-supply with electricity; variable costs of electricity generation; grid congestion and grid expansion needs. The research question is twofold. Firstly, how does the size of decentralised markets affect the indicators mentioned. Secondly, which effects on these indicators can be observed if only power plants of a certain size or technology are allowed to take part in the decentralised markets.The analysis focuses on a system perspective and does not include effects on individual market players. In addition, it focuses on the electricity system with only some interactions with the heating or mobility sectors. The modelling work looks at the effects within the boundaries of a predefined scenario and for two scenario years. Dynamic effects such as a possible effect of decentralised markets on the overall deployment of RES-E technologies or storage systems is therefore not part of the analysis. The results are valid for the German electricity system and cannot necessarily be transferred to other countries or electricity systems with e.g. a weaker electricity grid or less interconnection to neighbouring countries.
{"title":"Model-Based Evaluation of Decentralised Electricity Markets at Different Phases of the German Energy Transition","authors":"David Ritter, Christoph Heinemann, D. Bauknecht, Christian Winger, Franziska Flachsbarth","doi":"10.5547/2160-5890.11.1.drit","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5547/2160-5890.11.1.drit","url":null,"abstract":"The analysis is based on reviewing the following indicators that are derived from a model-based scenario analysis: CO 2 emissions of electricity generation; regional levels of self-supply with electricity; variable costs of electricity generation; grid congestion and grid expansion needs. The research question is twofold. Firstly, how does the size of decentralised markets affect the indicators mentioned. Secondly, which effects on these indicators can be observed if only power plants of a certain size or technology are allowed to take part in the decentralised markets.The analysis focuses on a system perspective and does not include effects on individual market players. In addition, it focuses on the electricity system with only some interactions with the heating or mobility sectors. The modelling work looks at the effects within the boundaries of a predefined scenario and for two scenario years. Dynamic effects such as a possible effect of decentralised markets on the overall deployment of RES-E technologies or storage systems is therefore not part of the analysis. The results are valid for the German electricity system and cannot necessarily be transferred to other countries or electricity systems with e.g. a weaker electricity grid or less interconnection to neighbouring countries.","PeriodicalId":45808,"journal":{"name":"Economics of Energy & Environmental Policy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41578580","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-01-01DOI: 10.5547/2160-5890.11.1.rdum
Raluca Dumitrescu, Alexandra Lüth, Jens Weibezahn, S. Groh
Between 2010 and 2019, the population without access to electricity decreased from 1.2 billion to 759 million. Electricity access can be provided in two ways: either through top-down, centralized electrification via national grid extension or bottom-up, decentralized through decentralized renewable energy solutions (DREs), that is, standalone solar systems, mini grids, and swarm grids. The IEA estimates that the number of people connected to DREs between 2010 and 2019 more than doubled, reaching 11 million people, while GOGLA et al. calculate that by 2019, 105 million people had access to off-grid solar systems (lanterns and solar home systems). To achieve the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal 7 in a bottom-up dominated approach, Tilleard et al. estimate that in Africa alone, by 2030, more than 290 million people could be connected to mini grids (this translates to more than 4,000 mini grids). DREs represent the most economically viable option for servicing the part of the population that is too remote or for which the national grid extension is too expensive. Advancing the top-down electrification process, countries of the Global South, with support of international aid and development funding, are accelerating their national grid expansion. As the national grid reaches their customers, the private sector (DRE companies) is put at danger of having to either relocate their assets or abandon them. At the same time, the DRE end-user, reached by the national grid, faces several challenges due to being exposed to a double infrastructure. The challenges can be of technical and financial nature caused by assets that are becoming abundant or need additional equipment to be suitable for national grid and DREs.
