IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/eneeco/v66y2017icp421-430.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Renewable energy and its impact on thermal generation

Author

Listed:
  • Graf, Christoph
  • Marcantonini, Claudio

Abstract

Electricity production from renewable sources generally displaces thermal generation, which leads to lower CO2 emissions in the power sector. However, the intermittent nature of many renewable technologies in combination with less residual demand leads to greater inefficiencies in the operation of existing fossil power plants. This inefficiency translates into a higher rate of emissions relative to output. In this paper we focus on Italian power installations between 2005 and 2014. Using panel econometrics, we show that a 10% increase in photovoltaics and wind infeed has reduced yearly CO2 emissions of the average thermal installation by about 2% while the average plants emissions relative to its output have increased by about 0.3%.

Suggested Citation

  • Graf, Christoph & Marcantonini, Claudio, 2017. "Renewable energy and its impact on thermal generation," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 421-430.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:66:y:2017:i:c:p:421-430
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2017.07.009
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140988317302463
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.eneco.2017.07.009?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. Simona Bigerna and Carlo Andrea Bollino, 2014. "Electricity Demand in Wholesale Italian Market," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 3).
    2. Green, Richard & Vasilakos, Nicholas, 2010. "Market behaviour with large amounts of intermittent generation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(7), pages 3211-3220, July.
    3. Cludius, Johanna & Hermann, Hauke & Matthes, Felix Chr. & Graichen, Verena, 2014. "The merit order effect of wind and photovoltaic electricity generation in Germany 2008–2016: Estimation and distributional implications," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 302-313.
    4. Würzburg, Klaas & Labandeira, Xavier & Linares, Pedro, 2013. "Renewable generation and electricity prices: Taking stock and new evidence for Germany and Austria," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(S1), pages 159-171.
    5. Graf, Christoph & Wozabal, David, 2013. "Measuring competitiveness of the EPEX spot market for electricity," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 948-958.
    6. David Wozabal & Christoph Graf & David Hirschmann, 2016. "The effect of intermittent renewables on the electricity price variance," OR Spectrum: Quantitative Approaches in Management, Springer;Gesellschaft für Operations Research e.V., vol. 38(3), pages 687-709, July.
    7. Daniel T. Kaffine & Brannin J. McBee & Jozef Lieskovsky, 2013. "Emissions Savings from Wind Power Generation in Texas," The Energy Journal, , vol. 34(1), pages 155-176, January.
    8. Simona Bigerna, Carlo Andrea Bollino and Paolo Polinori, 2016. "Market Power and Transmission Congestion in the Italian Electricity Market," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 2).
    9. Holttinen, Hannele & Tuhkanen, Sami, 2004. "The effect of wind power on CO2 abatement in the Nordic Countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(14), pages 1639-1652, September.
    10. Kevin Novan, 2015. "Valuing the Wind: Renewable Energy Policies and Air Pollution Avoided," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 7(3), pages 291-326, August.
    11. Fell, Harrison & Linn, Joshua, 2013. "Renewable electricity policies, heterogeneity, and cost effectiveness," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 66(3), pages 688-707.
    12. Woo, C.K. & Horowitz, I. & Moore, J. & Pacheco, A., 2011. "The impact of wind generation on the electricity spot-market price level and variance: The Texas experience," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(7), pages 3939-3944, July.
    13. Graff Zivin, Joshua S. & Kotchen, Matthew J. & Mansur, Erin T., 2014. "Spatial and temporal heterogeneity of marginal emissions: Implications for electric cars and other electricity-shifting policies," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 107(PA), pages 248-268.
    14. Sapio, Alessandro, 2015. "The effects of renewables in space and time: A regime switching model of the Italian power price," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 487-499.
    15. Clò, Stefano & Cataldi, Alessandra & Zoppoli, Pietro, 2015. "The merit-order effect in the Italian power market: The impact of solar and wind generation on national wholesale electricity prices," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 79-88.
    16. Weigt, Hannes & Ellerman, Denny & Delarue, Erik, 2013. "CO2 abatement from renewables in the German electricity sector: Does a CO2 price help?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(S1), pages 149-158.
    17. Simona Bigerna, Carlo Andrea Bollino and Paolo Polinori, 2016. "Renewable Energy and Market Power in the Italian Electricity Market," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Bollino-M).
    18. Simona BIGERNA & Carlo Andrea BOLLINO & Maria Chiara D'ERRICO & Paolo POLINORI, 2015. "Competitive Equilibrium in the Italian Wholesale Electricity Market," Working papers of the Department of Economics - University of Perugia (IT) 0017/2015, Università di Perugia, Dipartimento Economia.
