IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/appene/v358y2024ics030626192301927x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A global analysis of renewable energy project commissioning timelines

Author

Listed:
  • Gumber, Anurag
  • Zana, Riccardo
  • Steffen, Bjarne

Abstract

Many countries are targeting the rapid and deep decarbonization of their energy supply, with renewable energy technologies playing a key role. Despite increased technology maturity and dramatically decreased costs, the deployment momentum of renewables often lags behind ambitious policy commitments. Accordingly, policymakers must accelerate the development of projects to meet decarbonization goals. However, we currently lack a comprehensive understanding of how long projects of renewable energy take to commission, whether projects are executed faster as technologies mature, and which factors affect the timelines – this knowledge gap affects policymakers and energy researchers providing model-based policy advice alike. To fill this gap, we analyzed global commissioning times between 2005 and 2022, drawing on the data for 12,475 projects using solar photovoltaic (PV), wind onshore, wind offshore, biomass, and run-off-river hydro in 48 countries. We found that average commissioning times have increased substantially over the past two decades for all renewable energy technologies of all project sizes. This finding highlights the need to incorporate up-to-date commissioning times in energy models to generate realistic model-based policy advice. In addition, we identified five categories of factors that affect commissioning timelines, conducted cross-sectional analyses with fixed-effect models, and present implications for policymakers, businesses, and researchers.

