System effects of intermittent renewable energies : measurement and internalisation

Abstract

Seminar January 31, 2013, 17h00 – 20h00, (reception open from 16h30), Salle Raymond Aron, University Paris-Dauphine (2nd floor)

Wind and solar, the principal sources of renewable energy, have successfully imposed themselves on a large scale in European electricity markets. Without emissions, calling only on the forces of nature, they are favored by public opinion and have become an indispensable element in the argumentation of politicians and large industrial companies. Behind this too easy unanimity a certain number of questions emerge. First of all, the current renewables installations have all, without exception, been purchased using subsidies that are financed by electricity consumers. Today, a German household pays 53 Euros per Mwh of renewables subsidies, which translates to an approximate doubling of the wholesale price of electricity.

Less well-known but just as important are the supplementary systems effects of wind and photovoltaic solar energies. Strongly dependant on their localization and meteorological conditions, they impose a heavy surcharge on the electrical system: massive additional investment in transportation and distribution networks, higher costs for system balancing due to the intermittence and unpredictability as well as the financing of reserve capacity.

With their very low variable costs, renewable energies impose themselves on the electricity market by lowering prices and reducing the operating hours of conventional energies (nuclear, coal, gas). The later-mentioned sources have a tendency today to withdraw from the market or to push-out new investments. Yet, they remain indispensable when the wind is not blowing or the sun not shining…. which poses the question of supplementary financing to insure their commercial sustainability.

Three international studies took the novel theme of systems effects head-on and present their results at a conference at University Paris-Dauphine with will launch this important theme within the structure of the debate on energy transition.