IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/renene/v134y2019icp698-709.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Feasibility of 100% renewable energy-based electricity production for cities with storage and flexibility

Author

Listed:
  • Narayanan, Arun
  • Mets, Kevin
  • Strobbe, Matthias
  • Develder, Chris

Abstract

Renewable energy is expected to constitute a significant proportion of electricity production. Further, the global population is increasingly concentrated in cities. We investigate whether it is possible to cost-effectively employ 100% renewable energy sources (RES)—including battery energy storage systems (BESS)—for producing electricity to meet cities’ loads. We further analyze the potential to use only RES to meet partial loads, e.g., by meeting load demands only for certain fractions of the time. We present a novel flexible-load methodology and investigate the cost reduction achieved by shifting fractions of load across time. We use it to evaluate the impacts of exploiting flexibility on making a 100% RES scenario cost effective. For instance, in a case study for Kortrijk, a typical Belgian city with around 75,000 inhabitants, we find that from a purely economic viewpoint, RES–BESS systems are not cost effective even with flexible loads: RES–BESS system costs must decrease to around 40% and 7% (around 0.044 €/kWh and 0.038 €/kWh), respectively, of the reference levelized costs of electricity to cost-effectively supply the city’s load demand. These results suggest that electricity alone may not lead to high RES penetration, and integration between electricity, heat, transport, and other sectors is crucial.

