On the economics of electrical storage for variable renewable energy sources

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The use of renewable energy sources is a major strategy to mitigate climate change. Yet Sinn (2017) argues that excessive electrical storage requirements limit the further expansion of variable wind and solar energy. We question, and alter, strong implicit assumptions of Sinn's approach and find that storage needs are considerably lower, up to two orders of magnitude. First, we move away from corner solutions by allowing for combinations of storage and renewable curtailment. Second, we specify a parsimonious optimization model that explicitly considers an economic efficiency perspective. We conclude that electrical storage is unlikely to limit the transition to renewable energy.

Original languageEnglish
JournalEuropean Economic Review
Volume108
Pages (from-to)259-279
Number of pages21
ISSN0014-2921
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 01.09.2018
Externally publishedYes

    Research areas

  • Economics - Energy storage, Solar, Variable renewable energy sources, Wind

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