• Energy Research
• GB close

Energy planning in rural areas and in developing countries most often relies on the outputs of specialized analytical tools, of which only a handful have been developed. Over the years these tools have been upgraded, and the newest among them take into consideration, to a greater or lesser extent, all key determinants of energy generation and distribution. This article focuses on a “pool” of web‐based geo‐referencing open‐source tools and highlights the extent to which each analytical tool reflects the particularities of the various determinants of energy generation and distribution. In doing so, the present work identifies aspects of the tools that need to be strengthened. Building on this information, the article further maps the suitability of each tool with regard to calculating (at a local level) the six Sustainable Development Goal indicators that are closely related to energy. This makes it possible to draw conclusions about monitoring needs in study‐areas. Bringing together these two sets of findings, the article concludes with a research agenda for analytical tool development in the area of energy planning, which spills over developmental agendas.This article is categorized under:Energy and Development > Systems and InfrastructureEnergy and Development > Economics and Policy

About 50% of all hydropower plants (HPPs) worldwide were originally commissioned more than 40 years ago, so that the advanced age of the fleet is a major concern across all continents, and especially in Europe. The modernization of HPPs can generate several benefits in terms of generation, flexibility, safety, operation, and may have neutral or even positive implications for the environment. In this work, we appraise several options for the modernization of existing plants, with the exclusion of measures expected to increase the hydro-morphological pressure on water bodies (e.g. increase of withdrawals or new parallel waterways): dam heightening, head loss reduction in waterways, increase of weighted efficiency of electro-mechanical equipment, digitalization and inflow forecast, and floating photovoltaic (evaporation reduction). We provide an indicative estimation of the additional power and annual generation that could be obtained compared to the current condition. We estimate that the overall energy generation could be increased by 8.4% for European Union and 9.4% for the whole Europe by implementing the above-mentioned strategies. The additional energy gain achievable by increasing the inflow was discussed but not included in the above mentioned overall indicator, because it is very site-specific. The additional energy storage achievable by reservoir interconnection and coordinated operation has been estimated in literature as 169 TWh. This suggests that the modernization of HPPs can generate significant benefits in terms of energy, and should be considered as an important element of energy policy, also considering the additional benefits in terms of reliability and flexibility of the energy system that it may deliver. The modernization options considered here, insofar as not entailing a worsening of the hydro-morphological alterations, are also expected to cause limited or no conflict with the environmental objectives of water policies in Europe. Energy Conversion and Management, 246 ISSN:0196-8904 ISSN:1879-2227

Abstract Introducing sustainable ways to use energy and transport resources is of paramount importance for creating pathways to more liveable futures. Islands not interconnected to the main grid offer, because of their typically small size, short point-to-point travel distances that suit better than most landscapes the range limitations of today’s electromobile eco-systems. This makes them a unique test-bed that may assist researchers, businesses and policy-makers in developing a better understanding of the diverse opportunities and challenges that come with supporting electric-drive vehicle (EV) infrastructure investments that actively prioritise renewable energy sources (RES). This paper reports the findings of a Q method study that looks into the attitudes of 44 key stakeholders that have a thorough theoretical and empirical knowledge of the existing power and mobility portfolios in such islandic landscapes. Our analysis identifies and presents three distinct groups of stakeholders with different priorities and visions: the ‘Tech Enthusiasts’, the ‘Transform Transport First Supporters’ and the ‘Fiscal Focus Executives’. All our respondents agree on the need for radically transforming the current transport-energy nexus offering. They identify the importance of integrated and clean solutions and recognise that support of pilot applications is more critical than research and development (R&D). They also expect technological breakthroughs to increase market maturities and reduce renewable energy production costs and feel that end-users are still hesitant to buy EVs and need incentives to do so.

The paper reviews recent research and development activities in the field of hydropower technology. It covers emerging and advanced technologies to mitigate flow instabilities (active and passive a ...

AbstractLack of access to modern forms of energy hampers efforts to reduce poverty. The provision of electricity to off-grid communities is therefore a long-standing developmental goal. Yet, many off-grid electrification projects neglect mid- and long-term operation and maintenance costs. When this is the case, electricity services are unlikely to be affordable to the communities that are the project’s primary target. Here we show that, compared with diesel-powered electricity generation systems, solar photovoltaic systems are more affordable to no less than 36% of the unelectrified populations in East Asia, South Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa. We do so by developing geo-referenced estimates of affordability at a high level of resolution (1 km2). The analysis illustrates the differences in affordability that may be found at the subnational level, which underscores that electrification investments should be informed by subnational data.

This dataset underpins the study "Synergies and conflicts of energy development and water security in Africa". The study provides insights into energy supply and demand, power generation, investments and total system costs, water consumption and withdrawal as well as carbon dioxide emissions for the African continent. We developed a model to evaluate energy supply and water requirements to cover the energy needs of the African continent during the period 2015-2065. The model was developed using the open-source modeling system for long-term energy planning OSeMOSYS. The objective function is to minimise total energy system costs, rather than, for example, co-optimise the energy and water sectors. Other energy resources were also included in the model except for adding the water analysis, and the dataset was updated based on the latest available information. The OSeMOSYS model developed to conduct the study “Energy projections for African countries”, itself extended from the Electricity Model Base for Africa (TEMBA), was further extended, included exports for all fuels, water loss due to evaporation in hydropower plants and more scenarios examined. Furthermore, the latest available data on the energy system of Africa was also updated. The TEMBA model produces aggregate energy, and detailed power system results in each country in the African continent. The power sector results are also reported with power pool aggregation. The OSeMOSYS model and input data used to produce these results can be found at KTH-dESA/jrc_temba: TEMBA 2.1 (Version v2.1) [Data set]. Zenodo. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4889373 (Authors: Ioannis Pappis, Vignesh Sridharan, Will Usher, & Mark Howells. (2021). The initial study was funded by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission (contract number C936531 - JRC/PTT/2018/C.7/0038/NC).

Achieving carbon-neutrality is increasing the demand of renewable electricity which is raising the competition for land and associated acquisition costs. Installation of floating photovoltaic (FPV) on existing hydropower reservoirs offers one solution to limited land availability while providing solar electricity, leveraging water bodies, and reducing water evaporation losses. This work assesses the potential electricity output of FPVs at regional and national levels on 337 hydropower reservoirs in the EU27 considering four scenarios and two types of floaters. Evaporation, water losses and water savings due to FPVs installation are also estimated using climatic parameters for the year 2018. The reservoirs' total water losses are estimated at 9380 mcm. The installation of FPVs of equal installed capacity as the hydropower plants, has the potential to generate 42.31 TWh covering 2.3% of the total reservoir area. In this case, up to 557 mcm could be saved by installing FPV. The FPVs' multiple benefits and the potential offered by existing hydropower reservoirs are compatible with the EU's goals for net zero emissions and more autonomy from imported fossil fuels and energy transformation.