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PublicationPromoting electricity from renewable energy sources in emerging and developing countries - lessons learned from the EU( 2011)Promoting renewable energy sources for electricity generation (RES-E) has high priority in many countries. The core objective of this paper is to identify proper regulatory promotion systems for RES-E in emerging and developing countries based on an evaluation of such systems in the EU over the period 2000-2008. The major conclusions are: (i) Feed-in tariffs (FIT) will be a suitable instrument in emerging countries where a proper grid exists and where social acceptance of (low) transfer costs from electricity customers can be expected; this applies to countries like Brazil, China, India, Indonesia; (ii) for developing countries where solutions are mainly based on autonomous systems strategies has to focus on (international) support of investments; (iii) with respect to international trade of RES-E (e.g. from Africa to Europe) a more complex approach is required based mainly on two pillars: a royalty and a cross-border FIT.
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PublicationEfficiency and effectiveness of promotion systems for electricity generation from renewable energy sources - lessons from EU countries( 2011)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.
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PublicationA historical review of promotion strategies for electricity from renewable energy sources in EU countries( 2011)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.
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PublicationDesign options for cooperation mechanisms under the new European renewable energy directive( 2010)In June 2009, a new EU directive on the promotion of renewable energy sources (RES) entered into effect. The directive 2009/28/EC, provides for three cooperation mechanisms that will allow member states to achieve their national RES target in cooperation with other member states: statistical transfer, joint projects, and joint support schemes. This article analyses the pros and cons of the three mechanisms and explores design options for their implementation through strategic and economic questions: How to counterbalance the major drawbacks of each mechanism? How to reflect a balance of costs and benefits between the involved member states? The analysis identifies a number of design options that respond to these questions, e.g. long term contracts to ensure sufficient flexibility for statistical transfers, a coordinated, standardised joint project approach to increase transparency in the European market, and a stepwise harmonisation of joint support schemes that is based on a cost-effective accounting approach. One conclusion is that the three cooperation mechanisms are closely interlinked. One can consider their relation to be a gradual transition from member state cooperation under fully closed national support systems in case of statistical transfers, to cooperation under fully open national support systems in a joint support scheme.
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PublicationRegulatory instruments to deliver the full potential of renewable energy sources of efficiently( 2009)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.
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PublicationEmployRES. The impact of renewable energy policy on economic growth and employment in the European Union(Fraunhofer ISI, 2009)
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PublicationAssessing the advantages and drawbacks of government trading of guarantees of origin for renewable electricity in Europe( 2009)The European Commission has proposed a new Renewable Energy Directive, which includes flexibility provisions allowing the cost-effective attainment of the ambitious target for renewable energy of 20% of energy consumption, which has been set for the year 2020. One of the flexibility provisions currently being considered is to allow countries to reach their individual targets by buying their renewable electricity deployment deficit from other countries with a surplus (i.e., with a renewable electricity deployment above their targets). This trade is likely to take the form of an exchange in guarantees of origin (GOs). GOs are currently implemented in Member States to fulfil the Renewable Electricity Directive requirement that each country has a system that allows the tracing of the source of each kWh of renewable electricity and informs on this source. Although the recent and tiny literature on the analysis of GO trading has focused on trade between firms, the exchange of GOs between governments has not received a comparable attention. This paper analyses the advantages and drawbacks of a system of government trading of GOs with respect to company trading.
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PublicationTrading guarantee-of-origin certificates: Blessing or pitfall for promoting electricity from renewable energy sources?( 2008)Currently, a wide range of strategies is implemented in different countries to increase the share of electricity from renewable energy sources: one of the most controversial discussions is whether trading-based (e.g. the recently announced Guarantee-of-Origin (GoO) trade) or technology-specific instruments (like feed-in tariffs (FIT) lead to preferable solutions for society. An important issue in this context is that both systems are actually marked-based and both systems are introduced by policy makers and, hence, create artifical market. Finally, in both systems the final electricity customers (or the tax payers) will have to cover the support costs. The core objective of this paper is to discuss the perspectives of quota-based GoO trade for an efficient and effective increase of RES-E in comparision to FIT. The analysis is based on a formal framework showing how instruments works using the computer model GREEN-X. A major focus is put on the analysis of additional extra costs for electricity consumers/tax papers. 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. Compared to short term trading in renewable certificate markets the intrinsic stability of feed-in systems appears to be a key element for success. At present, quota-based trading systems show low effectiveness. 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.