{"title":"Prosumer Empowerment through Community Power Purchase Agreements: A Market Design for Swarm Grids","authors":"Raluca Dumitrescu, Alexandra Lüth, Jens Weibezahn, S. Groh","doi":"10.5547/2160-5890.11.1.rdum","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5547/2160-5890.11.1.rdum","url":null,"abstract":"Between 2010 and 2019, the population without access to electricity decreased from 1.2 billion to 759 million. Electricity access can be provided in two ways: either through top-down, centralized electrification via national grid extension or bottom-up, decentralized through decentralized renewable energy solutions (DREs), that is, standalone solar systems, mini grids, and swarm grids. The IEA estimates that the number of people connected to DREs between 2010 and 2019 more than doubled, reaching 11 million people, while GOGLA et al. calculate that by 2019, 105 million people had access to off-grid solar systems (lanterns and solar home systems). To achieve the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal 7 in a bottom-up dominated approach, Tilleard et al. estimate that in Africa alone, by 2030, more than 290 million people could be connected to mini grids (this translates to more than 4,000 mini grids). DREs represent the most economically viable option for servicing the part of the population that is too remote or for which the national grid extension is too expensive. Advancing the top-down electrification process, countries of the Global South, with support of international aid and development funding, are accelerating their national grid expansion. As the national grid reaches their customers, the private sector (DRE companies) is put at danger of having to either relocate their assets or abandon them. At the same time, the DRE end-user, reached by the national grid, faces several challenges due to being exposed to a double infrastructure. The challenges can be of technical and financial nature caused by assets that are becoming abundant or need additional equipment to be suitable for national grid and DREs.","PeriodicalId":45808,"journal":{"name":"Economics of Energy & Environmental Policy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46465416","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-01-01DOI: 10.5547/2160-5890.11.2.fmar
Fernando-David Martín-Utrilla, José Pablo Chaves-Ávila, R. Cossent
{"title":"Decision Framework for Selecting Flexibility Mechanisms in Distribution Grids","authors":"Fernando-David Martín-Utrilla, José Pablo Chaves-Ávila, R. Cossent","doi":"10.5547/2160-5890.11.2.fmar","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5547/2160-5890.11.2.fmar","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45808,"journal":{"name":"Economics of Energy & Environmental Policy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"70999518","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-01-01DOI: 10.5547/2160-5890.11.1.sgro
S. Groh, Eshrat Waris, Annette Werth, Christian Zürpel
To be able to provide growing populations with access to affordable, reliable and clean energy in a manner that satisfies requirements based on all three dimensions, economic, environmental, and socially equitable, current business models need to be overhauled and be in synch with government policy and operations. In order to reach universal energy access by 2030, as defined in the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7, we need integrated electrification pathways, where grid extension and distributed energy can work hand-in-hand. Grid expansion must not act as a counterweight to the wider adoption of clean distributed electrification solutions. Moreover, in the race toward achieving SDG 7, the world needs to build approximately 50 new microgrids per day. This stands in stark contrast to the present average rate of only one microgrid per day. Bangladesh is home to the world’s largest Solar Home System (SHS) market. Since 2003 local partner organizations have deployed over 4.3 million SHSs through a soft-financing program provided by the government’s Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL). People living in energy poverty can be trapped in an (energy) poverty penalty that implies adverse effects for their development opportunities. This research’s implementation partner, SOLshare, is a Bangladesh-based social enterprise that is leveraging existing distributed energy infrastructure to allow households and small firms to trade their surplus energy with SHS owners and non-owners through a local smart microgrid. The peer-topeer trading network combined with mobile money-enabled pay-as-you-go billing provides customers with more reliable energy and allows them to generate a direct income from electricity sales. Solar microgrids enabling peer-to-peer energy exchange among off-grid households are poised to contribute to electrifying rural areas in the Global South. The trading price currently does not vary dynamically, and the company takes a fee on each transaction by establishing a sell price that is relatively lower than the buy price. These local trading platforms offer a unique opportunity to study the gains from trade for both consumers and “prosumers” (i.e. customers with SHSs that consume and sell the electricity they generate). Measuring willingness to pay will facilitate the estimation of demand elasticities and consumer surplus, which can thereby inform pricing and guide the design of subsidies, as well as improved business models, a necessary requirement for a much larger uptake of microgrid deployment across the globe.
