Replacing Coal with Wind and Solar in South Korea’s electricity system

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonas Hörsch ◽  
Tina Aboumahboub ◽  
Gaurav Ganti ◽  
Matthew Gidden ◽  
Himalaya Bir Shrestha ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Korea ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Paris Agreement ◽  
Renewable Energies ◽  
Weather Data ◽  
Levelized Cost Of Electricity ◽  
Electricity System ◽  
Phase Out

<p>South Korea’s current energy system heavily relies on fossil fuels in particular coal-fired generation followed by nuclear. Currently, the country is defining its long-term energy strategy and latest Basic Electric Power Supply and Demand Plan proposes to increase the share of renewable energies to 26% by 2034, while converting most of their older half of coal plants to LNG. However, to be consistent with Paris Agreement compatible pathways, more ambitious coal phase out schedules to retire the entire coal fleet until 2030 are also discussed. We consolidate such a schedule with an expansion plan for wind and solar capacities derived from open-source renewable resource and energy system models.</p><p>For the analysis of integrating renewable energies into South Korea’s future energy system, we perform a detailed assessment of the technical potential of renewable energy sources by applying a temporally and spatially resolved modelling. A comprehensive set of geographical constraints and land exclusion factors are applied to derive the suitable area for placement of wind onshore and offshore turbines as well as PV installations. The land eligibility analysis is followed by the simulation of generation profiles from wind turbines and PV units from ERA-5 weather data, deriving the hourly capacity factors and the corresponding levelized cost of electricity for each location.</p><p>We optimize the expansion and operation of renewable energies and storage in South Korea’s electricity system for a Paris Agreement compatible coal phase out until 2030. The model chooses from the renewable expansion potentials and their cost characteristics derived in the resource assessment to balance an hourly-resolved demand scenario for each year. Flexibility needs are met with an optimized dispatch of the existing gas power plants and additional short-term and long-term storage capacities. The detailed modelling approach at a high temporal and spatial resolution allows to have a realistic assessment of the power system integration impacts of varying renewable sources and to evaluate the system adaptation needs in terms of required storage capacities.</p>

Energy, Resilience, and Responsibility in Post-Hurricane Maria Dominica: Ethical and Historical Perspectives on ‘Building Back Better’

2018 ◽  
Vol 05 (04) ◽  
pp. 1840003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeff Popke ◽  
Conor Harrison
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Historical Perspectives ◽  
Electricity System ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Political Relations ◽  
Hurricane Season ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Ecological Relations

In the wake of the 2017 hurricane season, discussions across the Caribbean have turned to the need to develop more resilient energy systems, particularly through the deployment of renewable energy sources. In this paper, we examine the post-Hurricane Maria rebuilding of Dominica’s electricity system in light of recent scholarship around the Anthropocene and the Caribbean, work that has heightened awareness of the entanglements between the earth’s geophysical forces and its socio-economic and geo-political relations. Drawing on archival research and key informants in Dominica, we describe the history of Dominica’s energy system, and then provide an overview of some of the energy rebuilding efforts in the country’s ongoing recovery from Hurricane Maria, particularly around the question of resilience. While we acknowledge critiques of resilience as a framework for disaster management, we also argue that resilience initiatives foster the potential for an Anthropocene reimagining of geosocial formations within the Caribbean. In the conclusion, we argue that the domain of energy, and in particular electricity, opens up important questions at the interface of social-ecological relations and the organization of collective life.

scholarly journals Review of Optimization Techniques for Sizing Renewable Energy Systems

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Mekontso ◽  
Abdulkarim Abubakar ◽  
S. Madugu ◽  
O. Ibrahim ◽  
Y. A. Adediran
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Optimization Techniques ◽  
Weather Data ◽  
Energy Sources ◽  
Hybrid Energy ◽  
Load Demand ◽  
Global Warning