    19. Carson, Richard T. & Novan, Kevin, 2013. "The private and social economics of bulk electricity storage," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 66(3), pages 404-423.
    20. Paraschiv, Florentina & Erni, David & Pietsch, Ralf, 2014. "The impact of renewable energies on EEX day-ahead electricity prices," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 196-210.
    21. Joseph Cullen, 2013. "Measuring the Environmental Benefits of Wind-Generated Electricity," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 5(4), pages 107-133, November.
    22. Marcantonini, Claudio & Valero, Vanessa, 2017. "Renewable energy and CO2 abatement in Italy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 600-613.
    23. Troy, Niamh & Denny, Eleanor & O'Malley, Mark, 2010. "Base-load cycling on a system with significant wind penetration," MPRA Paper 34848, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    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. Bahramian, Pejman & Jenkins, Glenn P. & Milne, Frank, 2021. "The displacement impacts of wind power electricity generation: Costly lessons from Ontario," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    2. Jayanta Bhusan Basu & Subhojit Dawn & Pradip Kumar Saha & Mitul Ranjan Chakraborty & Taha Selim Ustun, 2022. "Economic Enhancement of Wind–Thermal–Hydro System Considering Imbalance Cost in Deregulated Power Market," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-25, November.
    3. Vadim A. Golubev & Viktoria A. Verbnikova & Ilia A. Lopyrev & Daria D. Voznesenskaya & Rashid N. Alimov & Olga V. Novikova & Evgenii A. Konnikov, 2021. "Energy Evolution: Forecasting the Development of Non-Conventional Renewable Energy Sources and Their Impact on the Conventional Electricity System," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-19, November.
    4. Haxhimusa, Adhurim, 2018. "The Effects of German Wind and Solar Electricity on French Spot Price Volatility: An Empirical Investigation," Department of Economics Working Paper Series 258, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    5. Mikovits, Christian & Wetterlund, Elisabeth & Wehrle, Sebastian & Baumgartner, Johann & Schmidt, Johannes, 2021. "Stronger together: Multi-annual variability of hydrogen production supported by wind power in Sweden," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 282(PB).
    6. Boffino, Luigi & Conejo, Antonio J. & Sioshansi, Ramteen & Oggioni, Giorgia, 2019. "A two-stage stochastic optimization planning framework to decarbonize deeply electric power systems," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    7. Ortega-Izquierdo, Margarita & Río, Pablo del, 2020. "An analysis of the socioeconomic and environmental benefits of wind energy deployment in Europe," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 1067-1080.
    8. Liebensteiner, Mario & Wrienz, Matthias, 2020. "Do Intermittent Renewables Threaten the Electricity Supply Security?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    9. Genc, Talat S. & Thille, Henry & ElMawazini, Khaled, 2020. "Dynamic competition in electricity markets under uncertainty," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    10. Mauro Lafratta & Matthew Leach & Rex B. Thorpe & Mark Willcocks & Eve Germain & Sabeha K. Ouki & Achame Shana & Jacquetta Lee, 2021. "Economic and Carbon Costs of Electricity Balancing Services: The Need for Secure Flexible Low-Carbon Generation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-21, August.
    11. Sirin, Selahattin Murat & Uz, Dilek & Sevindik, Irem, 2022. "How do variable renewable energy technologies affect firm-level day-ahead output decisions: Evidence from the Turkish wholesale electricity market," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    12. Graf, Christoph & Quaglia, Federico & Wolak, Frank A., 2021. "(Machine) learning from the COVID-19 lockdown about electricity market performance with a large share of renewables," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    13. Michael C. Ferris & Andy Philpott, 2023. "Renewable electricity capacity planning with uncertainty at multiple scales," Computational Management Science, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 1-40, December.
    14. Abrell, Jan & Kosch, Mirjam & Rausch, Sebastian, 2019. "Carbon abatement with renewables: Evaluating wind and solar subsidies in Germany and Spain," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 172-202.
    15. Liu, Tingting & Xu, Jiuping, 2021. "Equilibrium strategy based policy shifts towards the integration of wind power in spot electricity markets: A perspective from China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    16. Braeuer, Fritz & Finck, Rafael & McKenna, Russell, 2020. "Comparing empirical and model-based approaches for calculating dynamic grid emission factors: An application to CO2-minimizing storage dispatch in Germany," Working Paper Series in Production and Energy 44, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Institute for Industrial Production (IIP).
    17. Christoph Graf & Federico Quaglia & Frank A. Wolak, 2022. "(Machine) Learning from the COVID-19 Lockdown about Electricity Market Performance with a Large Share of Renewables," Papers 2211.02196, arXiv.org.

