A new distribution system planning framework is emerging among utilities seeking to proactively plan for integration as distributed energy resource (DER) penetration increases.
Changes are driven by the customer seeking new choices around energy, technological development leading to lower costs and better performance, and new policies and regulatory proceedings. The transition to a higher-DER grid is requiring utilities and utility customers to embrace DERs in many forms.
The traditional distribution system planning framework is no longer sufficient to ensure grid reliability as distributed energy resource (DER) penetration increases.
Changes are driven by the customer seeking new choices around energy, technological development leading to lower costs and better performance, and new policies and regulatory proceedings. The transition to a higher-DER grid is requiring utilities and utility customers to embrace DERs in many forms.
EASE is pleased that the European Commission recognises the value of energy storage as a provider of multiple services to the energy system. As the Commission acknowledges, however, today’s regulatory frameworks across Member States remain fragmented, hampering the creation of an internal energy market.
This report uses representative utility-scale projects to estimate the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) for land-based and offshore wind plants in the United States. Data and results detailed here are derived from 2015 commissioned plants. More specifically, analysis detailed here relies on recent market data and state-of-the-art modeling capabilities to maintain an up-to-date understanding of wind energy cost trends and drivers. It is intended to provide insight into current component-level costs as well as a basis for understanding variability in LCOE across the industry. This publication reflects the fifth installment of this annual report.
Bringing together nine partner organizations from Germany, Austria, and Sweden, the European research project OrPHEuS has investigated the concept of hybrid energy grids as a way to increase the usage of renewable energy in urban areas in a “resilient, flexible and cost-effective manner”.
The report presents the methodologies that JRC/SETIS applies for the evaluation of selected key performance indicators measuring progress in research and innovation in Europe, and provides the necessary theoretical background to underpin the SETIS contributions to the State of the Energy Union reports. It addresses key conceptual and operational points that are important for the interpretation and use of these results in the policy debate, such as the timing of data availability, information sources, methodological caveats, or the level of disaggregation of reported results.
Commissioned by G7 energy ministers, this report presents the first global overview of market-based instruments (MBIs) for energy efficiency, such as auctions, energy efficiency obligations on utilities and white certificate programmes.
This report provides an assessment of how governments can generate inclusive economic growth in the short term, while making progress towards climate goals to secure sustainable long-term growth. It describes the development pathways required to meet the Paris Agreement objectives and underlines the value of well-aligned policy packages in mobilising investment and social support for the transition while enhancing growth. The report also sets out the structural, financial and political changes needed to enable the transition.