{"title":"Analytics on Pricing Signals in Peer-to-Peer Solar Microgrids in Bangladesh","authors":"S. Groh, Eshrat Waris, Annette Werth, Christian Zürpel","doi":"10.5547/2160-5890.11.1.sgro","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5547/2160-5890.11.1.sgro","url":null,"abstract":"To be able to provide growing populations with access to affordable, reliable and clean energy in a manner that satisfies requirements based on all three dimensions, economic, environmental, and socially equitable, current business models need to be overhauled and be in synch with government policy and operations. In order to reach universal energy access by 2030, as defined in the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7, we need integrated electrification pathways, where grid extension and distributed energy can work hand-in-hand. Grid expansion must not act as a counterweight to the wider adoption of clean distributed electrification solutions. Moreover, in the race toward achieving SDG 7, the world needs to build approximately 50 new microgrids per day. This stands in stark contrast to the present average rate of only one microgrid per day. Bangladesh is home to the world’s largest Solar Home System (SHS) market. Since 2003 local partner organizations have deployed over 4.3 million SHSs through a soft-financing program provided by the government’s Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL). People living in energy poverty can be trapped in an (energy) poverty penalty that implies adverse effects for their development opportunities. This research’s implementation partner, SOLshare, is a Bangladesh-based social enterprise that is leveraging existing distributed energy infrastructure to allow households and small firms to trade their surplus energy with SHS owners and non-owners through a local smart microgrid. The peer-topeer trading network combined with mobile money-enabled pay-as-you-go billing provides customers with more reliable energy and allows them to generate a direct income from electricity sales. Solar microgrids enabling peer-to-peer energy exchange among off-grid households are poised to contribute to electrifying rural areas in the Global South. The trading price currently does not vary dynamically, and the company takes a fee on each transaction by establishing a sell price that is relatively lower than the buy price. These local trading platforms offer a unique opportunity to study the gains from trade for both consumers and “prosumers” (i.e. customers with SHSs that consume and sell the electricity they generate). Measuring willingness to pay will facilitate the estimation of demand elasticities and consumer surplus, which can thereby inform pricing and guide the design of subsidies, as well as improved business models, a necessary requirement for a much larger uptake of microgrid deployment across the globe.","PeriodicalId":45808,"journal":{"name":"Economics of Energy & Environmental Policy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48037259","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-01-01DOI: 10.5547/2160-5890.11.1.mfuj
Mieko Fujisawa, M. Goto
Achieving a massive reduction of carbon dioxide emissions in the household sector requires consumers being made aware of the underlying issue. In other words, if consumers update their energy-saving awareness and related behaviors, the energy-efficiency effect can be expected to endure. The Japanese government has addressed the issue of improving the thermal insulation performance of houses through various policy measures. For example, it provides subsidies and tax benefits directly to those consumers who consider a high level of insulation performance when they build their homes. This study investigates one such subsidy, the housing eco-points system, which has been in place in Japan since 2010, by focusing on its indirect effects. “Eco-points” is a Japanese–English term that combines ecological (eco) and reward (points) aspects. The basic premise of this study is that the subsidy not only directly affects the functionality of houses in terms of improving their insulation performance, but also indirectly affects consumers’ behaviors by improving their energy conservation awareness. This study thus analyzes the indirect effects of the housing eco-point system in Japan. To this end, it covers the introduction of the system from 2010 to 2012, which allows to accurately measure its newly generated indirect effects. We develop and examine three hypotheses related to the indirect effects of energy-saving consciousness: (1) consumers exposed to the learning effects would become more conscious about energy conservation (H1); (2) a subsidy system based on self-declaration enhances consumers’ energy-saving consciousness (H2); and (3) consumers living in existing houses develop greater awareness about energy saving than those living in new houses once they realize the benefits of performance improvement after insulation repairs (H3).
