Wind Energy: Technology Development Report

This Wind Energy Technology Development 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

IEA WIND 2012 Annual Report

Contribution to this annual report of the IEA Wind Implementing Agreement. Here the JRC, as representative of the Commission, exposes the achievements in wind R&D supported by the Commission programmes (FP7, IEE). Subchapters 2, 3 and 4 of chapter 20 are the Commission's responsibility whereas subchapters 1 and 5 are EWEA's responsibilityJRC.F.6-Energy systems evaluatio

The regulatory framework for wind energy in EU Member States Part 1 of the Study on the social and economic value of wind energy – WindValueEU

This document is the first deliverable of to the study on the social and economic value of wind energy. The aim of this paper is to provide an updated overview of the regulatory framework for wind energy in European Union Member States. The study is focused in both onshore and offshore wind energy describing the main features of the regulatory framework currently in force in each Member State. Three main aspects are covered in this report: support schemes, grid issues and potential barriers for wind energy deployment.JRC.F.6-Energy Technology Policy Outloo

Pumped-hydro Energy Storage: Potential for Transformation from Single Dams

Electricity storage is one of the main ways to enable a higher share of variable renewable electricity such as wind and solar, the other being improved interconnections, flexible conventional generation plant, and demand-side management. Pumped hydropower storage (PHS) is currently the only electricity storage technology able to offer large-scale storage as that needed for accommodating renewable electricity under the 2020 EU energy targets. Compared with the high environmental and social impact of most new hydropower plant in Europe, the transformation of an existing reservoir into a PHS system offers the prospects of a much smaller environmental and social impact. The authors developed a geographical information systems (GIS) -based methodology and model to identify the potential for transforming single reservoirs into PHS systems, and to assess the additional energy storage which these new PHS could contribute to the electricity systems. The methodology was applied as case studies to Croatia and Turkey. GIS-based tools have the potential for effective and efficient identification of both national/EU potentials (of policy and scientific-interest) and individual site candidates for transformation (prefeasibility, project-level). Once the model is set up, improvements to such tools, e.g. allowing better sensitivity analysis, can be effectively applied to the whole of the EU with minimum effort. This paper first summarises the methodology and tool used and then exposes the results of its application to two countries as case studies. These results limit the assessment to potential sites within 5 km of one existing reservoir (TA) or of one another (TB), and a minimum 150 m of head. In the case of Croatia, it was found that at least a potential of 60 GWh is possible for which can be compared with the existing 20 GWh of storage capacity at its PHS plants. In the case of Turkey a potential of 3 800 GWh was assessed mostly under TA, with 2 potential TB sites providing three additional GWh of storage potential.JRC.F.6-Energy systems evaluatio

A system-based approach to assessing the value of wind for society

A system-based approach to assessing the value of wind is based on the definition of the subsystems that lie inside the system boundary, then the categories in each subsystem, and finally the elements that compose those categories. The subsystems that were identified as affecting the value of wind are: • technology, including research, development and demonstration (RD&D), technology spillover and materials; • the energy sector, including the electricity market and electricity system categories, the security and economic aspects of security of supply and the wider non-electricity energy market; • the wind energy market, including industrial activities and the cost of wind energy and its support, for example, in the form of subsidies, grants, taxes, fees and levies, and by the financial sector; • the broader economy, including electricity generation technology investment, government actions and industrial competitiveness; • social, covering employment, the impact on land or the sea, social acceptance, non-economic costs of administration, anti-wind campaigns, health and safety issues; • environmental categories, including life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution, water use and land and water surface. The result is a guide that could be used by analysts and practitioners of policy-support theory and practice to define which subsystems, categories and/or elements they decide to include in a prospective analysis of the value (and the impact) of wind for society.JRC.F.6-Energy Technology Policy Outloo

SETIS expert workshop on the assessment of the potential of pumped hydropower storage

Energy storage is an important option to enable a higher share of variable renewable electricity such as wind and solar, in the energy system. Pumped hydropower storage (PHS) is currently the only storage technology able to provide the large storage needed for accommodating renewable electricity under the 2020 EU energy targets. Moreover, the transformation of an existing water reservoir into a PHS facility has a much smaller environmental and social impact compared with most new hydropower plant in Europe. The JRC collaborated with University College Cork (UCC) in Ireland to develop a GIS-based methodology and model to assess the potential for transforming single reservoirs into PHS systems. Then the JRC organised a multi-disciplinary expert workshop to validate the methodology and model, provide a set of recommendations for the improvement of the effectiveness and efficiency of the methodology, address the issue of data availability in the Member States, and share and disseminate the methodology among relevant stakeholders, such as policy makers, industry, research, etc. This report presents the results of the workshop which concluded that the assessment of the potential for PHS is different when its purpose is site assessment or policy planning and decision-making; and that the use of geographical information systems models is effective, efficient and convenient for both purposes whereas what differs is the intensity of the use of the tools, the detail of the data needed and the assumptions behind the model and methodology. The restriction to PHS development imposed by the different types of nature protection areas (NPA) is different in different countries. Also, laws and perceptions change with time and as PHS projects take a long time to realise the scientific assessment of European or national potential cannot take current NPAs and laws into account with the same weight as the site assessment for a proposed PHS project. Country and European assessment is heavily dependent on the assumptions taken. For example, sensibility analysis showed that enlarging the maximum distance between two reservoirs from 5 to 20 km increased the theoretical potential for Croatia from 60 GWh to nearly 600 GWh.JRC.F.6-Energy systems evaluatio

Renewable Energy Snapshot 2013

Penetration and deployment of some key renewable energy sources in Europe is analysed on the basis of the latest available data and statistics.JRC.F.7-Renewable Energ

Renewable Energy Snapshots 2011

These Renewable Energy Snapshots are based on various data providers including grey data sources and tries to give an overview about the latest developments and trends in the different technologies. Due to the fact that unconsolidated data are used there is an uncertainty margin which should not be neglected. We have cross checked and validate the different data against each others, but do not take any responsibility about the use of these data.JRC.F.8-Renewable Energy (Ispra

Renewable Energy Snapshots 2012

Penetration and deploymernt of renewable energies in Europe until 20102 is analyzedon the basis of the latest available data and statisticsJRC.F.7-Renewable Energ

A Systemic Assessment of the European Offshore Wind Innovation: Insights from the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany and the United Kingdom

The development and diffusion of offshore wind energy technology is important for European energy policy. However, the large potential does not automatically lead to a large share in future energy systems; neither does an emergent stage of technological development automatically lead to success for companies and the related economic growth and growth in employment. Recent insights in innovation studies suggest that the success chances of technological innovations are, to a large extent, determined by how the surrounding system (the innovation system) is built up and how it functions. Many innovation systems are characterized by flaws that hamper the development and diffusion of innovations. These flaws are often labelled as system problems or system challenges. Intelligent innovation policy therefore evaluates how innovation systems are functioning, tries to create insight into the systems’ challenges and develops policies accordingly. This report assesses the European offshore wind innovation system based on insights from four countries: Denmark, the UK, the Netherlands and Germany. We use the Technological Innovation System (TIS) approach to analyse the state and functioning of the system at the end of 2011. Based on the analysis we identify four types of systemic challenges: (i) actor-related such as deficiency of engineers; (ii) institutional, e.g. non-aligned national regulatory frameworks; (iii) interaction-related like poor transferability of scientific knowledge to specific contexts of application and; (iv) infrastructural such as poor grid infrastructure. We suggest the challenges require a systemic, coordinated policy effort at a European level if the system is expected to contribute to the goals of climate change reduction and stimulation of green growth.JRC.F.6-Energy systems evaluatio