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Learning Curves for Renewables and Other Technologies

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Learning Curves for Renewables and Other Technologies Die approbierte Originalversion dieser Diplom-/ Masterarbeit ist in der Hauptbibliothek der Tech- nischen Universität Wien aufgestellt und zugänglich. http://www.ub.tuwien.ac.at Learning curves for renewables and other technologies: The approved original version of this diploma or master thesis is available at the main library of the Vienna University of Technology. an international analysis http://www.ub.tuwien.ac.at/eng MASTER THESIS For obtaining the academic degree Diplom-Ingenieur (Dipl.-Ing.) Vienna University of Technology Institute of Energy System and Electrical Drives Energy Economics Group Supervisor : Univ.Prof. Dipl.Ing. Dr. Reinhard Haas Assistant: Dipl.-Ing. Dr. Gustav Resch By Kenan Sütcü Cortigasse 12/26 1220 Vienna Vienna, November 2018 1 Table of Contents 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 5 1.1 Motive .................................................................................................................................... 5 1.2 Objective ................................................................................................................................ 6 1.3 Method ................................................................................................................................... 6 1.4 The Experience Curve Formula ............................................................................................... 7 1.5 Perils of the Experience Curve ................................................................................................ 8 2 History of Technological Learning ................................................................................................ 12 3 A Survey on Learning Curves ........................................................................................................ 17 3.1 Photovoltaic solar power ...................................................................................................... 17 3.1.1 Photovoltaic Technology .............................................................................................. 17 3.1.2 FIT System in German PV market ................................................................................. 27 3.1.3 PV Solar Market of Japan .............................................................................................. 35 3.1.4 PV Solar Cost Development 1975 – 2001 ( by Nemet [2006] ) ...................................... 38 3.2 Onshore Wind Energy ........................................................................................................... 46 3.2.1 Technology of Wind Energy .......................................................................................... 46 3.2.2 Denmark’s Wind Market ............................................................................................... 53 3.2.3 Cost Development of Wind Power (by Neij [1981 – 2000]) .......................................... 56 3.2.4 Germany’s Wind Power Market ................................................................................... 58 3.2.5 Cost Development of German Wind Power (by Neij [1978 – 2000]) ............................ 63 3.3 Biofuel .................................................................................................................................. 65 3.3.1 Ethanol Energy Production ........................................................................................... 65 3.3.2 Global scenario and statistics ....................................................................................... 67 3.3.3 Ethanol Production in Brazil (1980 – 2002)................................................................... 69 3.4 Nuclear Energy ..................................................................................................................... 72 3.4.1 Nuclear Technology ...................................................................................................... 72 3.4.2 Global scenario and statistics ....................................................................................... 75 3.4.3 France’s PWR program ................................................................................................. 77 3.4.4 Cost of the French nuclear program ............................................................................. 78 3.5 Combined Cycle Gas Turbine ................................................................................................ 83 3.5.1 Global scenario and statistics ....................................................................................... 84 3.5.2 Experience Curve Analysis of CCGT ............................................................................... 86 4 Data Series ................................................................................................................................... 90 4.1 PV Solar ................................................................................................................................ 90 4.1.1 California ...................................................................................................................... 90 4.1.2 Germany ....................................................................................................................... 93 2 4.1.3 Italy ............................................................................................................................... 94 4.1.4 Japan............................................................................................................................. 97 4.2 Onshore Wind Power ........................................................................................................... 98 4.2.1 Global ........................................................................................................................... 98 4.2.2 Denmark ..................................................................................................................... 100 4.2.3 Germany ..................................................................................................................... 101 4.2.4 U.S. ............................................................................................................................. 103 4.2.5 Spain ........................................................................................................................... 105 5 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................. 108 5.1 Historical comparison of learning curves of power production technologies..................... 108 5.2 Behavior of Learning Effects over Time .............................................................................. 109 5.3 National and international learning effects of Solar PV and Onshore Wind Energy ........... 110 3 Abstract As the avoidance of CO2 emissions in energy production is gaining more and more attention in our time, the focus is on renewable energies is more significant. However, in the past, these enegy supply technologies have proven not to be cost favorable. It is necessary to investigate how and by what the investment costs of the respective energy sources have changed over time. Therefore, the investment costs of renewable and other technologies were analyzed and compared. For this purpose, the learning curve was used, which allows a qualitative description of the investment costs over time. It has been found that photovoltaic has a high learning rate compared to the other technologies used for energy production. The learning rate for wind energy approaches zero. There are also technologies such as nuclear energy, for example, which even have "negative" learning. To get more meaningful analysis, more data is needed. On the basis of the learning curves at least it can be seen that the investment in renewable energy sources is worthwhile. 4 Kurzfasssung Da die Vermeidung von CO2 – Emissionen in der Energieerzeugung in unserer Zeit immer immer mehr an Beachtung gewinnt, wird der Fokus auf erneuerbare Energien gelegt. Diese haben sich aber in der Vergangheit als nicht Kosten günstig bewährt. Es ist zu untersuchen, wie und vor allem wodurch sich die Investitionskosten der jeweiligen Energieträger mit der Zeit geändert haben. Deshalb wurden die Investitionskosten von erneuerbaren und anderen Technologien verglichen. Dazu wurde die Lernkurve zur Hilfe genommen, die eine qualitative Beschreibung der Investitionskosten über die Zeit erlaubt. Es hat sich herausgestellt, dass Photovoltaik eine hohe Lernrate hat im Vergleich zu den anderen Technlogien, die zur Energiegewinnung genutzt werden. Die Lernrate für Windenergie nähert sich derm Wert 0. Es gibt auch Technologien wie Atomenergie zum Beispiel, die sogar ein „negatives“ Lernen aufweisen. Um wirklich aussagekräftigere Analysen zu bekommen, sind mehr Daten notwendig. Anhand der Lernkurven ist zumindest ersichtlich, dass sich die Investition in erneuerbare Energieträgern lohnt. 5 1 Introduction 1.1 Motive To limit growing global energy demand, reduce the emission of greenhouse gases (GHG) and achieve other environmental targets, technological development at low cost is essential. Therefore large number of technologies to supply renewable energy and to save energy are needed. Thus these technologies are at the core of most energy and climate policies worldwide. Due to scenario analyses of world’s future energy system and climate change mitigation scenario,
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