[go: up one dir, main page]

IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/esprep/227075.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Market-based renewables: How flexible hydrogen electrolyzers stabilize wind and solar market values

Author

Listed:
  • Ruhnau, Oliver
Abstract
Wind and solar energy are often expected to fall victim to their own success: the higher their share in electricity production, the more their revenue on electricity markets (their “market value”) declines. While in conventional power systems, the market value may converge to zero, this study demonstrates that “green” hydrogen production, through adding electricity demand in low-price hours, can effectively and permanently halt the decline. With an analytical derivation, a Monte Carlo simulation, and a numerical electricity market model, I find that – due to flexible hydrogen production – market values in 2050 likely converge above €19 ± 9 per MWh for solar energy and above €27 ± 8 per MWh for wind energy. This is in the range of the projected levelized costs of renewables and has profound implications. Market-based renewables may hence be within reach.

Suggested Citation

  • Ruhnau, Oliver, 2020. "Market-based renewables: How flexible hydrogen electrolyzers stabilize wind and solar market values," EconStor Preprints 227075, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
  • Handle: RePEc:zbw:esprep:227075
    Note: Please cite as: Ruhnau, Oliver (2021): “How flexible electricity demand stabilizes wind and solar market values: The case of hydrogen electrolyzers”, Applied Energy, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.118194
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/227075/1/Market-based-renewables-how-flexible-hydrogen-electrolyzers-stabilize-wind-and-solar-market-values.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Varun Sivaram & Shayle Kann, 2016. "Solar power needs a more ambitious cost target," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 1(4), pages 1-3, April.
    2. Marie Petitet, Dominique Finon, and Tanguy Janssen, 2016. "Carbon Price instead of Support Schemes: Wind Power Investments by the Electricity Market," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 4).
    3. Ruhnau, Oliver & Bannik, Sergej & Otten, Sydney & Praktiknjo, Aaron & Robinius, Martin, 2019. "Direct or indirect electrification? A review of heat generation and road transport decarbonisation scenarios for Germany 2050," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 989-999.
    4. Gunther Glenk & Stefan Reichelstein, 2019. "Economics of converting renewable power to hydrogen," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 4(3), pages 216-222, March.
    5. Ueckerdt, Falko & Hirth, Lion & Luderer, Gunnar & Edenhofer, Ottmar, 2013. "System LCOE: What are the costs of variable renewables?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 61-75.
    6. Hirth, Lion & Müller, Simon, 2016. "System-friendly wind power," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 51-63.
    7. Bistline, John E., 2017. "Economic and technical challenges of flexible operations under large-scale variable renewable deployment," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 363-372.
    8. Pahle, Michael & Schill, Wolf-Peter & Gambardella, Christian & Tietjen, Oliver, 2016. "Renewable Energy Support, Negative Prices, and Real-time Pricing," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 37, pages 147-169.
    9. Hirth, Lion, 2013. "The market value of variable renewables," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 218-236.
    10. T. Brown & L. Reichenberg, 2020. "Decreasing market value of variable renewables can be avoided by policy action," Papers 2002.05209, arXiv.org, revised May 2021.
    11. Lamont, Alan D., 2008. "Assessing the long-term system value of intermittent electric generation technologies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 1208-1231, May.
    12. Jorge Blazquez & Carlo Andrea Bollino & Rolando Fuentes & Nora Nezamuddin, 2016. "The Renewable Energy Policy Paradox," Discussion Papers ks--1650-dp045a, King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center.
    13. Schill, Wolf-Peter, 2020. "Electricity Storage and the Renewable Energy Transition," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 4(10), pages 2059-2064.
    14. Green, Richard & Léautier, Thomas-Olivier, 2015. "Do costs fall faster than revenues? Dynamics of renewables entry into electricity markets," TSE Working Papers 15-591, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
    15. Ruhnau, Oliver & Hirth, Lion & Praktiknjo, Aaron, 2020. "Heating with wind: Economics of heat pumps and variable renewables," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    16. Paul L. Joskow, 2011. "Comparing the Costs of Intermittent and Dispatchable Electricity Generating Technologies," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(3), pages 238-241, May.
    17. Mills, Andrew D. & Wiser, Ryan H., 2015. "Strategies to mitigate declines in the economic value of wind and solar at high penetration in California," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 269-278.
    18. Khatib, Hisham & Difiglio, Carmine, 2016. "Economics of nuclear and renewables," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 740-750.
    19. Gunther Glenk & Stefan Reichelstein, 2019. "Publisher Correction: Economics of converting renewable power to hydrogen," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 4(4), pages 347-347, April.
    20. Gautam Gowrisankaran & Stanley S. Reynolds & Mario Samano, 2016. "Intermittency and the Value of Renewable Energy," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 124(4), pages 1187-1234.
    21. Chyong, C. & Pollitt, M. & Cruise, R., 2019. "Can wholesale electricity prices support “subsidy-free” generation investment in Europe?," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 1955, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    22. Sensfuß, Frank & Ragwitz, Mario & Genoese, Massimo, 2008. "The merit-order effect: A detailed analysis of the price effect of renewable electricity generation on spot market prices in Germany," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(8), pages 3076-3084, August.
    23. Hirth, Lion, 2016. "The benefits of flexibility: The value of wind energy with hydropower," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 181(C), pages 210-223.
    24. Cloete, Schalk & Ruhnau, Oliver & Hirth, Lion, 2020. "On capital utilization in the hydrogen economy: The quest to minimize idle capacity in renewables-rich energy systems," EconStor Preprints 222474, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    25. Roach, Martin & Meeus, Leonardo, 2020. "The welfare and price effects of sector coupling with power-to-gas," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Dujardin, Jérôme & Schillinger, Moritz & Kahl, Annelen & Savelsberg, Jonas & Schlecht, Ingmar & Lordan-Perret, Rebecca, 2022. "Optimized market value of alpine solar photovoltaic installations," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 186(C), pages 878-888.
