Hydrogen from wind curtailment for a cleaner European road transport system

Wind power is currently curtailed in order to stabilise power systems and due to economic considerations. Using curtailed wind energy to produce hydrogen could fuel hundreds of thousands of new cars. Producing hydrogen from wind curtailment is however still more expensive than buying it at market price.JRC.C.7-Knowledge for the Energy Unio

JRC Wind Energy Status Report - 2016 Edition

This report presents the status and development of main market, technology and regulatory issues of onshore and offshore wind energy. Global installed capacity reaches a new record year after year. This intense growth is enabled by the strong and fast technological development of wind energy and new solutions and innovations that continuously emerge aiming to reduce the energy cost. As technology is becoming more competitive, policy support in EU Member States keeps adapting.JRC.C.7-Knowledge for the Energy Unio

Wind Energy: Technology Market Report

This Wind Energy: Technology Market Report 2018 presents an assessment of the state of the art, development trends, targets and needs, technological barriers, as well as techno-economic projections until 2050. Particular attention is paid to how EC funded projects contributed to technology advancements. It includes an overview of Member States' activities based on information from the relevant SET Plan Temporary Working Groups as well as the objectives and main outcomes of the most relevant international programmes.JRC.C.2-Energy Efficiency and Renewable

Supply chain of renewable energy technologies in Europe: An analysis for wind, geothermal and ocean energy

This report aims at providing an overview of the supply chain of a number of renewable energy technologies. The report currently addresses the following technologies in detail: wind energy, geothermal energy and ocean energy but might be expanded at a later stage. In particular, the report focuses on the current market for renewable energy technologies and components and the position of EU companies and organisations as well as the EU's strengths and weaknesses. The main EU companies and competitors from outside the EU for each part of the supply chain or market segment are also presented.JRC.C.7-Knowledge for the Energy Unio

A Holistic Comparative Analysis of Different Storage Systems using Levelized Cost of Storage and Life Cycle Indicators

AbstractIn this study, a detailed economic analysis is combined with an ecological analysis of electricity storage systems. On the economic side, a “Levelized Cost of Storage (LCOS)” analysis is conducted, which assesses the cost of stored electricity. The LCOS is determined for a specific case of a private household in combination with a PV system. On the ecological side a “Life Cycle Assessment” (LCA) is used to calculate the environmental impact of electricity storage as well as the CO2 abatement costs. In the parameterized LCA the energy generation process used to feed the storage system, the material and the energy demand during the life cycle of the storage options is considered. With the parameterized LCA approach, the ecologically most rational storage systems can be identified. Results show that PV storage systems at household level are an environmental friendly option to increase the self-consumption and will be economically attractive in about ten years

Efficiency and costs of different concentrated solar power plant configurations for sites in Gauteng and the Northern Cape, South Africa

Concentrated solar power (CSP) plants can play a major role in the future South African electricity mix. Today the Independent Power Producer (IPP) Procurement Programme aims to facilitate renewable energy projects to access the South African energy market. In spite of this incentive programme, the future role of CSP plants in South Africa has yet to be defined. Using hourly irradiance data, we present a new method to calculate the expected yield of different parabolic trough plant configurations at a site in each of Gauteng and the Northern Cape, South Africa. We also provide cost estimates of the main plant components and an economic assessment that can be used to demonstrate the feasibility of solar thermal power projects at different sites. We show that the technical configurations, as well as the resulting cost of electricity, are heavily dependent on the location of the plant and how the electricity so generated satisfies demand. Today, levelised electricity costs for a CSP plant without storage were found to be between 101 and 1.52 ZAR2010/kWhel, assuming a flexible electricity demand structure. A CSP configuration with Limited Storage produces electricity at costs between 1.39 and 1.90 ZAR2010/kWhel, whereas that with Extended Storage costs between 1.86 and 2.27 ZAR2010/kWhel. We found that until 2040 a decrease in investment costs results in generating costs between 0.73 ZAR2010/kWhel for a CSP plant without storage in Upington and 1.16 ZAR2010/ kWhel for a configuration with Extended Storage in Pretoria. These costs cannot compete, however, with the actual costs of the traditional South African electricity mix. Nevertheless, a more sustainable energy system will require dispatchable power which can be offered by CSP including storage. Our results show that the choice of plant configuration and the electricity demand structure have a significant effect on costs. These results can help policymakers and utilities to benchmark plant performance as a basis for planning

Efficiency and costs of different concentrated solar power plant configurations for sites in Gauteng and the Northern Cape, South Africa

Concentrated solar power (CSP) plants can play a major role in the future South African electricity mix. Today the Independent Power Producer (IPP) Procurement Programme aims to facilitate renewable energy projects to access the South African energy market. In spite of this incentive programme, the future role of CSP plants in South Africa has yet to be defined. Using hourly irradiance data, we present a new method to calculate the expected yield of different parabolic trough plant configurations at a site in each of Gauteng and the Northern Cape, South Africa. We also provide cost estimates of the main plant components and an economic assessment that can be used to demonstrate the feasibility of solar thermal power projects at different sites. We show that the technical configurations, as well as the resulting cost of electricity, are heavily dependent on the location of the plant and how the electricity so generated satisfies demand. Today, levelised electricity costs for a CSP plant without storage were found to be between 101 and 1.52 ZAR2010/kWhel, assuming a flexible electricity demand structure. A CSP configuration with Limited Storage produces electricity at costs between 1.39 and 1.90 ZAR2010/kWhel, whereas that with Extended Storage costs between 1.86 and 2.27 ZAR2010/kWhel. We found that until 2040 a decrease in investment costs results in generating costs between 0.73 ZAR2010/kWhel for a CSP plant without storage in Upington and 1.16 ZAR2010/ kWhel for a configuration with Extended Storage in Pretoria. These costs cannot compete, however, with the actual costs of the traditional South African electricity mix. Nevertheless, a more sustainable energy system will require dispatchable power which can be offered by CSP including storage. Our results show that the choice of plant configuration and the electricity demand structure have a significant effect on costs. These results can help policymakers and utilities to benchmark plant performance as a basis for planning

