Abstract
Decentral self-consumption of renewable electricity has gained relevance in power markets around the world, driven by decreasing technology costs and favourable regulatory conditions. In this chapter, we adopt an economic perspective on the potential role of “prosumage” of renewable electricity for the low-carbon energy transition. We extend the concept “prosumption” (production and consumption) to “prosumage” (production, consumption, and storage): decentral energy storage by batteries enables prosumers to detach the moments of electricity generation and consumption. First, we give an overview of recent literature on the subject, including a brief digression on the role of network charging schemes. Second, we examine arguments in favour of and against increasing prosumage in the context of the low-carbon energy transformation. For comparability, we discuss likely benefits and drawbacks of prosumage against the reference of a centrally optimised electricity system assuming the same renewable generation capacities, and not against a system based on fossil fuels. Third, we present a quantitative, model-based analysis to illustrate possible effects of increased prosumage on the electricity system. To this end, we apply the open-source electricity system model DIETER to a future German electricity system of the year 2035.
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
Here we do not compare absolute prosumage incentives between volumetric and capacity-based models. This comparison would require a more detailed specification of technical and regulatory settings.
- 3.
The LCOE are given in Euro per megawatt hour (MWh), or Cent per kilowatt hour (kWh), and describe the discounted total costs for a PV installation, divided by the total electricity generation over its lifetime.
- 4.
This may be less of an issue for CSOP projects discussed throughout this book.
- 5.
For transparency and replication, we follow good practice in energy research and provide code and data are open-source under a permissive licence (Pfenninger 2017). Additional information on the model and input data is provided in Schill et al. (2017a) as well as the underlying discussion paper referenced there.
- 6.
This additional model run is not included in Schill et al. (2017a).
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Schill, WP., Zerrahn, A., Kunz, F. (2019). Solar Prosumage: An Economic Discussion of Challenges and Opportunities. In: Lowitzsch, J. (eds) Energy Transition. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93518-8_29
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