Sustainable Energy Portfolios for Small Island States

Sustainability

Sándor Szabó¹  Ioannis Kougias²  Magda Moner-Girona²  Katalin B༽is² 

[1] European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Energy and Transport, Renewables and Energy Efficiency Unit, Via E. Fermi, 2749 Ispra, Italy;

关键词: renewable energy;    sustainable development;    solar;    PV;    battery;    fossil fuels;    optimization;    harmony search algorithm;    island energy portfolio;   

DOI  :  10.3390/su70912340

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

The study presents a cost effective electricity generation portfolio for six island states for a 20-year period (2015–2035). The underlying concept investigates whether adding sizeable power capacities of renewable energy sources (RES) options could decrease the overall costs and contribute to a more sustainable, indigenous electricity generation at the same time. Often, island states rely on fossil fuels which, apart from dependence on foreign resources, also includes an additional, significant transport cost. This is an extra motive to study the extent in which island states represent primary locations for RES technologies. For the aims of the present study an optimization model has been developed and following numerous runs the obtained results show that installing PV and battery capacities can delay-reduce the huge investments in fossil options in early periods. Thus, investment on RES can have a positive, long-term effect on the overall energy mix. This prompt development can happen without adding new subsidies but there is a need to address the existing socio-economic barriers with intelligent design of financing and economic instruments and capacity building as discussed in the conclusions.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.