Monitoring scientific collaboration trends in wind energy components

This report presents a bibliometric analysis of scientific articles issued on blades and on offshore wind support structures. It uses the JRC-developed TIM software for data analysis and visualisation, drawing on text mining and network analysis to count publication activity levels and identify collaboration patterns between entities. Our bibliometric searches detected increasing densification in the co-publication networks mapped by TIM for blades and on offshore support structures. This indicated that scientific publication activity could be intensifying, and this was confirmed by experts and by literature on wind energy. Both provided evidence of growth in these two research fields, and of intensified collaboration among partners – following the wind-energy industry orientation towards larger blade designs and innovative offshore support structures. The recent EC Communication on a renewed European Agenda for Research and Innovation points out that Europe is relatively strong in adding or sustaining value for existing products, services and processes, known as incremental innovation. But Europe needs to do better at generating disruptive and breakthrough innovations. Thus, the agenda encourages cooperation between research teams across countries and disciplines, supporting them to make breakthrough discoveries. Also countries outside the EU have put policies in place (e.g. China's 12th Five Year Plan) explicitly focussing on technology innovation in the sector of onshore and offshore wind. Within this context, this analysis uses the JRC's Tools for Innovation Monitoring (TIM) software developed by the JRC to retrieve bibliometric data on blades (a component more benefitting from incremental innovations) and offshore wind support structures (a relatively new research field in which disruptive innovations like floating power plants might become breakthrough innovations) to - measure the publication and collaboration activity, - identify leading organisations and new entrants, - identify the main areas of publications of the leading players and - identify the leading countries and country collaboration patterns. The bibliometric results obtained are then contrasted with data for research funding on wind energy from the Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme, to analyse the thematic focus of publication and funding activity. Results are also complemented with recent information from the wind industry and research news on the latest developments in the investigated areas. Thus, this study can support policies aiming for prioritisation and alignment of European research efforts within the wind energy topic.JRC.C.7-Knowledge for the Energy Unio

Implementing the SET Plan

The SET Plan has confirmed its role as the key EU energy research and innovation initiative that serves the Energy Union goals and delivers the innovations necessary to achieve the European transition to climate-neutrality by 2050. It has put forward a dedicated vision for each technology area by setting ambitious targets to be reached in the next decade(s) with the overall goal to place Europe at the forefront of the next generation of low-carbon energy technologies and of energy efficiency. For each of these technology areas, Implementation plans have been developed that facilitate the meeting of these targets. The 14 Implementation plans cover all the Energy Union Research & Innovation priority areas and the SET Plan 10 actions. They were endorsed by the SET Plan Steering Group(1) and the European Commission in 2018(2). In order to execute the Research & Innovation activities presented in the Implementation plans, interested SET Plan countries, and relevant industrial and research stakeholders have formed Implementation working groups (IWG). These groups have the task to advance the respective Implementation plans, reaching collectively the agreed technology targets. AGENDA 23(3) calls for “each IWG to develop a working methodology based on indicators to monitor the progress of actions under the Implementation plans and feeding the relevant information to the Strategic Energy Technologies Information System (SETIS).” SETIS has created a reporting methodology to facilitate this process, based on templates that have been presented in the 12th SET Plan conference in Bucharest and subsequently validated by the Steering Group members. Following a workshop dedicated to this process, the IWGs have been requested to complete these templates, provided by SETIS, which form the basis of the pilot “2019 SET Plan progress report”. This publication, released during the 13th SET Plan conference in Helsinki, offers a concise overview of this pilot phase of the SET Plan monitoring process, presenting the state of the implementation of the SET Plan based on the inputs from the SET Plan IWGs. (1) With the exception of the Nuclear safety Implementation plan that was endorsed by BE, CH, CZ, ES, FI, FR, HR, HU, IT, LT, NL, PL, RO, SI, SK, TR and UK. (2) https://setis.ec.europa.eu/actions-towards-implementing-integrated-set-plan (3) https://setis.ec.europa.eu/system/files/set-plan_agenda23.pdfJRC.C.7-Knowledge for the Energy Unio

Clean energy technologies in coal regions

This report presents a concise overview of the role that clean energy technologies can play for the identified regions in the path to their transition from coal mining activity under a low carbon energy consumption and production lence. The focus is on power generation technologies from wind, solar photovoltaics (free standing and roof-top), bioenergy, geothermal sources, as well as on coal-fired power plants with carbon capture. We also address energy demand technologies and specifically assess the potential for energy efficiency refurbishments in buildings. Energy storage is dealt with presenting activities relevant to batteries, to give an insight on planned or ongoing activities within coal regions. The report summarises the main findings across regions, complemented by one detailed fact sheet per region. Estimates on the renewable energy and clean energy technology potential in each region are presented. We also assess the potential of technologies in terms of investments needs and the impact this could have on job creation and regional economic development. Renewable and clean energy technology options can be an alternative to the continuation of the current model for economic development, power generation and job creation in each region, in line with EU’s climate and energy targets.JRC.C.7-Knowledge for the Energy Unio