The Photovoltaic Crisis and the Demand-side Generation in Spain

The RES-E promotion policy in Spain gave priority to the photovoltaic (henceforth, PV) ground-mounted installations. For years, the coupling of customer-side generation coupled with excess energy exports was never specifically considered. However, some months ago this option was suggested as a way to recover the Spain’s PV sector from the current moratorium on the RES-E policy. A decree draft on on-site generation was issued, its central point being the consideration of electricity exports as delayed consumption rights. But several barriers hinder its entry into force. Unfortunately, Spain could be losing an important opportunity for encouraging PV investments while retail grid parity is being reached. This working paper analyzes the different types of PV demand-side generation from the point of view of consumer-generators and evaluates the economic and technical features of the regulation proposed in Spain and to date still pending

Combining tariffs, investment subsidies and soft loans in a renewable electricity deployment policy

Policy combinations and interactions have received a considerable attention in the energy policy realm. The aim of our working paper is to provide insight on the costeffectiveness of combinations of deployment instruments for the same technology. A financial model is developed for this purpose, whereby feed-in tariffs (FITs) and premiums (FIPs) are combined with investment subsidies and soft loans. The results show that combinin deployment instruments is not a cost-containment strategy. However, combinations may lead to different inter-temporal distributions of the same amount of policy costs which can affect the social acceptability and political feasibility of renewable energy support

Analysing the impact of renewable energy regulation on retail electricity prices [WP]

Retail electricity prices have substantially increased in the last decade in the European Union (EU) as a result of different regulations, raising the concern of policy makers. The growth in the support costs for electricity from renewable energy sources (RES-E) has often been singled out as a main driver of these prices. The aim of this paper is to analyse the degree of influence of RES-E promotion costs on the evolution of the retail price of electricity in the EU Member States. The analysis is carried out for households as well as for industry, with the help of a panel data econometric model. Our results show that the impact of renewable energy promotion costs on the retail electricity prices is positive and statistically significant, although relatively small. Differences across consumer types can be observed. An increase of 1% in those costs induces an average increase of only 0.023% in industrial retail prices and 0.008% in the residential retail prices. This impact on retail prices is mediated by the type of support scheme being adopted, with price-based support instruments showing a greater effect than quantity-based ones

Analysing the impact of renewable energy regulation on retail electricity prices

Retail electricity prices have substantially increased in the last decade in the European Union (EU) as a result of different regulations, raising the concern of policy makers. The growth in the support costs for electricity from renewable energy sources (RES-E) has often been singled out as a main driver of the increase in these prices. The aim of this paper is to analyse the degree of influence of RES-E promotion costs on the evolution of the retail price of electricity in the EU Member States. The analysis is carried out for households as well as for industry, with the help of a panel data econometric model. Our results show that the impact of renewable energy promotion costs on retail electricity prices is positive and statistically significant, although relatively small. Differences across consumer types can be observed. An increase of 1% in those costs induces an average increase of only 0.023% in industrial retail prices and 0.008% in the residential retail prices. This impact on retail prices is mediated by the type of support scheme which is adopted, with price-based support instruments showing a greater effect than quantity-based ones

Alteracions antròpiques en els boscos de Pinus halepensis Mill. dels sistemes dunars de Mallorca

Els sistemes platja-duna són, sens dubte, un dels trets fisiogràfics més característics de les costes mallorquines. Tot i que aquests, des d’algunes dècades enrere s’hagin associat de manera ferma a l’activitat socioeconòmica lligada a la indústria turística de sol i platja, la seva interacció amb l’home es remunta segles enrere. Gràcies a la tasca realitzada recentment a Menorca s’ha pogut comprovar, mitjançant l’aplicació d’una senzilla metodologia de mostreig, que una important part dels sistemes dunars a l’illa tenen masses forestals que, formades bàsicament per Pinus halepensis Mill., presenten un origen temporal sospitosament similar, donant peu a pensar amb la importància que la mà de l’home ha pogut jugar pel que fa a l’aspecte i configuració de la seva realitat vegetal actual, tot indicant tendències de discriminació positiva en quant a la presència d’aquesta espècie. El present treball pretén mostrar les modificacions que les masses boscoses de P. halepensis associades a alguns sistemes dunars litorals de l’illa de Mallorca han sofert al llarg de les dècades. S’analitzen mostres representatives per a cada un dels sistemes, les quals, a partir de la seva anàlisi permeten extreure algunes consideracions significatives que mostren alhora l’evolució històrica d’aquests ambients