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Switzerland
Published in Susanne Hanger-Kopp, Jenny Lieu, Alexandros Nikas, Narratives of Low-Carbon Transitions, 2019
Some uncertainties remain in the Swiss transition to renewable electricity, although they are not threatening: For example, the political winds may shift over the next 25 years to be more or less open to international co-operation. However, the structure of the Swiss Confederation’s executive makes dramatic shifts in policy – like in countries with two-party systems (e.g. the USA) – unlikely. Overall, we may expect Switzerland to remain rhetorically independent and autarkic, but practically integrated in Europe. Likewise, the Swiss economy has been relatively stable, with a largest annual drop of 3.4% of GDP in the last financial crisis, despite being known for international banking. The effects of climate change are also uncertain but the effects on hydropower are expected to be small over most of this century (SGH and CHy, 2011). Finally, it is unclear how far the costs of PV and wind will decrease in the future, but grid parity has now effectively been achieved and any further drops can only be in favour of the wider adoption of renewable electricity sources.
Photovoltaics
Published in Frank Jackson, Dilwyn Jenkins, Renewable Energy Systems, 2013
In 2009 a domestic PV installation would typically have cost from around US$7,000 per kWp in the US and around [Euro.069]6,000 per kWp in the UK. After the feed-in tariff was introduced in the UK, installation numbers shot up to 25,000 in the first year, and by 2011 the price had dropped to about [Euro.069]4,000 per kWp. In Germany, where feed-in tariffs have been available for several years, the price is below [Euro.069]3,000 per kWp. Larger systems can be installed for even less. This is still too expensive for systems to be economically attractive without government or utility support, but it does mean that, as overall costs approach grid-parity, the extent of that support is reducing rather rapidly. Grid parity is when the cost of PV generated electricity is the same as that bought from the grid by the end user.
Introduction to Renewable Energy Financing
Published in Gene Beck, Grid Parity, 2020
Grid Parity: A metric regularly used in evaluating the financial viability of renewable energy projects, which have historically been considered as too expensive. Grid parity is the point at which generating electricity from alternative energy produces power is at a cost to the user that is equal to or less than the price of purchasing power from the grid. A wholesale shift in generation from fossil fuels to clean renewable energy will take place when clean renewable energy reaches grid parity.
Making the sun shine at night: comparing the cost of dispatchable concentrating solar power and photovoltaics with storage
Published in Energy Sources, Part B: Economics, Planning, and Policy, 2021
Franziska Schöniger, Richard Thonig, Gustav Resch, Johan Lilliestam
Driven by dedicated support policies, electricity from solar photovoltaics (PV) and wind turbines has become much cheaper in the last decade and has reached grid-parity in many electricity markets around the globe. The global weighted-average total installed cost of utility-scale solar PV projects commissioned in 2019 was USD 995/kW (IRENA 2020). The LCOE was USD 0.068/kWh with an estimated learning rate of about 36% between 2010 and 2019 (IRENA 2020). With expected investment costs as low as e.g. USD 350/kW for utility-scale PV installations in 2050 (NREL 2019), cheap renewable electricity from solar and also wind power will play a big role in decarbonizing power systems (European Commission 2020) and will be the cheapest power source for new power generators in most places (Nayak et al. 2019). These technologies are, however, not sufficient to assure that supply meets demand at all times as their power generation follows the intermittent nature of its resource and not the demand profile. While the deployment of PV and wind is continuously growing research now aims to understand and develop technologies to accompany intermittent generators making renewable electricity available in times when solar and wind resources are scarce. There are different technologies suggested to balance supply and demand on different time scales, from seconds to seasonal variations.
Can China’s offshore wind power achieve grid parity in time?
Published in International Journal of Green Energy, 2021
Chenxi Xiang, Fei Chen, Fan Wen, Feng Song
Many studies have undertaken analyses of the competitiveness of renewable energy, in which the concept of ‘grid parity’ has been widely used (Olson and Jones 2012). Achieving grid parity implies that renewables become cost competitive with conventional resources, even without extra financial support, and create a self-sustaining market; thus, it is very important for any renewable energy technology (Tu et al. 2019). If the energy cost of a renewable technology is lower than that of conventional resources, such as coal-fired power, grid parity can be reached and the energy can be regarded as cost-sustainable and competitive.
Augmenting rooftop solar energy penetration ratio with secondary distribution network using smart inverter for maximum power transfer capacity for subordinate grid- A review
Published in Energy Sources, Part A: Recovery, Utilization, and Environmental Effects, 2019
Kishor Dattatraya Shinde, P.B. Mane
It is key for the solar PV industry to achieve grid parity before incentives for solar PV become obsolete. It is uncertain when grid parity can be achieved. The uncertainty is especially high in places where sun radiation is less abundant.