NREL: Renewable Economic Potential has been Tripled

A report by analysts of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL, by its acronym in English), entitled Estimating the Economic Potential of Renewable Energy in America: Methodology and initial results holds from a new method of analysis that Renewable generation is economically viable in many parts of the country due to the recent rapid decline in the costs of the technology used.

The new analysis method NREL researchers, under the Department of Energy, called geospatial, is used to estimate the economic potential of various renewable resources.

Allegedly at work, economic potential, a measure of the potential of renewable generation can be defined in several ways. "For example, a definition might expect revenues (based on local market prices) minus the costs of generation, considered over the expected useful life of the asset."

"Another definition could be generation costs relative to a reference point (for example, a combined-cycle natural gas), using assumptions of fuel prices, capital cost and efficiency of the plant" .

"The economic potential in this report is defined as the subset of technical potential of available resources when necessary cost of generating electricity (which determines the minimum income requirements for the development of the resource) below disposable income in terms displaced and displaced energy capacity. "

According to analyst NREL Philipp Beiter, and one of the authors of the study, "decreasing costs of renewable technologies it is an important driver for these results," adding: "the economic potential has more than tripled as a result of cost reductions already made by renewable generation technologies between 2010 and 2014, especially for wind and solar photovoltaic. "

The paper argues that the trend is likely to continue as more renewable energy deployment and continue reducing costs, expected for 2020 and 2030 that significantly increase their economic potential. By 2020 the economic potential equal nearly half of the annual demand for electricity in the United States, and 2030 will be 75% with the potential for profitable renewable energy generated in all the states.