Suggested Citation

  • Gumber, Anurag & Zana, Riccardo & Steffen, Bjarne, 2024. "A global analysis of renewable energy project commissioning timelines," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 358(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:358:y:2024:i:c:s030626192301927x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2023.122563
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030626192301927X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.apenergy.2023.122563?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mizuno, Emi, 2014. "Overview of wind energy policy and development in Japan," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 999-1018.
    2. Diniz, Bruno Andrade & Szklo, Alexandre & Tolmasquim, Maurício T. & Schaeffer, Roberto, 2023. "Delays in the construction of power plants from electricity auctions in Brazil," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    3. Cousse, Julia, 2021. "Still in love with solar energy? Installation size, affect, and the social acceptance of renewable energy technologies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    4. David L. McCollum & Wenji Zhou & Christoph Bertram & Harmen-Sytze Boer & Valentina Bosetti & Sebastian Busch & Jacques Després & Laurent Drouet & Johannes Emmerling & Marianne Fay & Oliver Fricko & Sh, 2018. "Author Correction: Energy investment needs for fulfilling the Paris Agreement and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 3(8), pages 699-699, August.
    5. Steffen, Bjarne, 2012. "Prospects for pumped-hydro storage in Germany," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 420-429.
    6. Taghizadeh-Hesary, Farhad & Rasoulinezhad, Ehsan & Shahbaz, Muhammad & Vinh Vo, Xuan, 2021. "How energy transition and power consumption are related in Asian economies with different income levels?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 237(C).
    7. Callegari, C. & Szklo, A. & Schaeffer, R., 2018. "Cost overruns and delays in energy megaprojects: How big is big enough?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 211-220.
    8. Kougias, Ioannis & Taylor, Nigel & Kakoulaki, Georgia & Jäger-Waldau, Arnulf, 2021. "The role of photovoltaics for the European Green Deal and the recovery plan," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    9. José Luis Ferreras-Méndez & Oscar Llopis & Joaquín Alegre, 2022. "Speeding up new product development through entrepreneurial orientation in SMEs: The moderating role of ambidexterity," Post-Print hal-03603189, HAL.
    10. Steffen, Bjarne, 2020. "Estimating the cost of capital for renewable energy projects," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    11. Noorollahi, Younes & Ghenaatpisheh Senani, Ali & Fadaei, Ahmad & Simaee, Mobina & Moltames, Rahim, 2022. "A framework for GIS-based site selection and technical potential evaluation of PV solar farm using Fuzzy-Boolean logic and AHP multi-criteria decision-making approach," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 186(C), pages 89-104.
    12. Steffen, Bjarne & Matsuo, Tyeler & Steinemann, Davita & Schmidt, Tobias S., 2018. "Opening new markets for clean energy: The role of project developers in the global diffusion of renewable energy technologies," Business and Politics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(4), pages 553-587, December.
    13. Zaman, Shah & Wang, Zilong & Rasool, Samma Faiz & Zaman, Qamar uz & Raza, Hamid, 2022. "Impact of critical success factors and supportive leadership on sustainable success of renewable energy projects: Empirical evidence from Pakistan," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    14. Mariana Mazzucato & Gregor Semieniuk, 2017. "Public financing of innovation: new questions," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 33(1), pages 24-48.
    15. Florian Egli & Bjarne Steffen & Tobias S. Schmidt, 2018. "A dynamic analysis of financing conditions for renewable energy technologies," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 3(12), pages 1084-1092, December.
    16. Bayer, Benjamin & Berthold, Lennart & Moreno Rodrigo de Freitas, Bruno, 2018. "The Brazilian experience with auctions for wind power: An assessment of project delays and potential mitigation measures," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 97-117.
    17. Kylili, Angeliki & Fokaides, Paris A., 2015. "Competitive auction mechanisms for the promotion renewable energy technologies: The case of the 50MW photovoltaics projects in Cyprus," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 226-233.
    18. Berthélemy, Michel & Escobar Rangel, Lina, 2015. "Nuclear reactors' construction costs: The role of lead-time, standardization and technological progress," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 118-130.
    19. LaPatin, Michaela & Spearing, Lauryn A. & Tiedmann, Helena R. & Hacker, Miriam & Kavvada, Olga & Daniélou, Jean & Faust, Kasey M., 2023. "Controversy in wind energy construction projects: How social systems impact project performance," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    20. Jung, Christopher & Schindler, Dirk, 2022. "A review of recent studies on wind resource projections under climate change," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    21. Egli, Florian, 2020. "Renewable energy investment risk: An investigation of changes over time and the underlying drivers," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    22. Lena Klaaßen & Bjarne Steffen, 2023. "Meta-analysis on necessary investment shifts to reach net zero pathways in Europe," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 58-66, January.
    23. Moreira, João M.L. & Gallinaro, Bruno & Carajilescov, Pedro, 2013. "Construction time of PWRs," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 531-542.
    24. Ansar, Atif & Flyvbjerg, Bent & Budzier, Alexander & Lunn, Daniel, 2014. "Should we build more large dams? The actual costs of hydropower megaproject development," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 43-56.
    25. M A Thomas, 2010. "What Do the Worldwide Governance Indicators Measure?," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 22(1), pages 31-54, February.
    26. Jeffrey M Wooldridge, 2010. "Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 2, volume 1, number 0262232588, April.
    27. Sadik-Zada, Elkhan Richard & Gatto, Andrea, 2023. "Civic engagement and energy transition in the Nordic-Baltic Sea Region: Parametric and nonparametric inquiries," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 87(PA).
    28. Mazzucato, Mariana & Semieniuk, Gregor, 2018. "Financing renewable energy: Who is financing what and why it matters," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 8-22.
    29. O'Shaughnessy, Eric & Dong, Shiyuan & Cook, Jeffrey J. & Cruce, Jesse & Ardani, Kristen & Fekete, Emily & Margolis, Robert, 2022. "Effects of local permitting and interconnection requirements on solar PV installation durations," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    30. Dakshina G. De Silva & Timothy Dunne & Georgia Kosmopoulou, 2003. "An Empirical Analysis of Entrant and Incumbent Bidding in Road Construction Auctions," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(3), pages 295-316, September.
    31. David L. McCollum & Wenji Zhou & Christoph Bertram & Harmen-Sytze Boer & Valentina Bosetti & Sebastian Busch & Jacques Després & Laurent Drouet & Johannes Emmerling & Marianne Fay & Oliver Fricko & Sh, 2018. "Energy investment needs for fulfilling the Paris Agreement and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 3(7), pages 589-599, July.