    2. Frederik vom Scheidt & Jingyi Qu & Philipp Staudt & Dharik S. Mallapragada & Christof Weinhardt, 2021. "Integrating Hydrogen in Single-Price Electricity Systems: The Effects of Spatial Economic Signals," Papers 2105.00130, arXiv.org, revised Nov 2021.
    3. Böttger, Diana & Härtel, Philipp, 2022. "On wholesale electricity prices and market values in a carbon-neutral energy system," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    4. vom Scheidt, Frederik & Qu, Jingyi & Staudt, Philipp & Mallapragada, Dharik S. & Weinhardt, Christof, 2022. "Integrating hydrogen in single-price electricity systems: The effects of spatial economic signals," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    5. Johannes Brauer & Manuel Villavicencio & Johannes Trüby, 2022. "Green hydrogen – How grey can it be?," RSCAS Working Papers 2022/44, European University Institute.
    6. Ruhnau, O. & Bucksteeg, M. & Ritter, D. & Schmitz, R. & Böttger, D. & Koch, M. & Pöstges, A. & Wiedmann, M. & Hirth, L., 2022. "Why electricity market models yield different results: Carbon pricing in a model-comparison experiment," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    7. Diana Bottger & Philipp Hartel, 2021. "On Wholesale Electricity Prices and Market Values in a Carbon-Neutral Energy System," Papers 2105.01127, arXiv.org.
    8. Thomaßen, Georg & Redl, Christian & Bruckner, Thomas, 2022. "Will the energy-only market collapse? On market dynamics in low-carbon electricity systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ruhnau, Oliver, 2022. "How flexible electricity demand stabilizes wind and solar market values: The case of hydrogen electrolyzers," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 307(C).
    2. Ruhnau, Oliver & Hirth, Lion & Praktiknjo, Aaron, 2020. "Heating with wind: Economics of heat pumps and variable renewables," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    3. Javier L'opez Prol & Wolf-Peter Schill, 2020. "The Economics of Variable Renewables and Electricity Storage," Papers 2012.15371, arXiv.org.
    4. Brown, T. & Reichenberg, L., 2021. "Decreasing market value of variable renewables can be avoided by policy action," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    5. Eising, Manuel & Hobbie, Hannes & Möst, Dominik, 2020. "Future wind and solar power market values in Germany — Evidence of spatial and technological dependencies?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    6. Klie, Leo & Madlener, Reinhard, 2022. "Optimal configuration and diversification of wind turbines: A hybrid approach to improve the penetration of wind power," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    7. López Prol, Javier & Steininger, Karl W. & Williges, Keith & Grossmann, Wolf D. & Grossmann, Iris, 2023. "Potential gains of long-distance trade in electricity," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    8. Romeiro, Diogo Lisbona & Almeida, Edmar Luiz Fagundes de & Losekann, Luciano, 2020. "Systemic value of electricity sources – What we can learn from the Brazilian experience?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    9. Klie, Leo & Madlener, Reinhard, 2020. "Concentration Versus Diversification: A Spatial Deployment Approach to Improve the Economics of Wind Power," FCN Working Papers 2/2020, E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN), revised May 2021.
    10. Winkler, Jenny & Pudlik, Martin & Ragwitz, Mario & Pfluger, Benjamin, 2016. "The market value of renewable electricity – Which factors really matter?," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 464-481.
    11. Hirth, Lion, 2013. "The market value of variable renewables," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 218-236.
    12. Hirth, Lion, 2016. "The benefits of flexibility: The value of wind energy with hydropower," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 181(C), pages 210-223.
    13. Bernath, Christiane & Deac, Gerda & Sensfuß, Frank, 2021. "Impact of sector coupling on the market value of renewable energies – A model-based scenario analysis," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 281(C).
    14. Edenhofer, Ottmar & Hirth, Lion & Knopf, Brigitte & Pahle, Michael & Schlömer, Steffen & Schmid, Eva & Ueckerdt, Falko, 2013. "On the economics of renewable energy sources," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(S1), pages 12-23.
    15. Hirth, Lion & Ueckerdt, Falko & Edenhofer, Ottmar, 2015. "Integration costs revisited – An economic framework for wind and solar variability," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 925-939.
    16. Philipp Beiter & Aubryn Cooperman & Eric Lantz & Tyler Stehly & Matt Shields & Ryan Wiser & Thomas Telsnig & Lena Kitzing & Volker Berkhout & Yuka Kikuchi, 2021. "Wind power costs driven by innovation and experience with further reductions on the horizon," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(5), September.
    17. May, Nils, 2017. "The impact of wind power support schemes on technology choices," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 343-354.
    18. Odeh, Rodrigo Pérez & Watts, David, 2019. "Impacts of wind and solar spatial diversification on its market value: A case study of the Chilean electricity market," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 442-461.
    19. Brown, Patrick R. & O'Sullivan, Francis M., 2020. "Spatial and temporal variation in the value of solar power across United States electricity markets," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    20. Bistline, John E., 2017. "Economic and technical challenges of flexible operations under large-scale variable renewable deployment," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 363-372.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Renewable energy; Hydrogen electrolysis; Electricity market; Electricity economics; Integrated energy system; Flexible electricity demand;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q4 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy
    • Q40 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - General
    • Q41 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Demand and Supply; Prices
    • Q42 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Alternative Energy Sources

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:zbw:esprep:227075. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/zbwkide.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.