Trade-Offs between Geographic Scale, Cost, and Infrastructure Requirements for Fully Renewable Electricity in Europe

Tröndle T, Lilliestam J, Marelli S, Pfenninger S (2020)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2020

Journal

Joule Elsevier

Book Volume: 4

Pages Range: 1929-1948

Journal Issue: 9

DOI: 10.1016/j.joule.2020.07.018

Abstract

The European potential for renewable electricity is sufficient to enable fully renewable supply on different scales, from self-sufficient, subnational regions to an interconnected continent. We not only show that a continental-scale system is the cheapest, but also that systems on the national scale and below are possible at cost penalties of 20% or less. Transmission is key to low cost, but it is not necessary to vastly expand the transmission system. When electricity is transmitted only to balance fluctuations, the transmission grid size is comparable to today's, albeit with expanded cross-border capacities. The largest differences across scales concern land use and thus social acceptance: in the continental system, generation capacity is concentrated on the European periphery, where the best resources are. Regional systems, in contrast, have more dispersed generation. The key trade-off is therefore not between geographic scale and cost, but between scale and the spatial distribution of required generation and transmission infrastructure.

Authors with CRIS profile

Johan Lilliestam

Additional Organisation(s)

Lehrstuhl für Sustainability Transition Policy

Involved external institutions

Universität Potsdam DE Germany (DE) Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (ETHZ) / Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich CH Switzerland (CH)

How to cite

APA:

Tröndle, T., Lilliestam, J., Marelli, S., & Pfenninger, S. (2020). Trade-Offs between Geographic Scale, Cost, and Infrastructure Requirements for Fully Renewable Electricity in Europe. Joule, 4(9), 1929-1948. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2020.07.018

MLA:

Tröndle, Tim, et al. "Trade-Offs between Geographic Scale, Cost, and Infrastructure Requirements for Fully Renewable Electricity in Europe." Joule 4.9 (2020): 1929-1948.

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