Dispatchable RES and flexibility in high RES penetration scenarios: solutions for further deployment
Call for papers: Special Issue  Energy Sources, Part B: Economics, Planning, and Policy

Through the Paris Agreement, Parties to the UNFCCC have reached a landmark agreement to combat climate change, by keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit this temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius. In line with the Paris Agreement, the European Union has set itself an ambitious long-term goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80-95% (in comparison to 1990 levels) by 2050. Combating climate change within the above framework calls for a wide scale deployment of renewable energy technologies (RETs).

Although the contribution of renewable energy sources (RES) in the electricity mix has significantly increased, the focus has been on intermittent RETs, whereas the required system flexibility is (mainly) provided by conventional power plants. In a decarbonised power system, this flexibility would have to be provided by RES-electricity (RES-e), increasing significantly the market value of dispatchable RES. Such currently available RETs include (among others) Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) with storage, hydropower, hybrid power systems and biomass. All these technologies can provide dispatchable power, as they have some kind of energy storage, e.g. dam, battery or thermal storage.

The significant challenges that dispatchable RES-e face in high RES penetration scenarios, originate from the fact that the increased electricity system services offered by these RETs (e.g. intraday, balancing, ancillary services etc.), are not expressed in monetary terms and thus are not taken into account in their revenue streams. Therefore, market & regulatory adaptations could drive the market uptake of dispatchable RETs.

This special issue is devoted to the latest developments in the field of dispatchable RES-e in terms of economics, policy & planning, and aims to provide valuable insights into the most effective solutions towards high RES penetration scenarios. We, therefore, seek high-quality papers that will contribute to the analysis of the drivers and barriers regarding dispatchable RETs in high RES-e penetration scenarios as well as the role that policy support, market design and geopolitics can play in their further deployment.

Topics Covered Include

Examples of topics appropriate to the theme of this special issue, include, but are not limited to:

• Drivers and barriers for the deployment of dispatchable renewables (CSP, Hybrid systems etc.) in high RES penetration scenarios.
• Modeling of dispatchable RES-e contribution scenarios for cross country collaboration, e.g. within EU, GCC, EU-MENA, MENA countries in order to satisfy the Paris Agreement Commitments.
• Dispatchable RES-e and challenges in electricity generation and business models in place.
• Electricity market design and support mechanisms needed for the promotion of dispatchable RETs deployment in high RES penetration scenarios.
• The role of cooperation mechanisms and geopolitics for dispatchable RES in site of 2050 targets for decarbonization of the electricity sector.
• Policy pathways for dispatchable RES in order to satisfy the Paris Agreement.
• Impact assessment of RES cooperation projects in Europe.
• Techno economics for dispatchable RETs best practices, including hybrid solutions.

More information is available at: https://think.taylorandfrancis.com/dispatchable-res-and-flexibility-in-high-res-penetration-scenarios/