On the economics of electrical storage for variable renewable energy sources

Artikel

The use of renewable energy sources is a major strategy to mitigate climate change. Yet Sinn (2017) argues that excessive electrical storage requirements limit the further expansion of variable wind and solar energy. We question, and alter, strong implicit assumptions of Sinn’s approach and find that storage needs are considerably lower, up to two orders of magnitude. First, we move away from corner solutions by allowing for combinations of storage and renewable curtailment. Second, we specify a parsimonious optimization model that explicitly considers an economic efficiency perspective. We conclude that electrical storage is unlikely to limit the transition to renewable energy.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Journal: European Economic Review ; ISSN: 0014-2921 ; Volume: 108 ; Year: 2018 ; Pages: 259-279 ; Amsterdam: Elsevier

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes ; Renewable Resources and Conservation: Demand and Supply; Prices ; Energy: Demand and Supply; Prices ; Alternative Energy Sources
• Subject: Variable renewable energy sources ; Wind ; Solar ; Energy storage

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Zerrahn, Alexander ; Schill, Wolf-Peter ; Kemfert, Claudia
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Elsevier
• (where): Amsterdam
• (when): 2018

Further information

• DOI: doi:10.1016/j.euroecorev.2018.07.004
• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/200089
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:41 AM CET