100% Renewables for Australia?

Transcription

1 100% Renewables for Australia? Challenges and Opportunities Dr Jenny Riesz Engineers Australia 20 th Nov 2014

2 Who am I?

3 Overview 100% renewables worth thinking about? 100% renewables technically feasible? 100% renewables costs? 100% renewables will the market work?

4 Global investment in electricity generation Investment in power plants by type and region, More invested in renewables than fossil fuels globally IEA, World Energy Investment Outlook

5 What about capacity? In 2013, renewables accounted for more than 56% of net additions to global power capacity China now adds more renewable capacity each year than fossil fuel and nuclear capacity combined. REN21, Renewables 2014 Global Status Report 5

6 What about Australia? Keep using what we ve got? New coal? Gas? Nuclear? Ageing generation fleet By 2030, 65% of Australia s coal-fired power stations will be over 40yrs old New coal now costs more than renewables Regulatory risks means very high cost of capital, if they can get financing at all Baseload CCGT can t get competitive gas supply contracts Competition with LNG export market More expensive than renewables No existing industry or experience UK: Hinkley Point C $154/MWh 35yr PPA Bloomberg New Energy Finance & Climate Commission 6

7 Power systems with very high renewable proportions of renewables appear inevitable It s not a question of if, it s a question of when. 100% renewables worth thinking about? But is it even technically feasible?!? 7

8 Renewable technologies Variable & non- synchronous

9 Optimising generation mix System cost Genera4on capital cost Integra4on cost (Voltage/Frequency management) Least cost mix 0% variable 100% variable (50%?) Propor%on of variable renewables

10 A new power system paradigm Wind displaces baseload generation J. Riesz, J. Gilmore, (2014) Does wind need back-up capacity Modelling the system integration costs of back-up capacity for variable generation. Accepted for presentation at the 2014 International Energy Workshop (Beijing)

11 Least cost mix 45% - 60% wind 14% - 22% Solar thermal 15% - 20% PV 5% Hydro (exis%ng) 6% Biomass Elliston, B; MacGill, I; Diesendorf, M (2013) Energy Policy, Least cost 100% renewable electricity scenarios in the Australian NEM

12 Modelling of 100% Renewables Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) Landmark modelling study in 2013 Most detailed analysis of 100% renewables to date First time 100% renewables considered by an official planning body in Australia 12

13 A massive data collection process Hourly traces for wind /solar technologies developed based upon historical observa%ons ( to ) U%lity PV Geothermal CST Wave Wind (on- shore)

14 Least cost generation mix to meet the Reliability Standard: Diverse portfolio is key Scenario 1 Low technology cost + Low demand Scenario 2 High technology cost + High demand Biogas Hydro CST PV (u%lity) PV (rooqop) Wind Bagasse Biomass Geothermal

15 New transmission

16 Example: Summer, Scenario 1, 2030 U%lity PV Biomass CST RooQop PV Geothermal Wind

17 Example: Winter, Scenario 2, 2030 Model constrained to minimum 15% synchronous genera%on in all periods (maintain iner%a, fault level feed- in, etc) Wind Biomass

18 Technical feasibility of 100% renewables AEMO s assessment: Reliability standard maintained Operational issues appear manageable High level review, including inertia, frequency management, fault feed-in levels, voltage management, etc, based upon international research. Agrees with previous analysis (UNSW, Uni of Melb/BZE) 100% renewables Technically feasible? A question of cost

19 Cost AEMO Modelling Total capital cost including transmission Wholesale cost including opex Cost for 100% renewables $ billion $ /MWh Current average wholesale price $55/MWh 100% renewables requires doubling of this

20 Components of retail prices Increase of 6-8c/kWh on retail tariffs (20-30c/kWh) $300 /quarter $390 /quarter (100% renewables) $55 /MWh $110 /MWh AEMC, Electricity Price Trends Final Report, March 2013, Results for QLD in

21 How much will electricity prices go up anyway? 2030

22 How much will electricity prices go up anyway? 2050

23 UNSW Analysis $70 /MWh Commercially available technologies only (no geothermal): $82 /MWh J. Riesz, B. Elliston, CEEM paper in preparation 23

24 Lowest cost trajectory for the National Electricity Market Given projected gas and carbon prices, and cost risk profiles GHG emissions ranges as recommended by the Australian Government Climate Change Authority J. Riesz, P. Vithayasrichareon, I. MacGill, Assessing Gas Transition Pathways to low carbon electricity (2014) 24

25 Operational constraints Ramping, cycling and minimum load constraints add less than 2% to system costs (15-85% renewables) Minimum synchronous generation constraint is most significant (~7% increase in costs) % of capacity as coal CCGT cycling remains within generator design parameters Highest observed: 230 starts /yr (15 to 85% renewables) Design: starts/yr Coal cycling is high only in scenarios with high renewables AND high coal Higher renewables DOESN T necessarily mean more coal starts P. Vithayasrichareon, J. Riesz, CEEM paper in preparation 25

26 Availability of a small amount of bioenergy (or some other peaking generation) is the most important factor determining costs. Technologies available: Limit on % of non -synchronous generation J. Riesz, B. Elliston, CEEM paper in preparation 26

27 100% renewables (or very high renewables) appears similar in cost to other possible power systems in the future 100% renewables Cost competitive? 27

28 100% Renewables MARKET VIABILITY? 28

29 What about the market? Competitive market Generators offer close to SRMC Price close to zero in majority of periods How do generators recover costs? How do we maintain accurate investment incentives? SYSTEM ADEQUACY

30 Merit Order Effect - Observed Low wind High wind Summer, weekdays Also in international markets Texas (ERCOT), Denmark, Spain, Ireland Cutler NJ, Boerema N, MacGill IF, and Outhred HR, (2011). High penetrauon wind generauon impacts on spot prices in the Australian nauonal electricity market, Energy Policy 39,

31 Debate on the Renewable Energy Target (RET) Multiple credible studies show that the RET decreases electricity costs for consumers But how can adding more expensive renewable generation decrease costs? Consumers Prices Wholesale electricity payments Wholesale electricity payments Wealth transfer New entrant Incumbent generators New entrant New entrant 31

32 Will the market work with high renewables? Significant market concentration? YES Market participants exercise market power to raise prices NO Significant DSP? YES Regulated market price cap becomes irrelevant NO Increase allowed scarcity prices? Constant monitoring is wise new issues will arise over time YES YES Strong contracts market? NO Investment incentives too low NO Market continues to work effectively Market participants can t manage risk 32

33 Summary 100% renewables worth thinking about? Inevitable - a question of when, not if 100% renewables technically feasible? Yes, with high confidence 100% renewables costs? Appear manageable, and likely lower than other generation types (given anticipated gas and carbon costs) 100% renewables will the market work? Will challenge existing market models, but dramatic market reform is unlikely to be warranted at this time monitoring and increased transparency is wise. 33

34 Thank you ceem.unsw.edu.au jenny.riesz.com.au 34