Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/145377 
Year of Publication: 
2016
Series/Report no.: 
Nota di Lavoro No. 51.2016
Publisher: 
Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM), Milano
Abstract: 
The diffusion of renewable energy in the power system implies high supply variability. Lacking economically viable storage options, renewable energy integration has so far been possible thanks to the presence of fast-reacting mid-merit fossil-based technologies, which act as back-up capacity. This paper discusses the role of fossil-based power generation technologies in supporting renewable energy investments. We study the deployment of these two technologies conditional on all other drivers in 26 OECD countries between 1990 and 2013. We show that a 1% percent increase in the share of fast-reacting fossil generation capacity is associated with a 0.88% percent increase in renewable in the long run. These results are robust to various modifications in our empirical strategy, and most notably to the use of system-GMM techniques to account for the interdependence of renewable and fast-reacting fossil investment decisions. Our analysis points to the substantial indirect costs of renewable energy integration and highlights the complementarity of investments in different generation technologies for a successful decarbonization process.
Subjects: 
Renewable Energy Investments
Fossil Energy Investments
Complementarity
Energy and Environmental Policy
JEL: 
Q42
Q48
Q55
O33
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.