Wind-solar technological, spatial and temporal complementarities in Europe: A portfolio approach
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Wind-solar technological, spatial and temporal complementarities in Europe: A portfolio approachAuthor(s)
Date
2024Citation
López Prol, J., De Llano Paz, F., Calvo-Silvosa, A., Pfenninger, S. & Staffell. I. (2024). Wind-solar technological, spatial and temporal complementarities in Europe: A portfolio approach. Energy, 292, 130348. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2024.130348
Abstract
[Abstract]: Climate change and geopolitical risks call for the rapid transformation of electricity systems worldwide, with
Europe at the forefront. Wind and solar are the lowest cost, lowest risk, and cleanest energy sources, but their
variability poses integration challenges. Combining both technologies and integrating regions with dissimilar
generation patterns optimizes the trade-off between maximizing energy output and minimizing its variability,
which respectively give the lowest levelized cost and lowest integration cost. We apply the Markowitz meanvariance framework to a rich multi-decade dataset of wind and solar productivity to quantify the potential
benefits of spatially integration of renewables across European countries at hourly, daily and monthly timescales.
We find that optimal cross-country coordination of wind and solar capacities across Europe’s integrated electricity system increases capacity factor by 22% while reducing hourly variability by 26%. We show limited
benefits to solar integration due to consistent output profiles across Europe. Greater wind integration yields
larger benefits due to the diversity of regional weather patterns. This framework shows the importance of
considering renewable projects not in isolation, but as interconnected parts of a pan-continental system. Our
results can guide policymakers towards strategic energy plans that reduce system-wide costs of renewable
electricity, accelerating the clean energy transition
Keywords
Decarbonization
Energy transition
Integration of electricity markets
Variable renewable energy
Inttermitency
Variability
Integration costs
LCOE
Wind
Solar
Energy transition
Integration of electricity markets
Variable renewable energy
Inttermitency
Variability
Integration costs
LCOE
Wind
Solar
Editor version
Rights
Atribución 4.0 Internacional
ISSN
0360-5442