Birte Holst Jørgensen

Case Study Analysis

The case studies in DECENT were chosen in order to facilitate a detailed research of the DG project’s framework in relation to the hypotheses. Furthermore, a good representation of the different Member States had to be ensured, in order to be able to get case study information on possible effects of different settings of the power markets. As relevant indicators the level of liberalisation and market conditions, and the type of RES-E/CHP support scheme were chosen. In addition, a fair mix of the generation technologies covered in DECENT had to be maintained.

Decentralised Power Generation in the Liberalised EU Energy Markets

1 Introduction.- 2 What is Decentralised Generation?.- 3 Outline of Research Methodology.- 4 Status Quo and Developments of DG Technology.- 5 Liberalisation and Decentralised Generation in the EU Member States.- 6 Scenarios: Europes DG Power Generation in the Year 2020.- 7 Case Study Analysis.- 8 Barriers and Success Factors for DG.- 9 Policy Implications.- 10 DG and Security of Supply.- 11 DG and EU Energy Technology R&D Policy.- 12 Conclusions and recommendations.- 13 References.- 14 Index.- Annex A: Survey questionnaire of the DECENT Futures Study.- Annex B: Characterisation of Case Studies.- Annex C: EU energy legislation applicable to DG.

Barriers and Success Factors for DG

Within DECENT, barriers and success factors for Decentralised Generation in the EU were identified through extensive case studies, expert interviews, and literature review. First, however, a characterisation of the actors and typical constellations is given, as it was found to be typical in the DG field. These form an integral part of the barriers and success factors presented thereafter.

Outline of Research Methodology

The aim of the DECENT research project was to investigate the regulatory, economic, market, social and environmental aspects that influence the development of decentralised power generation and the way they can be influenced by EU and national policies.

DG and EU Energy Technology R&D Policy

Technology research and development plays a key role in developing and implementing decentralised energy generation in the EU. One of the findings from the DECENT futures survey “Future Decentralised Energy Systems 2020”25 (cf. Chap. 4.3) was that lack of R&D was considered one of the main barriers to the realisation of decentralised energy generation. In this study, for example, the lack of R&D resources was highlighted as a barrier for the realisation of statements regarding: n n nDevelopment of new revolutionary wind turbine concepts n n nCost reduction in biomass n n nImprovement of energy efficiency in CHP n n nImprovement in lifetime of CHP fuel cells

Liberalisation and Decentralised Generation in the EU Member States

On 19 February 1997, the Directive 96/92/EC on the Internal Market in Electricity entered into force. Each Member State had 2 years to adapt it into national legislation. After the Directive on price transparency (90/377/EG) from 29.6.1990 (for electricity and gas) and the one on electricity transit (90/547/EG) from 20.10.1990, this Directive marks a further step to the liberalisation of the electricity sector in the European Union.

Status Quo and Developments of DG Technology

In this chapter, first an overview on present DG technologies and their cost structures is given. Here, technologies based on renewable energy sources (PV, wind power, hydropower, biomass) are covered as well CHP technologies based on natural gas (both combustion machines and fuel cells).

DG and Security of Supply

Back in the late 70’s and early 80’s security of supply was an important issue to address. But in the following 15 to 20 years security of supply lost interest, mostly because environmental issues were considered to be more important. But recently the issues of security of supply have gained interest again, especially with the publication of the EU Commission’s Green Paper “Towards a European strategy for the security of energy supply”.

Scenarios: Europe’s DG Power Generation in the Year 2020

As a part of the DECENT futures study, scenarios for Europe’s DG power generation were developed based both on a survey (cf. Chap. 4.3) and the additional experience gained in the DECENT project. First, draft scenarios were developed by the DECENT team. These were submitted to a review by five European energy experts and subsequently revised to their final version.

What is Decentralised Generation

A definition for the purpose of the DECENT research project. In the scientific and energy community many views and names of decentralised generation (DG) exist: Other often used terms are “distributed generation” and “embedded generation”1. Further terms often used are “distributed energy resources” or “embedded resources”. Different aspects play roles in the perspective on the topic. The “resources” access widens the scope to energy management techniques like energy storage and demand side management, compared to the more restricted view on generation. Within the “generation” access some see an important distinction that the DG unit can be placed close to the actual power (or heat) demand, while others have rather the widespread use of (renewable) energy sources in mind, at the sites where they are usable which are not necessarily where the actual demand is. Other discussed factors are ownership, module size, interconnection to the power grid, grid interconnection voltage, grid interconnection level (transmission, distribution, customer side of the meter). However there is no generally accepted definition of DG, since the objective of the stakeholders are very different. While some focus on an academical definition for electrical systems, others focus on economical aspects of grid structures, others focus on development perspectives for nonelectrified regions and again others focus on environmental benefits.