IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eso/journl/v42y2011i3p343-369.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Effect of REFIT on Irish Wholesale Electricity Prices

Author

Listed:
  • CONOR DEVITT

    (Economic and Social Research Institute, Dublin)

  • LAURA MALAGUZZI VALERI

    (Economic and Social Research Institute, Dublin)

Abstract

This paper evaluates the likely effect of REFIT, the Irish scheme to support renewable electricity generation, on the wholesale price of electricity. The cost of REFIT is passed on to Irish consumers. Here we calculate that, when there are 4,071MW of on-shore wind in the Republic of Ireland, the cost of the REFIT scheme is between 5 per cent and 10 per cent of the gross wholesale price of electricity. Off-shore wind has higher levels of support than on-shore wind, as do technologies that are still in development such as wave and tidal. When off-shore wind, wave and tidal are added to the system, the cost of REFIT increases significantly. We argue that wave and tidal should be sustained with a different scheme that provides capital grants, and that off-shore wind that is channelled to exports should not be supported by Irish consumers.

Suggested Citation

  • Conor Devitt & Laura Malaguzzi Valeri, 2011. "The Effect of REFIT on Irish Wholesale Electricity Prices," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 42(3), pages 343-369.
    • Handle: RePEc:eso:journl:v:42:y:2011:i:3:p:343-369
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.esr.ie/vol42_3/05_%20Devitt%20PP%20Paper.pdf
    File Function: First version,2011
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Butler, Lucy & Neuhoff, Karsten, 2008. "Comparison of feed-in tariff, quota and auction mechanisms to support wind power development," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 33(8), pages 1854-1867.
    2. Graves, Frank & Litvinova, Julia, 2009. "Hedging Effects of Wind on Retail Electric Supply Costs," The Electricity Journal, Elsevier, vol. 22(10), pages 44-55, December.
    3. Huber, Claus & Ryan, Lisa & O Gallachoir, Brian & Resch, Gustav & Polaski, Katrina & Bazilian, Morgan, 2007. "Economic modelling of price support mechanisms for renewable energy: Case study on Ireland," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 1172-1185, February.
    4. Denny, Eleanor, 2009. "The economics of tidal energy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(5), pages 1914-1924, May.
    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. Di Cosmo, Valeria & Malaguzzi Valeri, Laura, 2014. "The incentive to invest in thermal plants in the presence of wind generation," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 306-315.
    2. Niall Farrell & Mel T. Devine & William T. Lee & James P. Gleeson & Seán Lyons, 2017. "Specifying An Efficient Renewable Energy Feed-in Tariff," The Energy Journal, , vol. 38(2), pages 53-76, March.
    3. Farrell, Niall & Donoghue, Cathal O’ & Morrissey, Karyn, 2015. "Quantifying the uncertainty of wave energy conversion device cost for policy appraisal: An Irish case study," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 62-77.
    4. Farrell, Niall & Lyons, Seán, 2014. "The distributional impact of the Irish public service obligation levy on electricity consumption," MPRA Paper 53488, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Curtis, John & Devitt, Niamh & di Cosmo, Valeria & Farrell, Niall & FitzGerald, John & Hyland, Marie & Lynch, Muireann & Lyons, Sean & McCoy, Daire & Malaguzzi Valeri, Laura & Walsh, Darragh, 2014. "Irish Energy Policy: An Analysis of Current Issues," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number rs37 edited by FitzGerald, John & Malaguzzi Valeri, Laura.
    6. Gorecki, Paul K., 2011. "The Internal EU Electricity Market: Implications for Ireland," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number RS23.
    7. Malaguzzi-Valeri, Laura & di Cosmo, Valeria, 2014. "The Effect of Wind on Electricity CO2 Emissions: The Case of Ireland," Papers WP493, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    8. Devine, Mel & Farrell, Niall & Lee, William, 2014. "Managing investor and consumer exposure to electricity market price risks through Feed-in Tariff design," MPRA Paper 59208, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Niall Farrell & Cathal O'Donoghue & Karyn Morrissey, 2020. "Regional income and wave energy deployment in Ireland," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 99(3), pages 509-531, June.

