Pathway to 100% Renewable Electricity

Abstract

Solar photovoltaics (PVs) and wind constitute more than 60% of global annual net new capacity additions. Balancing an electricity system with 30-100% variable PV and wind is straightforward using off-the-shelf techniques comprising stronger interconnection over large areas to smooth out local weather, storage, demand management, and occasional spillage of renewable electricity. The overwhelming dominance of PV, wind, and hydroelectricity in new renewable energy deployment means that renewable electricity is tracking toward near equivalence with renewable energy. A global survey of off-river (closed-loop) pumped hydro energy storage sites identified 616 000 promising sites around the world with a combined storage capacity of 23 million GWh, which is two orders of magnitude more than required to support 100% global renewable electricity. This is significant because pumped hydro storage is the lowest cost storage method and is available off-the-shelf in large scale. Australia is deploying PV and wind at a rate of 250 W per year per capita, which is four to five times faster than in the European Union, the USA, Japan, and China. This is significant because it demonstrates that rapid deployment of PV and wind is feasible, with consequent rapid reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

Greening Asia's Economic Development

“…Solar and wind power have the potential to boom in Asia over coming years, with energy researchers increasingly emphasizing the possibility of moving toward high penetration levels (e.g. Jacobson et al ., 2017; Blakers et al ., 2019). Moving in this direction makes sense given that these technologies are now cost‐competitive and given the large external costs of fossil fuel use.…”

“…The dominant form of energy storage is currently pumped hydro, which involves pumping water up an incline when power is cheap and then using the water to turn hydro turbines when power is scarce. Asia has many suitable sites for off‐river pumped‐hydro energy storage (Blakers et al ., 2019).…”

Design of Rotor Blades for Vertical Axis Wind Turbine with Wind Flow Modifier for Low Wind Profile Areas

“…It necessitates CFD analysis along with a suitable turbulence model in the ANSYS Fluent tool to calculate preferred time-averaged velocity information to understand flow across the wind turbine. The incompressible (air) fluid flow (fluid density ρ is constant, independent of space and time) expressed with the continuity equation in mass conservation is described in Equation (1). Similarly, the Navies Stokes equation for momentum conservation is expressed in Equation (2).…”

“…The world acknowledges the significance of 100% renewable power generation [1] with solar photovoltaics (PVs) and wind energy resources (WERs), because fossil fuel-based generation from coal and oil challenges the climatic conditions due to its pollution particles, which escalate carbon emission significantly [2]. The installation capacity of PV panels and wind turbines has been increasing significantly in developing countries for over a decade due to fluctuations in oil prices [3][4][5].…”

Robust Operation of Hybrid Solar–Wind Power Plant with Battery Energy Storage System

“…Power system penetration of renewables and in specific solar and wind generation has substantially increased worldwide. Realizing 100% renewables-based power systems is a hot topic under investigation [2]. Dispatchable renewable generation is the holy grail of 100% renewables-based power systems.…”