{"title":"Impact of Japanese House Insulation Subsidy System on Home Owners' Energy-Saving Awareness","authors":"Mieko Fujisawa, M. Goto","doi":"10.5547/2160-5890.11.1.mfuj","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5547/2160-5890.11.1.mfuj","url":null,"abstract":"Achieving a massive reduction of carbon dioxide emissions in the household sector requires consumers being made aware of the underlying issue. In other words, if consumers update their energy-saving awareness and related behaviors, the energy-efficiency effect can be expected to endure. The Japanese government has addressed the issue of improving the thermal insulation performance of houses through various policy measures. For example, it provides subsidies and tax benefits directly to those consumers who consider a high level of insulation performance when they build their homes. This study investigates one such subsidy, the housing eco-points system, which has been in place in Japan since 2010, by focusing on its indirect effects. “Eco-points” is a Japanese–English term that combines ecological (eco) and reward (points) aspects. The basic premise of this study is that the subsidy not only directly affects the functionality of houses in terms of improving their insulation performance, but also indirectly affects consumers’ behaviors by improving their energy conservation awareness. This study thus analyzes the indirect effects of the housing eco-point system in Japan. To this end, it covers the introduction of the system from 2010 to 2012, which allows to accurately measure its newly generated indirect effects. We develop and examine three hypotheses related to the indirect effects of energy-saving consciousness: (1) consumers exposed to the learning effects would become more conscious about energy conservation (H1); (2) a subsidy system based on self-declaration enhances consumers’ energy-saving consciousness (H2); and (3) consumers living in existing houses develop greater awareness about energy saving than those living in new houses once they realize the benefits of performance improvement after insulation repairs (H3).","PeriodicalId":45808,"journal":{"name":"Economics of Energy & Environmental Policy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45088691","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-01-01DOI: 10.5547/2160-5890.11.1.spel
Setu Pelz, Elina Brutschin, S. Pachauri
Rural electrification is a means to improving the socio-economic conditions and living standards of those living in rural areas. Yet, as global rural electrification efforts accelerate under the Sustainable Development Goals 7 (SDG 7), most policies and programs continue to solely target and be evaluated on extending connections, with mixed results. Despite increasing efforts to improve access to modern energy services in rural areas, progress is lagging and, in some cases, falling behind population growth. In fact, recent research suggests that even while new connections maybe provided, household access to essential energy services will still be very unequal even by 2030 without additional efforts. The few studies that have assessed recent cross country and within country variation in rural electrification performance using econometric techniques find this is linked with political systems, indicators such as corruption and government effectiveness and the institutional environment. As we approach the 2030 mark set under the UN SDGs, the IEA continues to project a severe deficit under the current policy scenario. More work must be done to understand drivers of rural electrification successes and transfer these lessons to countries where the deficit prevails despite ongoing efforts. Conceptual developments in energy access and energy poverty measurement encourage us to look beyond connection-based indicators towards improvement across distinct multi-dimensional supply attributes linked with energy services. Indeed, past work has shown that connection-based indicators fail to capture inequities in supply reliability, affordability and use. Moreover, there is very little precedent for linking rural electrification efforts with wider socio-economic and environmental impacts that ultimately justify the implementation of these policies. This is not limited to academic discourse, rather, the SDG 7.1 target itself speaks to the provision of reliable and affordable access to modern energy services for all. Further work is necessary to understand the limitations of connections-focused programs and suggest ways forward.