    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. del Río, Pablo, 2012. "The dynamic efficiency of feed-in tariffs: The impact of different design elements," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 139-151.
    2. del Río, Pablo & Bleda, Mercedes, 2012. "Comparing the innovation effects of support schemes for renewable electricity technologies: A function of innovation approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 272-282.
    3. del Río, Pablo & Kiefer, Christoph P., 2023. "Academic research on renewable electricity auctions: Taking stock and looking forward," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    4. Schallenberg-Rodriguez, Julieta, 2017. "Renewable electricity support systems: Are feed-in systems taking the lead?," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 1422-1439.
    5. Curtin, Joseph & McInerney, Celine & Ó Gallachóir, Brian, 2017. "Financial incentives to mobilise local citizens as investors in low-carbon technologies: A systematic literature review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 534-547.
    6. Rourke, Fergal O. & Boyle, Fergal & Reynolds, Anthony, 2010. "Marine current energy devices: Current status and possible future applications in Ireland," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 1026-1036, April.
    7. O'Rourke, Fergal & Boyle, Fergal & Reynolds, Anthony, 2010. "Tidal current energy resource assessment in Ireland: Current status and future update," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(9), pages 3206-3212, December.
    8. Connor, Peter M. & Xie, Lei & Lowes, Richard & Britton, Jessica & Richardson, Thomas, 2015. "The development of renewable heating policy in the United Kingdom," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 733-744.
    9. Xydis, George, 2013. "A techno-economic and spatial analysis for the optimal planning of wind energy in Kythira island, Greece," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(2), pages 440-452.
    10. Hiroux, C. & Saguan, M., 2010. "Large-scale wind power in European electricity markets: Time for revisiting support schemes and market designs?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(7), pages 3135-3145, July.
    11. Huang, Shih-Chieh & Lo, Shang-Lien & Lin, Yen-Ching, 2013. "Application of a fuzzy cognitive map based on a structural equation model for the identification of limitations to the development of wind power," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 851-861.
    12. Degirmenci, Tunahan & Yavuz, Hakan, 2024. "Environmental taxes, R&D expenditures and renewable energy consumption in EU countries: Are fiscal instruments effective in the expansion of clean energy?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 299(C).
    13. Bongsuk Sung & Myung-Bae Yeom & Hong-Gi Kim, 2017. "Eco-Efficiency of Government Policy and Exports in the Bioenergy Technology Market," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-18, September.
    14. Fais, Birgit & Blesl, Markus & Fahl, Ulrich & Voß, Alfred, 2014. "Comparing different support schemes for renewable electricity in the scope of an energy systems analysis," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 479-489.
    15. Gustav Resch & Malte Gephart & Simone Steinhilber & Corinna Klessmann & Pablo del Rio & Mario Ragwitz, 2013. "Coordination or Harmonisation? Feasible Pathways for a European Res Strategy beyond 2020," Energy & Environment, , vol. 24(1-2), pages 147-169, February.
    16. Jenner, Steffen & Groba, Felix & Indvik, Joe, 2013. "Assessing the strength and effectiveness of renewable electricity feed-in tariffs in European Union countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 385-401.
    17. Viktória Kocsis & Bert Hof, 2016. "Energy policy evaluation in practice: the case of production subsidies and DEN-B in the Netherlands," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 18(5), pages 1433-1455, October.
    18. Eva Segura & Rafael Morales & José A. Somolinos, 2019. "Increasing the Competitiveness of Tidal Systems by Means of the Improvement of Installation and Maintenance Maneuvers in First Generation Tidal Energy Converters—An Economic Argumentation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(13), pages 1-27, June.
    19. Shahriyar Nasirov & Carlos Silva & Claudio A. Agostini, 2015. "Investors’ Perspectives on Barriers to the Deployment of Renewable Energy Sources in Chile," Energies, MDPI, vol. 8(5), pages 1-21, April.
    20. Botor, Benjamin & Böcker, Benjamin & Kallabis, Thomas & Weber, Christoph, 2021. "Information shocks and profitability risks for power plant investments – impacts of policy instruments," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • L94 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Electric Utilities
    • Q40 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - General
    • Q42 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Alternative Energy Sources

    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:eso:journl:v:42:y:2011:i:3:p:343-369. 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: Aedin Doris (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.esr.ie .

    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.