The growing evidence of the global warning phenomena and the rapid depletion of fossil fuels have drawn the world attention to the exploitation of renewable energy sources (RES). However standalone RES have been proven to be very expensive and unreliable in nature owing to the stochastic nature of the energy sources. Hybrid energy system is an excellent solution for electrification of areas where the grid extension is difficult and not economical. One of the main attribute of hybridising is to be able to optimally size each RES including storages with the aim of minimizing operation costs while efficiently and reliably responding to load demand. Hybrid RES emerges as a trend born out of the need to fully utilize and solve problems associated with the reliability of RES. This paper present a review of techniques used in recent optimal sizing of hybrid RES. It discusses several methodologies and criteria for optimization of hybrid RES. The recent trend in optimization in the field of hybrid RES shows that bio-inspired techniques may provide good optimization of system without extensive long weather data.

scholarly journals Long-term energy strategy scenarios for South Korea: Transition to a sustainable energy system

Energy Policy ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 127 ◽  
pp. 425-437 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jong Ho Hong ◽  
Jitae Kim ◽  
Wonik Son ◽  
Heeyoung Shin ◽  
Nahyun Kim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Korea ◽  
Sustainable Energy ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Energy Strategy ◽  
Term Energy ◽  
Sustainable Energy System

Comparative study on the economic feasibility of nanogrid and microgrid electrification: The case of Jeju Island, South Korea

2020 ◽  
pp. 0958305X2092311
Author(s):  
Jinwoo Bae ◽  
Soojung Lee ◽  
Heetae Kim
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Comparative Study ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Economic Feasibility ◽  
Jeju Island ◽  
Hybrid Energy ◽  
Cost Of Energy ◽  
The Government

Due to heavy fuel dependence, the “renewable energy system” idea is an important issue in South Korea. The government of South Korea is endeavoring to convert its energy infrastructure into renewable energy generation. As such, numerous studies have evaluated the economic feasibility of various renewable energy sources in South Korea. This study differs from those studies as it is focused on a smaller scale in terms of self-supporting nanogrid and microgrid energy. The purpose of this study is to determine which type of grid is more economical. To conduct a comparative study on the economic feasibility of nanogrids and microgrids, three substations on Jeju Island were randomly selected. We then suggested two scenarios. The first scenario is <nanogrid>, which changes each substation into a nanogrid, and the second is <microgrid>, which connects the three nanogrids to share electricity. This study identifies the optimal combination of hybrid energy resources using HOMER (hybrid optimization model for electric renewables) software to change the substations into an self-supporting energy nanogrid or microgrid. According to the net present cost and cost of energy results for each scenario through HOMER simulations, the <nanogrid> scenario is more economical than the <microgrid> scenario. However, this study also shows that microgrids can be the better option, depending on the distance between nanogrids. Finally, implications and limitations are discussed in the last section of this paper.

Die ökonomischen Wirkungen der Förderung erneuerbarer Energien: Erfahrungen aus Deutschland

2010 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Frondel ◽  
Nolan Ritter ◽  
Christoph M. Schmidt ◽  
Colin Vance
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Renewable Energies ◽  
Environmentally Benign ◽  
Renewable Energy Policy ◽  
Industrialized Countries ◽  
Environmental Laws ◽  
Support Mechanisms

AbstractThe allure of an environmentally benign, abundant, and cost-effective energy source has led an increasing number of industrialized countries to back public financing of renewable energies. Germany’s experience with renewable energy promotion is often cited as a model to be replicated elsewhere, being based on a combination of far-reaching energy and environmental laws that stretch back nearly two decades. This paper critically reviews the centerpiece of this effort, the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG), focusing on its costs and the associated implications for job creation and climate protection. We argue that German renewable energy policy, and in particular the adopted feed-in-tariff scheme, has failed to harness the market incentives needed to ensure a viable and cost-effective introduction of renewable energies into the country’s energy portfolio. To the contrary, the government’s support mechanisms have in many respects subverted these incentives, resulting in massive expenditures that show little long-term promise for stimulating the economy and protecting the environment.

