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100% Renewable Energy Scenarios for North America—Spatial Distribution and Network Constraints

Author

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  • Zozmann, Elmar
  • Göke, Leonard
  • Kendziorski, Mario
  • Rodriguez del Angel, Citlali
  • von Hirschhausen, Christian
  • Winkler, Johanna

Abstract

The urgency to combat climate change and the widely distributed, increasingly competitive renewable resources in North America are strong arguments to explore scenarios for a renewable energy supply in the region. While the current power system of North America is heavily dependent on fossil fuels, namely natural gas, coal and oil, and some nuclear power plants, some current policies at the state level, and future federal policies are likely to push the share of different renewable sources available in Mexico, the U.S., and Canada. This paper explores three scenarios for a renewable energy supply, using a bottom-up energy system model with a high level of spatial and time granularity. The scenarios span the extremes with respect to connecting infrastructure: while one scenario only looks at state-level supply and demand, without interconnections, the other extreme scenario allows cross-continental network investments. The model results indicate that the North American continent (a) has sufficient renewable potential to satisfy its energy demand with renewables, independent of the underlying grid assumption, (b) solar generation dominates the generation mix as the least-cost option under given renewable resource availability and (c) simultaneous planning of generation and transmission capacity expansion does not result in high grid investments, but the necessary flexibility to integrate intermittent renewable generation is rather provided by the existing grid in combination with short-term and seasonal storages.

Suggested Citation

  • Zozmann, Elmar & Göke, Leonard & Kendziorski, Mario & Rodriguez del Angel, Citlali & von Hirschhausen, Christian & Winkler, Johanna, 2021. "100% Renewable Energy Scenarios for North America—Spatial Distribution and Network Constraints," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 14(3).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:espost:266396
    DOI: 10.3390/en14030658
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Bojana Škrbić & Željko Đurišić, 2023. "Novel Planning Methodology for Spatially Optimized RES Development Which Minimizes Flexibility Requirements for Their Integration into the Power System," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-34, April.
    2. repec:diw:diwwpp:dp1955 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Cole, Wesley & Antonysamy, Adithya & Brown, Patrick & Sergi, Brian & Mai, Trieu & Denholm, Paul, 2023. "How much might it cost to decarbonize the power sector? It depends on the metric," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 276(C).
    4. Lohr, C. & Schlemminger, M. & Peterssen, F. & Bensmann, A. & Niepelt, R. & Brendel, R. & Hanke-Rauschenbach, R., 2022. "Spatial concentration of renewables in energy system optimization models," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 198(C), pages 144-154.
    5. Raúl Gutiérrez-Meave & Juan Rosellón & Luis Sarmiento, 2021. "The Effect of Changing Marginal-Cost to Physical-Order Dispatch in the Power Sector," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1955, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.

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