Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
  • Publication
    Efficiency and effectiveness of promotion systems for electricity generation from renewable energy sources - lessons from EU countries
    ( 2011)
    Haas, R.
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    Resch, G.
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    Panzer, C.
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    Busch, S.
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    Currently, a wide range of strategies is implemented in different countries to increase the share of electricity from renewable energy sources (RES-E). A still controversial discussion is whether quantity-driven (like Tradable Green Certificates (TGCs) based on quotas) or price-driven (like feed-in-tariffs (FIT)) instruments lead to preferable solutions for society. The core objective of this paper is to compare the perspectives of quota-based certificate trading systems for an efficient and effective increase of RES-E with FIT. The major results of this analysis are: (i) The success stories of growth in RES-E in EU member states in recent years has been triggered by FIT implemented in a technology-specific manner at modest costs for European citizens; (ii) At present, TGC systems in most countries applied show a low effectiveness with respect to RES-E deployment of less mature technologies such as solar PV (with improving tendencies in e.g. the UK or Italy with respect to certain technologies); (iii) Compared to short term trading in TGC markets the intrinsic stability of FIT systems appears to be a key element for success; (iv) Hence, currently a well-designed (dynamic) FIT system provides a certain deployment of RES-E in the shortest time and at lowest costs for society.
  • Publication
    A historical review of promotion strategies for electricity from renewable energy sources in EU countries
    ( 2011)
    Haas, R.
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    Panzer, C.
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    Resch, G.
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    Reece, G.
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    The core objective of this paper is to elaborate on historically implemented promotion strategies of renewable energy sources and the associated deployment within the European electricity market. Hence, at a first glance, the historic development of renewable energy sources in the electricity (RES-E) sector is addressed on Member State and on sectoral level as well as consequently discussed according to available RES-E potentials and costs. The specific focus of this paper, are promotion strategies for RES-E options as they are the key driver of an efficient and effective RES-E deployment. Therefore, the paper depicts the main types of different promotion schemes and their properties. Additionally, several cases studies of different European Member States show an in-depth analysis of the different RES-E promotion schemes. In this context, special emphasises are put on the question of effective and efficient promotion scheme designs of different RES-E technologies. Generally, conducted research led to the conclusion, that technology specific financial support measures of RES-E performed much more effective and efficient than others did. Hence, it is not all about the common question of feed-in tariffs vs. quota systems based on tradable green certificates, but more about the design criteria of implemented RES-E support schemes.
  • Publication
    Regulatory instruments to deliver the full potential of renewable energy sources of efficiently
    ( 2009)
    Auer, H.
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    Resch, G.
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    Haas, R.
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    Increasing the share of renewable energy sources for electricity generation (RES-E) has a high priority in the energy strategies of the European Commission. Yet, from a pure monetary point-of-view most RES-E technologies are currently not cost-effective. Hence, if RES-E are considered to provide significant benefits for society regulatory interferences are justified. This paper analyses which regulatory issues are of major relevance with respect to the promotion and the grid integration of RES-E. Of core relevance are currently two major issues: implementation of proper regulatory financial support systems and implementation of a clear regulatory framework for cost allocation policies to integrate RES-E technically into electricity grids. The major conclusions of this analysis are: (i) with respect to the design of regulatory promotional strategies currently a well-designed (dynamic) feed-in tariff system ensures the fastest deployment of RES-E power plants at the lowest cost for electricity customers; (ii) with respect to grid integration of RES-E a (super-)shallow RES-E integration approach is clearly preferable to deep integration.
  • Publication
  • Publication
    On the success of policy strategies for the promotion of electricity from renewable energy sources in the EU
    ( 2006) ; ;
    Haas, R.
    In recent years, a wide range of strategies has been implemented in different EU-countries to increase the share of electricity generation from renewable energy sources. This paper evaluates the success of different regulatory strategies. The most important conclusions of this analysis are: (i) regardless of which strategy is chosen, it is of overriding importance that there should be a clear focus on the exclusive promotion of newly installed plants; (ii) a well-designed (dynamic) feed-in tariff system ensures the fastest deployment of power plants using Renewable Energy Sources at the lowest cost to society; (iii) promotion strategies with low policy risks have lower profit requirements for investors and, hence, cause lower costs to electricity customers.
  • Publication
    Deriving efficient policy portfolios promoting sustainable energy systems - case studies applying invert simulation tool
    ( 2006)
    Kranzl, L.
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    Stadler, M.
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    Huber, C.
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    Haas, R.
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    Brakhage, A.
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    Gula, A.
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    Figorski, A.
    Within recent years, energy policies have imposed a number of targets at European and national level for rational use of energy (RUE), renewable energy sources (RES) and related CO2 reductions. As a result, a wide variety of policy instruments is currently implemented and hence the question arises: how can these instruments be designed in a way to reach the maximum policy target with the minimum public money spent? The objective of this paper is to derive a methodology for obtaining efficient policy portfolios promoting sustainable energy systems depending on the policy target and show corresponding results from case studies in Austria, Germany and Poland. The investigations were carried out by application of Invert simulation tool, a computer model developed for simulating the impacts of various promotion schemes for renewable and efficient energy systems. With this tool, the CO2 reductions and related public expenses have been calculated for various policy mixes. In the building-related energy sector, it turned out that in all investigated regions support schemes for supply side measures are the most cost-efficient instruments. However, their potential is restricted and for achieving higher levels of CO2 reduction, promotion of demand side measures is indispensable. The paper shows that for a comprehensive comparison of policy portfolios, there are always two dimensions to be considered: efficiency and effectiveness. The more effective, i.e. the higher the implementation rate of a scheme, the more essential becomes the efficiency criteria.