Modelling long term investments in wind energy – benefits of combining high resolution geo data, energy system modelling and auction design

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frieder Borggrefe ◽  
Simak Sheykhha ◽  
Kai von Krbek ◽  
Yvonne Scholz
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
High Resolution ◽  
Wind Energy ◽  
Wind Power ◽  
Data Model ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Wind Data ◽  
System Modelling ◽  
Electricity System

&lt;p&gt;This paper addresses the link between geo data models, market design of renewable energy auctions and energy system models. Renewable energy accounts for around 20% of electricity supply in Europe. In countries such as Sweden, Finland and Germany we already reached a share of more than 40%. In these countries renewables became the main energy source. The dash for building renewable energy in Europe will continue with the EU and national climate targets.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The impact of renewables on the grid and system operation will increase. Key elements to build an efficient energy infrastructure in the long term are a good understanding on (1) how renewables will penetrate the energy system (regional investments) and a good perception on (2) the effects renewables have on the energy system including (3) the additional infrastructure required, enabling a secure electricity system.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Since 2005 the DLR uses geo data model ENDAT to predict wind power feed-in and investments in the years up to 2050 based on historic weather data. In order to allow for better modelling of the potentials of wind energy high resolution of wind data and efficient clustering methods are applied to allow a more detailed representation of the long term potentials of wind energy.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In this paper we combine three modelling approaches: The geo data model ENDAT (DLR), a model of the renewable auctions based on a system dynamics model HECTOR (RWTH Aachen) and an energy system model REMix (DLR) &amp;#8211; that allows investigating the long term impact of renewables on the electricity system for 2030, 2040 and 2050. The key questions this paper aims to answer are: How will detailed spatial and temporal modelling of renewable energy data as well as auction design influence the predictions for future distribution of wind power plants? What policy recommendations can be drawn from predictions for the years up to 2050 with regard to policy design and investments in wind energy in Germany and Europe?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The paper divides in two parts. The first part investigates different approaches to model potential for wind power investments and power generation based on historic wind data. While in the past ENDAT used to generate time series for wind on a country by country basis or on NUTS-1 level, improved models allow for more detailed representation of wind data. Key element of this part is to understand the benefits of high resolution of wind data for the results of the overall energy system modelling.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The second part of the paper describes how the detailed representation of wind potentials and wind speeds will affect future auction results - and therefore influence long term investments in renewable energy. Model results for the German electricity system will be presented. To benchmark different scenarios, each scenario will be evaluated based on the regional distribution of renewable energies and the resulting impact on the energy system (with regard to grid investments, operation costs and aspects of security of supply).&lt;/p&gt;

scholarly journals Impact of Different Weather Years on the Design of Hydrogen Supply Pathways for Transport Needs

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dilara Caglayan ◽  
Heidi Heinrichs ◽  
Jochen Linßen ◽  
Martin Robinius ◽  
Detlef Stolten
Keyword(s):  
Electricity Generation ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Weather Data ◽  
Specific Reference ◽  
Future Market ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Future Energy System

Renewable energy sources (RES) will play a crucial role in future sustainable energy systems. In scenarios analyzing future energy system designs, a detailed spatial and temporal representation of renewable-based electricity generation is essential. For this, sufficiently representative weather data are required. Most analyses performed in this context use the historical data of either one specific reference year or an aggregation of multiple years. In contrast, this study analyzes the impact of different weather years based on historical weather data from 1980 through 2015 in accordance with the design of an exemplary future energy system. This exemplary energy system consists of on- and offshore wind energy for power-to-hydrogen via electrolysis, including hydrogen pipeline transport for most southwestern European countries. The assumed hydrogen demand for transportation needs represents a hypothetical future market penetration for fuel cell-electric vehicles of 75%. An optimization framework is used in order to evaluate the resulting system design with the objective function of minimizing the total annual cost (TAC) of the system. For each historical weather year, the applied optimization model determines the required capacities and operation of wind power plants, electrolyzers, storage technologies and hydrogen pipelines to meet the assumed future hydrogen demand in a highly spatially- and temporally-detailed manner, as well as the TAC of the system. Following that, the results of every individual year are compared in terms of installed capacities, overall electricity generation and connection to the transmission network, as well as the cost of these components within each region. The results reveal how sensitive the final design of the exemplary system is to the choice of the weather year. For example, the TAC of the system changes by up to 20% across two consecutive weather years. Furthermore, significant variation in the optimization results regarding installed capacities per region with respect to the choice of weather years can be observed.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document