{"title":"Conceptual and Institutional Prerequisites for Guiding Equitable Progress Towards Universal Rural Electrification","authors":"Setu Pelz, Elina Brutschin, S. Pachauri","doi":"10.5547/2160-5890.11.1.spel","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5547/2160-5890.11.1.spel","url":null,"abstract":"Rural electrification is a means to improving the socio-economic conditions and living standards of those living in rural areas. Yet, as global rural electrification efforts accelerate under the Sustainable Development Goals 7 (SDG 7), most policies and programs continue to solely target and be evaluated on extending connections, with mixed results. Despite increasing efforts to improve access to modern energy services in rural areas, progress is lagging and, in some cases, falling behind population growth. In fact, recent research suggests that even while new connections maybe provided, household access to essential energy services will still be very unequal even by 2030 without additional efforts. The few studies that have assessed recent cross country and within country variation in rural electrification performance using econometric techniques find this is linked with political systems, indicators such as corruption and government effectiveness and the institutional environment. As we approach the 2030 mark set under the UN SDGs, the IEA continues to project a severe deficit under the current policy scenario. More work must be done to understand drivers of rural electrification successes and transfer these lessons to countries where the deficit prevails despite ongoing efforts. Conceptual developments in energy access and energy poverty measurement encourage us to look beyond connection-based indicators towards improvement across distinct multi-dimensional supply attributes linked with energy services. Indeed, past work has shown that connection-based indicators fail to capture inequities in supply reliability, affordability and use. Moreover, there is very little precedent for linking rural electrification efforts with wider socio-economic and environmental impacts that ultimately justify the implementation of these policies. This is not limited to academic discourse, rather, the SDG 7.1 target itself speaks to the provision of reliable and affordable access to modern energy services for all. Further work is necessary to understand the limitations of connections-focused programs and suggest ways forward.","PeriodicalId":45808,"journal":{"name":"Economics of Energy & Environmental Policy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48433063","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-01-01DOI: 10.5547/2160-5890.11.1.rtot
Roberto V. Toto
Sub-Saharan Africa has one of the highest population growth projections among major global regions but one of the lowest electrification rates. Only 47% of households access electricity, while the population is expected to double to 2.2 billion within 30 years. Without improvements, this would leave over 1 billion people in the region without electricity. Those countries that do have well-developed electrical grids still often face a second major obstacle: grid reliability. South Africa provides grid electricity to over 90% of residents, but—like many of its regional neighbors—suffers chronic electricity shortages. While households have access, they must live around shortages, which occur regularly and can last for hours. The costs of adjusting can be substantial, especially for low-income households that depend on electricity. Reliable electricity maintains good air quality, helps improve literacy rates, increases free time for household members to devote to leisure and productive activities, and prevents emergency expenditures during a shortage, among many other benefits. With each hour of outage, these benefits slip away. Distributed energy resources, or DERs, (e.g., solar panels and batteries) offer households a solution by providing off-grid electricity resources to temporarily bridge the gap in electricity supply during a grid shortage. Off-grid electricity resources have already grown rapidly as a cost-effective solution to electricity access and reliability in the Sub-Saharan region, and more growth is needed to help keep supply at pace with future population growth. More research is needed to understand the benefits of off-grid technologies and how to deploy them to households in an affordable and scalable way.
{"title":"Residential Welfare-Loss from Electricity Supply Interruptions in South Africa: Cost-Benefit Analysis of Distributed Energy Resource Subsidy Programs","authors":"Roberto V. Toto","doi":"10.5547/2160-5890.11.1.rtot","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5547/2160-5890.11.1.rtot","url":null,"abstract":"Sub-Saharan Africa has one of the highest population growth projections among major global regions but one of the lowest electrification rates. Only 47% of households access electricity, while the population is expected to double to 2.2 billion within 30 years. Without improvements, this would leave over 1 billion people in the region without electricity. Those countries that do have well-developed electrical grids still often face a second major obstacle: grid reliability. South Africa provides grid electricity to over 90% of residents, but—like many of its regional neighbors—suffers chronic electricity shortages. While households have access, they must live around shortages, which occur regularly and can last for hours. The costs of adjusting can be substantial, especially for low-income households that depend on electricity. Reliable electricity maintains good air quality, helps improve literacy rates, increases free time for household members to devote to leisure and productive