Suggested Citation

  • Narayanan, Arun & Mets, Kevin & Strobbe, Matthias & Develder, Chris, 2019. "Feasibility of 100% renewable energy-based electricity production for cities with storage and flexibility," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 698-709.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:134:y:2019:i:c:p:698-709
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2018.11.049
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148118313685
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.renene.2018.11.049?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. Connolly, D. & Lund, H. & Mathiesen, B.V., 2016. "Smart Energy Europe: The technical and economic impact of one potential 100% renewable energy scenario for the European Union," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 1634-1653.
    2. Mai, Trieu & Mulcahy, David & Hand, M. Maureen & Baldwin, Samuel F., 2014. "Envisioning a renewable electricity future for the United States," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 374-386.
    3. Kwon, Pil Seok & Østergaard, Poul, 2014. "Assessment and evaluation of flexible demand in a Danish future energy scenario," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 309-320.
    4. Lund, Henrik & Andersen, Anders N. & Østergaard, Poul Alberg & Mathiesen, Brian Vad & Connolly, David, 2012. "From electricity smart grids to smart energy systems – A market operation based approach and understanding," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 96-102.
    5. Diouf, Boucar & Pode, Ramchandra, 2015. "Potential of lithium-ion batteries in renewable energy," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 375-380.
    6. Ueckerdt, Falko & Hirth, Lion & Luderer, Gunnar & Edenhofer, Ottmar, 2013. "System LCOE: What are the costs of variable renewables?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 61-75.
    7. Paatero, Jukka V. & Lund, Peter D., 2007. "Effects of large-scale photovoltaic power integration on electricity distribution networks," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 216-234.
    8. Dominković, D.F. & Bačeković, I. & Sveinbjörnsson, D. & Pedersen, A.S. & Krajačić, G., 2017. "On the way towards smart energy supply in cities: The impact of interconnecting geographically distributed district heating grids on the energy system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 941-960.
    9. Akuru, Udochukwu B. & Onukwube, Ifeanyichukwu E. & Okoro, Ogbonnaya I. & Obe, Emeka S., 2017. "Towards 100% renewable energy in Nigeria," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 943-953.
    10. Cuce, Erdem, 2016. "Toward multi-functional PV glazing technologies in low/zero carbon buildings: Heat insulation solar glass – Latest developments and future prospects," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 1286-1301.
    11. Sadeghianpourhamami, N. & Demeester, T. & Benoit, D.F. & Strobbe, M. & Develder, C., 2016. "Modeling and analysis of residential flexibility: Timing of white good usage," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 790-805.
    12. Liu, Liuchen & Zhu, Tong & Pan, Yu & Wang, Hai, 2017. "Multiple energy complementation based on distributed energy systems – Case study of Chongming county, China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 192(C), pages 329-336.
    13. Ma, Tao & Østergaard, Poul Alberg & Lund, Henrik & Yang, Hongxing & Lu, Lin, 2014. "An energy system model for Hong Kong in 2020," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 301-310.
    14. Blakers, Andrew & Lu, Bin & Stocks, Matthew, 2017. "100% renewable electricity in Australia," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 471-482.
    15. Ali, H. & Sanjaya, S. & Suryadi, B. & Weller, S.R., 2017. "Analysing CO2 emissions from Singapore's electricity generation sector: Strategies for 2020 and beyond," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 553-564.
    16. Branker, K. & Pathak, M.J.M. & Pearce, J.M., 2011. "A review of solar photovoltaic levelized cost of electricity," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(9), pages 4470-4482.
    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. Heinisch, Verena & Göransson, Lisa & Erlandsson, Rasmus & Hodel, Henrik & Johnsson, Filip & Odenberger, Mikael, 2021. "Smart electric vehicle charging strategies for sectoral coupling in a city energy system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 288(C).
    2. Zhong, Qing & Nelson, Jake R. & Tong, Daoqin & Grubesic, Tony H., 2022. "A spatial optimization approach to increase the accuracy of rooftop solar energy assessments," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 316(C).
    3. Coester, Andreas & Hofkes, Marjan W. & Papyrakis, Elissaios, 2020. "Economic analysis of batteries: Impact on security of electricity supply and renewable energy expansion in Germany," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 275(C).
    4. Derakhtenjani, Ali Saberi & Athienitis, Andreas K., 2021. "A frequency domain transfer function methodology for thermal characterization and design for energy flexibility of zones with radiant systems," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 1033-1045.
    5. Čespiva, Jakub & Wnukowski, Mateusz & Niedzwiecki, Lukasz & Skřínský, Jan & Vereš, Ján & Ochodek, Tadeáš & Pawlak-Kruczek, Halina & Borovec, Karel, 2020. "Characterization of tars from a novel, pilot scale, biomass gasifier working under low equivalence ratio regime," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 775-785.
    6. Alfredo Višković & Vladimir Franki & Angela Bašić-Šiško, 2022. "City-Level Transition to Low-Carbon Economy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-24, February.
    7. Dengiz, Thomas & Jochem, Patrick & Fichtner, Wolf, 2021. "Demand response through decentralized optimization in residential areas with wind and photovoltaics," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 223(C).
    8. Guerra, K. & Gutiérrez-Alvarez, R. & Guerra, Omar J. & Haro, P., 2023. "Opportunities for low-carbon generation and storage technologies to decarbonise the future power system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 336(C).
    9. Gómez-Navarro, Tomás & Brazzini, Tommaso & Alfonso-Solar, David & Vargas-Salgado, Carlos, 2021. "Analysis of the potential for PV rooftop prosumer production: Technical, economic and environmental assessment for the city of Valencia (Spain)," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 174(C), pages 372-381.
    10. Concettina Marino & Antonino Nucara & Maria Francesca Panzera & Matilde Pietrafesa & Alfredo Pudano, 2020. "Economic Comparison Between a Stand-Alone and a Grid Connected PV System vs. Grid Distance," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-22, July.
    11. Ali Saberi Derakhtenjani & Andreas K. Athienitis, 2021. "Model Predictive Control Strategies to Activate the Energy Flexibility for Zones with Hydronic Radiant Systems," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-19, February.
    12. Ahmed Gailani & Tracey Crosbie & Maher Al-Greer & Michael Short & Nashwan Dawood, 2020. "On the Role of Regulatory Policy on the Business Case for Energy Storage in Both EU and UK Energy Systems: Barriers and Enablers," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-20, March.
    13. Zhao, Mingzhe & Wang, Yimin & Wang, Xuebin & Chang, Jianxia & Chen, Yunhua & Zhou, Yong & Guo, Aijun, 2022. "Flexibility evaluation of wind-PV-hydro multi-energy complementary base considering the compensation ability of cascade hydropower stations," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 315(C).