    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. Concettini, Silvia & Creti, Anna & Gualdi, Stanislao, 2022. "Assessing the regional redistributive effect of renewable power production through a spot market algorithm simulator: The case of Italy," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    2. Abrell, Jan & Kosch, Mirjam & Rausch, Sebastian, 2019. "Carbon abatement with renewables: Evaluating wind and solar subsidies in Germany and Spain," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 172-202.
    3. Beltrami, Filippo & Fontini, Fulvio & Grossi, Luigi, 2021. "The value of carbon emission reduction induced by Renewable Energy Sources in the Italian power market," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    4. Cullen, Joseph A. & Reynolds, Stanley S., 2023. "Market dynamics and investment in the electricity sector," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    5. Holladay, J. Scott & LaRiviere, Jacob, 2017. "The impact of cheap natural gas on marginal emissions from electricity generation and implications for energy policy," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 205-227.
    6. Daron Acemoglu, Ali Kakhbod, and Asuman Ozdaglar, 2017. "Competition in Electricity Markets with Renewable Energy Sources," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(KAPSARC S).
    7. Maniatis, Georgios I. & Milonas, Nikolaos T., 2022. "The impact of wind and solar power generation on the level and volatility of wholesale electricity prices in Greece," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    8. Haxhimusa, Adhurim, 2018. "The Effects of German Wind and Solar Electricity on French Spot Price Volatility: An Empirical Investigation," Department of Economics Working Paper Series 258, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    9. Harrison Fell & Daniel T. Kaffine, 2014. "A one-two punch: Joint effects of natural gas abundance and renewables on coal-fired power plants," Working Papers 2014-10, Colorado School of Mines, Division of Economics and Business.
    10. Rinne, Sonja, 2024. "Estimating the merit-order effect using coarsened exact matching: Reconciling theory with the empirical results to improve policy implications," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    11. Gürtler, Marc & Paulsen, Thomas, 2018. "The effect of wind and solar power forecasts on day-ahead and intraday electricity prices in Germany," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 150-162.
    12. Bahramian, Pejman & Jenkins, Glenn P. & Milne, Frank, 2021. "The displacement impacts of wind power electricity generation: Costly lessons from Ontario," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    13. Schöniger, Franziska & Morawetz, Ulrich B., 2022. "What comes down must go up: Why fluctuating renewable energy does not necessarily increase electricity spot price variance in Europe," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    14. Zerrahn, Alexander, 2017. "Wind Power and Externalities," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 245-260.
    15. Hartner, Michael & Permoser, Andreas, 2018. "Through the valley: The impact of PV penetration levels on price volatility and resulting revenues for storage plants," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 1184-1195.
    16. De Siano, Rita & Sapio, Alessandro, 2022. "Spatial merit order effects of renewables in the Italian power exchange," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    17. Mulder, Machiel & Scholtens, Bert, 2016. "A plant-level analysis of the spill-over effects of the German Energiewende," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 1259-1271.
    18. Tsai, Chen-Hao & Eryilmaz, Derya, 2018. "Effect of wind generation on ERCOT nodal prices," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 21-33.
    19. John J. García Rendón & Alex F. Pérez-Libreros, 2019. "El precio spot de la electricidad y la inclusión de energía renovable no convencional: evidencia para Colombia," Documentos de Trabajo de Valor Público 17393, Universidad EAFIT.
    20. Sapio, Alessandro, 2019. "Greener, more integrated, and less volatile? A quantile regression analysis of Italian wholesale electricity prices," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 452-469.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Emission factors; Load-cycling; Inefficiency;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L94 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Electric Utilities
    • Q40 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - General
    • Q41 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Demand and Supply; Prices
    • Q42 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Alternative Energy Sources
    • Q51 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Valuation of Environmental Effects
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:eneeco:v:66:y:2017:i:c:p:421-430. 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/locate/eneco .

    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.