    32. Timothy Michael Rose & Karen Manley, 2012. "Adoption of innovative products on Australian road infrastructure projects," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(4), pages 277-298, February.
    33. Malhotra, Abhishek & Schmidt, Tobias S. & Huenteler, Joern, 2019. "The role of inter-sectoral learning in knowledge development and diffusion: Case studies on three clean energy technologies," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 464-487.
    34. O'Shaughnessy, Eric & Barbose, Galen & Wiser, Ryan, 2020. "Patience is a virtue: A data-driven analysis of rooftop solar PV permitting timelines in the United States," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    35. Gunnar Luderer & Zoi Vrontisi & Christoph Bertram & Oreane Y. Edelenbosch & Robert C. Pietzcker & Joeri Rogelj & Harmen Sytze Boer & Laurent Drouet & Johannes Emmerling & Oliver Fricko & Shinichiro Fu, 2018. "Residual fossil CO2 emissions in 1.5–2 °C pathways," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 8(7), pages 626-633, July.
    36. Lu, Yadong, 1998. "Joint venture success in China: How should we select a good partner?," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 145-166, July.
    37. van der Loos, Adriaan & Langeveld, Rowan & Hekkert, Marko & Negro, Simona & Truffer, Bernhard, 2022. "Developing local industries and global value chains: The case of offshore wind," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    38. Benjamin C. Esty, 2004. "Why Study Large Projects? An Introduction to Research on Project Finance," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 10(2), pages 213-224, June.
    39. Demirbag, Mehmet & Mirza, Hafiz, 2000. "Factors affecting international joint venture success: an empirical analysis of foreign-local partner relationships and performance in joint ventures in Turkey," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 1-35, February.
    40. Karol Kempa & Ulf Moslener & Oliver Schenker, 2021. "The cost of debt of renewable and non-renewable energy firms," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 6(2), pages 135-142, February.
    41. Wang, Xun, 2022. "Capital account liberalization, financial dependence and technological innovation: Cross-country evidence," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    42. Michel Berthélemy & Lina Escobar Rangel, 2015. "Nuclear reactors' construction costs: The role of lead-time, standardization and technological progress," Post-Print hal-01523016, HAL.
    43. Alperovych, Yan & Divakaruni, Anantha & Manigart, Sophie, 2022. "Lending when relationships are scarce: The role of information spread via bank networks," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Giacomo Di Foggia & Massimo Beccarello & Bakary Jammeh, 2024. "A Global Perspective on Renewable Energy Implementation: Commitment Requires Action," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(20), pages 1-14, October.
    2. Powell, Siobhan & Martin, Sonia & Rajagopal, Ram & Azevedo, Inês M.L. & de Chalendar, Jacques, 2024. "Future-proof rates for controlled electric vehicle charging: Comparing multi-year impacts of different emission factor signals," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Waidelich, Paul & Steffen, Bjarne, 2024. "Renewable energy financing by state investment banks: Evidence from OECD countries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    2. Deleidi, Matteo & Mazzucato, Mariana & Semieniuk, Gregor, 2020. "Neither crowding in nor out: Public direct investment mobilising private investment into renewable electricity projects," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    3. Thomas Baldauf & Patrick Jochem, 2024. "Project finance or corporate finance for renewable energy? an agent-based insight," Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination, Springer;Society for Economic Science with Heterogeneous Interacting Agents, vol. 19(4), pages 759-805, October.
    4. Gregor Semieniuk & Emanuele Campiglio & Jean‐Francois Mercure & Ulrich Volz & Neil R. Edwards, 2021. "Low‐carbon transition risks for finance," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 12(1), January.
    5. Marc Ringel & Saranda Mjekic, 2023. "Analyzing the Role of Banks in Providing Green Finance for Retail Customers: The Case of Germany," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-24, May.
    6. Polzin, Friedemann & Sanders, Mark & Serebriakova, Alexandra, 2021. "Finance in global transition scenarios: Mapping investments by technology into finance needs by source," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    7. Emanuele Campiglio & Alessandro Spiganti & Anthony Wiskich, 2023. "Clean innovation and heterogeneous financing costs," Working Papers 2023: 07, Department of Economics, University of Venice "Ca' Foscari".
    8. Friedemann Polzin & Mark Sanders & Bjarne Steffen & Florian Egli & Tobias S. Schmidt & Panagiotis Karkatsoulis & Panagiotis Fragkos & Leonidas Paroussos, 2021. "The effect of differentiating costs of capital by country and technology on the European energy transition," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 167(1), pages 1-21, July.
    9. Polzin, Friedemann & Sanders, Mark, 2020. "How to finance the transition to low-carbon energy in Europe?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    10. Steffen, Bjarne, 2020. "Estimating the cost of capital for renewable energy projects," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    11. Campiglio, Emanuele & Spiganti, Alessandro & Wiskich, Anthony, 2024. "Clean innovation, heterogeneous financing costs, and the optimal climate policy mix," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 126063, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    12. Egli, Florian & Orgland, Nikolai & Taylor, Michael & Schmidt, Tobias S. & Steffen, Bjarne, 2023. "Estimating the cost of capital for solar PV projects using auction results," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    13. Skare, Marinko & Gavurova, Beata & Sinkovic, Dean, 2023. "Regional aspects of financial development and renewable energy: A cross-sectional study in 214 countries," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 1142-1157.
    14. Christian Haas & Karol Kempa, 2023. "Low-Carbon Investment and Credit Rationing," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 86(1), pages 109-145, October.
    15. Marco Due~nas & Antoine Mandel, 2024. "Are EU low-carbon structural funds efficient in reducing emissions?," Papers 2408.01782, arXiv.org.
    16. Pan, Xunzhang & Ma, Xueqing & Zhang, Yanru & Shao, Tianming & Peng, Tianduo & Li, Xiang & Wang, Lining & Chen, Wenying, 2023. "Implications of carbon neutrality for power sector investments and stranded coal assets in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    17. Anuja Shaktawat & Shelly Vadhera, 2021. "Risk management of hydropower projects for sustainable development: a review," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 45-76, January.
    18. Mosquera-López, Stephania & Uribe, Jorge M., 2022. "Pricing the risk due to weather conditions in small variable renewable energy projects," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 322(C).
    19. Steffen, Bjarne & Karplus, Valerie & Schmidt, Tobias S., 2022. "State ownership and technology adoption: The case of electric utilities and renewable energy," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(6).
    20. Glenk, Gunther & Reichelstein, Stefan, 2021. "Intermittent versus dispatchable power sources: An integrated competitive assessment," ZEW Discussion Papers 21-065, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:358:y:2024:i:c:s030626192301927x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.