    14. Jafari, Mehdi & Botterud, Audun & Sakti, Apurba, 2022. "Decarbonizing power systems: A critical review of the role of energy storage," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    15. Mohammadi, Zahra & Hoes, Pieter Jan & Hensen, Jan L.M., 2020. "Simulation-based design optimization of houses with low grid dependency," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 1185-1202.
    16. Dincer, Hasan & Yuksel, Serhat, 2019. "Balanced scorecard-based analysis of investment decisions for the renewable energy alternatives: A comparative analysis based on the hybrid fuzzy decision-making approach," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 175(C), pages 1259-1270.
    17. DaneshvarDehnavi, Saeed & Negri, Cesar A. & Giesselmann, Michael G. & Bayne, Stephen B. & Wollenberg, Bruce, 2021. "Can 100% renewable power system be successfully built?," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C), pages 715-722.
    18. Guillermo Valencia Ochoa & Jose Nunez Alvarez & Carlos Acevedo, 2019. "Research Evolution on Renewable Energies Resources from 2007 to 2017: A Comparative Study on Solar, Geothermal, Wind and Biomass Energy," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 9(6), pages 242-253.
    19. Rosario Carbone & Concettina Marino & Antonino Nucara & Maria Francesca Panzera & Matilde Pietrafesa, 2019. "Electric Load Influence on Performances of a Composite Plant for Hydrogen Production from RES and its Conversion in Electricity," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(22), pages 1-15, November.
    20. Li, Yi & Liu, Christy Ying Ni & Lao, Ut & Dang, Jiangtong, 2024. "Navigating the path to environmental sustainability: Exploring the role of fintech, natural resources and green energy in Belt and Road countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    21. Marino, C. & Nucara, A. & Panzera, M.F. & Pietrafesa, M. & Varano, V., 2019. "Energetic and economic analysis of a stand alone photovoltaic system with hydrogen storage," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 316-329.
    22. Brumana, Giovanni & Franchini, Giuseppe & Ghirardi, Elisa & Perdichizzi, Antonio, 2022. "Techno-economic optimization of hybrid power generation systems: A renewables community case study," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 246(C).
    23. Icaza-Alvarez, Daniel & Jurado, Francisco & Tostado-Véliz, Marcos & Arevalo, Paúl, 2022. "Decarbonization of the Galapagos Islands. Proposal to transform the energy system into 100% renewable by 2050," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 189(C), pages 199-220.
    24. Koolen, Derck & Huisman, Ronald & Ketter, Wolfgang, 2022. "Decision strategies in sequential power markets with renewable energy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 167(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. Østergaard, P.A. & Lund, H. & Thellufsen, J.Z. & Sorknæs, P. & Mathiesen, B.V., 2022. "Review and validation of EnergyPLAN," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    2. Ma, Weiwu & Xue, Xinpei & Liu, Gang, 2018. "Techno-economic evaluation for hybrid renewable energy system: Application and merits," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 385-409.
    3. DaneshvarDehnavi, Saeed & Negri, Cesar A. & Giesselmann, Michael G. & Bayne, Stephen B. & Wollenberg, Bruce, 2021. "Can 100% renewable power system be successfully built?," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C), pages 715-722.
    4. Hansen, Kenneth & Breyer, Christian & Lund, Henrik, 2019. "Status and perspectives on 100% renewable energy systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 175(C), pages 471-480.
    5. Batas Bjelić, Ilija & Rajaković, Nikola & Krajačić, Goran & Duić, Neven, 2016. "Two methods for decreasing the flexibility gap in national energy systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 115(P3), pages 1701-1709.
    6. Vidal-Amaro, Juan José & Østergaard, Poul Alberg & Sheinbaum-Pardo, Claudia, 2015. "Optimal energy mix for transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources – The case of the Mexican electricity system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 80-96.
    7. Badami, Marco & Fambri, Gabriele, 2019. "Optimising energy flows and synergies between energy networks," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 400-412.
    8. Shen, Wei & Chen, Xi & Qiu, Jing & Hayward, Jennifier A & Sayeef, Saad & Osman, Peter & Meng, Ke & Dong, Zhao Yang, 2020. "A comprehensive review of variable renewable energy levelized cost of electricity," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    9. Maruf, Md. Nasimul Islam, 2021. "Open model-based analysis of a 100% renewable and sector-coupled energy system–The case of Germany in 2050," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 288(C).
    10. Bačeković, Ivan & Østergaard, Poul Alberg, 2018. "Local smart energy systems and cross-system integration," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 812-825.
    11. Hansen, Kenneth & Mathiesen, Brian Vad & Skov, Iva Ridjan, 2019. "Full energy system transition towards 100% renewable energy in Germany in 2050," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 1-13.
    12. Hvelplund, Frede & Østergaard, Poul Alberg & Meyer, Niels I., 2017. "Incentives and barriers for wind power expansion and system integration in Denmark," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 573-584.
    13. Lund, Peter D. & Lindgren, Juuso & Mikkola, Jani & Salpakari, Jyri, 2015. "Review of energy system flexibility measures to enable high levels of variable renewable electricity," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 785-807.
    14. Lund, Henrik & Thellufsen, Jakob Zinck & Sorknæs, Peter & Mathiesen, Brian Vad & Chang, Miguel & Madsen, Poul Thøis & Kany, Mikkel Strunge & Skov, Iva Ridjan, 2022. "Smart energy Denmark. A consistent and detailed strategy for a fully decarbonized society," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    15. Persson, Urban & Wiechers, Eva & Möller, Bernd & Werner, Sven, 2019. "Heat Roadmap Europe: Heat distribution costs," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 604-622.
    16. Laslett, Dean & Carter, Craig & Creagh, Chris & Jennings, Philip, 2017. "A large-scale renewable electricity supply system by 2030: Solar, wind, energy efficiency, storage and inertia for the South West Interconnected System (SWIS) in Western Australia," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 713-731.
    17. Yue, Xiufeng & Patankar, Neha & Decarolis, Joseph & Chiodi, Alessandro & Rogan, Fionn & Deane, J.P. & O’Gallachoir, Brian, 2020. "Least cost energy system pathways towards 100% renewable energy in Ireland by 2050," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    18. Eerika Janhunen & Niina Leskinen & Seppo Junnila, 2020. "The Economic Viability of a Progressive Smart Building System with Power Storage," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-18, July.
    19. Wang, Xiaokui & Bamisile, Olusola & Chen, Shuheng & Xu, Xiao & Luo, Shihua & Huang, Qi & Hu, Weihao, 2022. "Decarbonization of China's electricity systems with hydropower penetration and pumped-hydro storage: Comparing the policies with a techno-economic analysis," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 65-83.
    20. Mai, Trieu & Lopez, Anthony & Mowers, Matthew & Lantz, Eric, 2021. "Interactions of wind energy project siting, wind resource potential, and the evolution of the U.S. power system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 223(C).

    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:renene:v:134:y:2019:i:c:p:698-709. 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.journals.elsevier.com/renewable-energy .

    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.