Financial viability of offshore wind on the Texas Gulf Coast

Offshore wind is already a significant component of the electricity generation mix in Europe, and improvements in technology and cost are enabling increased offshore wind penetration in new markets around the world. Thus far, the US has struggled to materially participate in this industry, with only a single 30 MW offshore project in operation. Navigating a complicated regulatory framework, the lack of a coherent national policy, and facing local opposition, the industry has experienced some spectacular failures in recent years. However, the US now has an opportunity to take advantage of the lessons learned from years of (primarily) European development and combine them with excellent offshore wind resources close to transmission-constrained load centers. By far the leader of the US onshore wind industry, and with a long history of offshore oil and gas development, Texas has some major advantages when it comes to offshore wind. Wind resources in the Gulf of Mexico are more than adequate for economic production. With shallow depths and relatively calm seas, the Texas Gulf Coast is also well suited to offshore wind construction. These factors, coupled with a pro-development state regulatory scheme and extended jurisdiction over submerged lands, suggest that Texas is an ideal candidate for offshore wind development. With no currently active projects in the pipeline, this thesis examines the economic viability of offshore wind development on the Texas Gulf Coast at the project level. Using an ideal location and cost data from National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the Energy Information Administration (EIA), and industry sources, a hypothetical “test project” was developed and evaluated against three cost estimate cases and ten regulatory scenarios. These inputs were fed into a Discounted Cash Flow model to determine potential competitiveness in the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) market in the ERCOT region. Results indicate that without significant cost reductions or major changes to either market conditions or federal/state incentive schemes, Texas Gulf Coast offshore wind cannot compete with other forms of onshore renewable generation. With ever-decreasing costs, it is not impossible that offshore wind could become viable at some point in the future, but given current conditions, it is not likely that any projects are on the near-term horizon.Energy and Earth Resource

Assessment of Haiti’s electricity sector

INTRODUCTION: This report summarizes the current state of the electricity sector in Haiti, to form a knowledge base from which to subsequently evaluate options for how best to increase electricity access in Haiti. Accordingly, this report summarizes the results of an extensive review of the publicly-available information on the electricity sector in Haiti, supplemented by targeted interviews with selected individuals known to be knowledgeable about electricity in Haiti based on their recent involvement in assessing the sector or in pursuing/supporting development opportunities. [TRUNCATED

Technology roadmap: solar photovoltaic energy - 2014 edition

Solar power enhances energy diversity and hedges against price volatility of fossil fuels, thus stabilising costs of electricity generation in the long term, argues this report. Overview Solar energy is widely available throughout the world and can contribute to reduced dependence on energy imports. As it entails no fuel price risk or constraints, it also improves security of supply. Solar power enhances energy diversity and hedges against price volatility of fossil fuels, thus stabilising costs of electricity generation in the long term. Solar PV entails no greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions during operation and does not emit other pollutants (such as oxides of sulphur and nitrogen); additionally, it consumes no or little water. As local air pollution and extensive use of fresh water for cooling of thermal power plants are becoming serious concerns in hot or dry regions, these benefits of solar PV become increasingly important. Key findings: Since 2010, the world has added more solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity than in the previous four decades. Total global capacity overtook 150 gigawatts (GW) in early 2014 The geographical pattern of deployment is rapidly changing. While a few European countries, led by Germany and Italy, initiated large-scale PV development, since 2013, the People’s Republic of China has led the global PV market, followed by Japan and the United States PV system prices have been divided by three in six years in most markets, while module prices have been divided by five This roadmap envisions PV’s share of global electricity reaching 16% by 2050, a significant increase from the 11% goal in the 2010 roadmap Achieving this roadmap’s vision of 4 600 GW of installed PV capacity by 2050 would avoid the emission of up to 4 gigatonnes (Gt) of carbon dioxide (CO2) annually This roadmap assumes that the costs of electricity from PV in different parts of the world will converge as markets develop, with an average cost reduction of 25% by 2020, 45% by 2030, and 65% by 2050, leading to a range of USD 40 to 160/MWh, assuming a cost of capital of 8% To achieve the vision in this roadmap, the total PV capacity installed each year needs to rise from 36 GW in 2013 to 124 GW per year on average, with a peak of 200 GW per year between 2025 and 2040 The variability of the solar resource is a challenge. All flexibility options – including interconnections, demand-side response, flexible generation, and storage –need to be developed to meet this challenge Appropriate regulatory frameworks – and well-designed electricity markets, in particular – will be critical to achieve the vision in this roadmap Levelised cost of electricity from new-built PV systems and generation by sector