activities, and prevents emergency expenditures during a shortage, among many other benefits. With each hour of outage, these benefits slip away. Distributed energy resources, or DERs, (e.g., solar panels and batteries) offer households a solution by providing off-grid electricity resources to temporarily bridge the gap in electricity supply during a grid shortage. Off-grid electricity resources have already grown rapidly as a cost-effective solution to electricity access and reliability in the Sub-Saharan region, and more growth is needed to help keep supply at pace with future population growth. More research is needed to understand the benefits of off-grid technologies and how to deploy them to households in an affordable and scalable way.","PeriodicalId":45808,"journal":{"name":"Economics of Energy & Environmental Policy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42610966","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-01-01DOI: 10.5547/2160-5890.11.1.scho
Shahriar Ahmed Chowdhury, S. Aziz, Muhammad Bellal Hossan
Electricity production in Bangladesh is based primarily on fossil fuels, which leads to one of the highest levels of subsidies in the world. These subsidies arise from the supply of subsidized fuels to the plants, but also to support plants which operate at a loss from selling electricity at a tariff lower than the cost of production. The cost of production depends on the fuel cost, the fixed costs and the variable O&M costs. The loss occurs more frequently in peaking power plants, which do not operate at high plant factors, but must be given capacity payments in order to compensate the plant owners for their capital investments. This inefficiency became particularly evident during the Covid 19 pandemic, where subsidy payments to the power sector broke all records, while electricity demand plummeted. Capacity payments for idle plants take up a third of the budget allocated to the entire power and energy sector. Bangladesh is planning to implement an energy transition plan, by cutting down inefficiency in the power sector, while increasing the share of renewable energy in electricity production. However, the cost of renewable electricity is not perceived to be competitive with the average cost of fossil fuel electricity, and this point is highlighted by the traditional fossil fuel industry to downplay the potential of renewable electricity solutions. In this research we aim to highlight how the average cost of fossil fuel electricity does not represent the wide variation in the profitability of individual fossil fuel plants, and that many such plants have generation costs that far exceed the current cost of solar PV even combined with storage. We take the annual generation and cost data of the thermal power plant fleet of Bangladesh, including 30 baseload plants and 91 peaking plants, for the financial year 2019-2020. Using a two stage approach of Data Envelopment Analysis and Tobit regression, the study aims to investigate and compare the pattern of cost efficiencies among the thermal power plants of Bangladesh, and identify the main causes of loss, which make subsidization necessary. It takes into account the three main cost components of plants, and analyzes which costs are responsible for the cost inefficincies.
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Pub Date : 2022-01-01DOI: 10.5547/2160-5890.11.1.nsal
Naila Saleh, P. Upham
solar prosumage and exploring the key barriers and challenges in the existing socio-technical regime. The paper draws on document analysis; the views of key stakeholders including distributed solar PV adopters; end-users who have not yet adopted solar prosumage; the electricity distribution companies who are primary intermediaries responsible for imple-menting the regulations and connecting the end-users to the grid; commercial banks financing solar PV; and relevant authorities. We identify the obstacles to solar prosumage as including: difficulties in acquiring finance (especially in the case of smaller systems); under-facilitation of net-metering by electricity distribution companies, including an absence of Fee for Service models such as third-party investors; an awareness gap (especially on net-metering facility); and fragmented governance and regulations. We conclude that to succeed in the context of
{"title":"Socio-technical Inertia: Understanding the Barriers to Distributed Generation in Pakistan","authors":"Naila Saleh, P. Upham","doi":"10.5547/2160-5890.11.1.nsal","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5547/2160-5890.11.1.nsal","url":null,"abstract":"solar prosumage and exploring the key barriers and challenges in the existing socio-technical regime. The paper draws on document analysis; the views of key stakeholders including distributed solar PV adopters; end-users who have not yet adopted solar prosumage; the electricity distribution companies who are primary intermediaries responsible for imple-menting the regulations and connecting the end-users to the grid; commercial banks financing solar PV; and relevant authorities. We identify the obstacles to solar prosumage as including: difficulties in acquiring finance (especially in the case of smaller systems); under-facilitation of net-metering by electricity distribution companies, including an absence of Fee for Service models such as third-party investors; an awareness gap (especially on net-metering facility); and fragmented governance and regulations. We conclude that to succeed in the context of","PeriodicalId":45808,"journal":{"name":"Economics of Energy & Environmental Policy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42318723","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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