CenSES rapportserie

Norway´s role as a flexibility provider in a renewable Europe. 

The European power system is in transition driven by technological development and political action to combat climate change. The European Commission has made a long-term commitment to reduce carbon emissions by 80-95% by 2050 compared to 2010.  Norwegian energy resources can play an important role in this transition.

Even though the renewable sources in Europe will be able to replace large amounts of fossil energy with renewables like wind and solar PV, scenario studies indicate that we will see periods of different durations, from seconds, minutes, hours and up to several weeks, with large amounts of deficit energy and similar periods with large amounts of surplus energy due to the variability in weather. Consumer measures like demand response and demand side management are two of the tools suggested in the Clean Energy for all Europeans package in order to meet this challenge. Still, more capacity for dispatchable energy generation is needed to ensure a stable and reliable power supply.

In a system with high renewable penetration, flexibility is needed to avoid extreme variations in price and potential energy shortages resulting in blackouts when intermittent generation is much lower than the load.

New energy storages, flexible energy sources and flexible energy carriers are vital enablers for increased renewable power production which will contribute to the EU ambition of a low emission energy system. The access to hydropower and natural gas places Norway in a unique position. It is likely that new flexibility and storage services linked to the gas pipeline system and Norwegian hydro reservoirs will be among the more attractive solutions in terms of capacity and cost. Export of flexibility and balancing services can potentially generate high revenue for Norway.

Read the report here

Read the short version of the report here.

 

Decarbonization of transport

In 2015, the government made a commitment to link Norwegian climate policy to that of the European Union (EU). An important instrument in the EU’s climate policy is the Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), which also covers greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Norway. Its ambition is a 43% reduction for Europe by 2030 (compared to 2005). Electrically powered means of transport take their energy from power plants covered by the ETS and are hence included in the trading system. For emission sources outside the EU ETS, like fossil-fuelled means of transport, the national targets will be decided by negotiation, based on the respective countries’ resources and capabilities.

For Norway, the expected target is a 40% reduction compared to 2005. The National Transport plan towards 2029 outlines a climate strategy in the transport sector with emissions reduced by 50% before 2030 relative to today, amounting to 8.5 million tons CO2 equivalents.

Our research is based on the assumption that the Norwegian transport sector will need to undergo a transition to meet the obligations.

Read the report here

Read the short version of the report here

2017

2016

2015

 

2014

 

2013

  • Eskeland, G. Leadership in Climate Policy: Is there a case for Early Unilateral Unconditional Emission Reductions?. Bergen: Norges Handelshøyskole. Institutt for Foretaksøkonomi 2013 34 s. Discussion Paper(6).
  • Fodstad, M. & Midthun, K. T., Egging, R. G. &Tomasgard, A. A Stochastic Programming Approach for the European Natural Gas Infrastructure Development. A24141. Trondheim: SINTEF Teknologi & samfunn 2013 (ISBN 9788214055870).
  • Morch, A.Z, Graabak, I. & Bakken, B.H.  Comparative analyses of Energy Scenarios: Survey of relevant scenario studies. SINTEF Project memo AN 12.12.42, Version 3, 2013-07-23.
  • Rosenberg, E. & Espegren, K. 2013, Future energy demand – a Norwegian overview, IFE/KR/E-2013/003.
  • Seljom, P. 2013. Modeling an ambitious climate constraint with ETSAP-TIAM, IFE/KR/F-2013/123.
  • Tomasgard, A., Skar, C. & et al. ZEP working group. CO2 Capture and Storage (CCS) - Recommendations for transitional measures to drive deployment in Europe. Brussels: Zero Emission Platform 2013.
  • Weaver, T. & Steen, M. 2013, Rapport: Utviklingstrekk i den norske energiindustrien ZEP Market Economics report November 2013.

 

2012

  • Flasnes, M. 2012. Assessment of a possible use of GCAM for Carbon Leakage studies in the Aluminium industry, Summer Student LinkS project, September 2012.
  • Huertas-Hernando, D. & Seljom P. M. S. 2012. Use of Integrated Assessment Models for Global Policy studies: GCAM & TIAM comparison, Draft Report November 2012.
  • Morch, A.Z. 2012. Comparative analyses of Energy Scenarios: Preliminary survey of relevant scenario studies, SINTEF Project memo, May 2012.
  • Rosenberg, E. & Espegren, K. 2012. Future energy demand – a Norwegian overview, Draft Report, November 2012.

 

2011

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