A Global Renewable Energy Roadmap: Comparing Energy Systems Models with IRENA’s REmap 2030 Project

Abstract

International audienceIn 2014, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) published a global renewable energy roadmap—called REmap 2030—to double the share of renewables in the global energy mix by 2030 compared to 2010 (IRENA, A Renewable Energy Roadmap, 2014a). A REmap tool was developed to facilitate a transparent and open framework to aggregate the national renewable energy plans and/or scenarios of 26 countries. Unlike the energy systems models by IEA-ETSAP teams, however, the REmap tool does not account for trade-offs between renewable energy and energy efficiency activities, system planning issues like path dependency and investments in the grid infrastructure, competition for scarce resources— e.g. biomass—in the commodity prices, or dynamic cost developments as technologies get deployed over time. This chapter compares the REmap tool with the IEA-ETSAP models at two levels: the results and the insights. Based on the results comparison, it can be concluded that the REmap tool can be used as a way to explicitly engage national experts, to scope renewable energy options, and to compare results across countries. However, the ETSAP models provide detailed insights into the infrastructure requirements, competition between technologies and resources, and the role of energy efficiency needed for planning purposes. These insights are particularly relevant for countries with infrastructure constraints and/or ambitious renewable energy targets. As more and more countries are turning to renewables to secure their energy future, the REmap tool and the ETSAP models have complementary roles to play in engaging policy makers and national energy planners to advance renewables

Renewables‐based decarbonization and relocation of iron and steel making: A case study

“…The scenario is revised annually in a bottom‐up approach starting from country, sector, and process data. Details of IRENA's REmap modeling approach and its strength and limitations have been discussed previously (Gielen et al., 2019; Kempener et al., 2015; Saygin, Kempener, Wagner, Ayuso, & Gielen, 2015).…”

Power sector asset stranding effects of climate policies

“…In terms of scenario development, we evaluated stranded assets based on a single fossil fuel-fired electricity generation capacity mix according to the REmap Case that was developed by IRENA's REmap methodology (Kempener et al, 2015). While the emphasis for decarbonization would be mainly on coal-fired power plants for most energy scenarios, stranded asset value could change depending on the electricity demand growth and how the mix evolves.…”

“…The modelling approach involves a techno-economic assessment of the energy system developments for the energy transformation (power and district heat) and end-use (residential, commercial and public buildings, manufacturing industry and transport) sectors. Kempener et al (2015) and Saygin et al (2015) provide further details of the REmap methodology, discuss its strengths and limitations and compare its findings with other widely used global energy scenario models.…”

“…Applications of the REmap methodology to the energy sector of various countries (see Sgouridis et al, 2016 for the United Arab Emirates, Collins et al, 2018 for the European Union) and comparisons of its results with more complex and dedicated energy models have yielded key insights (see Kempener et al, 2015 for comparison with the national IEA-ETSAP models) where the methodology is found suitable for engaging experts and policy makers in the assessment and For this analysis, we narrowed down the geographical scope to countries of the G20 (excluding the European Union), but extended the time scope to 2050 by using the 2030 regional renewable energy roadmap prepared for the G20 as a starting point (IRENA, 2016d;2017d). 3 G20 countries represent more than three-quarters of the current total installed fossil fuel-based electricity generation capacity and an equal share of the renewable energy deployment potential in the energy sector (G20, 2015).…”

Energy Atlas—mapping energy-related data for DoD lands in Alaska : Phase 1—assembling the data and designing the tool

“…Although the geospatial data layers for this atlas include some coverage of Alaska, there are limited analytical capabilities for this region. It is difficult to make an all-inclusive program for global applications because each country and region will have its own barriers and challenges to energy development (Kempener et al 2015), highlighting the need for state-or countryspecific atlases to strengthen analyses. By reviewing these various online data repositories and tools, we were able to identify datasets to incorporate into the Energy Atlas-Alaska and also potential functionality to include in our effort.…”