Death of the PPA – Is it time for…

Long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) are a cornerstone in the business model of most renewable power generation projects. Together with fixed feed-in-tariffs (FITs), usually set at favourable above-market rates, and supported by government policy (and in many cases public money), PPAs have help propel the growth of renewable power generation around the world. Investors and banks have heavily favoured the PPA model for the additional security it is perceived to bring. For… Read more

Distributed home energy systems – fast approaching break-even

As interest in distributed renewable generation and home energy system intensifies, it is useful to understand the underlying economics of such systems. Although there are many configurations for home energy systems, we have looked at a system including photovoltaic power generation, battery energy storage, electric vehicles and a control system with moderate load control. We are not including energy efficiency in the system evaluation, as many core energy efficiency measures are economically positive and should be implemented before installing home generation and power storage. This… Read more

Electric Vehicles and Microgrids – why the two need…

Over the past few years, electric vehicles (EVs) have finally started to deliver on their promise of a fundamental shift in the electrification of the transport sector. With Tesla featuring prominently in the news and even Apple said to be developing electric vehicles, it is clear that critical momentum is building behind EVs. One of the main drivers of the push for electric vehicles is of course the environmental benefits and reduced carbon emissions relative to conventional vehicles.… Read more

What Oil Prices mean for Microgrids in Numbers

The oil price is still making the news in 2015 – initially because of its continued drop in January, and most recently because of the steep increase from the earlier lows. This volatility makes forecasting, costing and planning for projects that are directly or indirectly linked to oil prices challenging. As renewable microgrids typically displace diesel-based generation, the oil price assumptions are critical for the economics of these projects. However,… Read more

What does the oil price drop mean for the…

Oil is in the midst of an unprecedented price fall having lost more than 50% of its value since July of last year. This price collapse has massive global economic implications, not least on the power sector. It is clear that oil producers, including both countries and companies, are under tremendous financial strain given many projects and budgets were based on assumed prices of 80-100 USD per barrel.… Read more

Renewable microgrids will have a critical role in addressing…

The IPCC’s recently released Fifth Assessment Report makes clear the scientific consensus on the impacts and implications of climate change – and the scope of the challenge cannot be understated.

In the words of the report –

Continued emission of greenhouse gases will cause further warming and long-lasting changes in all components of the climate system, increasing the likelihood of severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts for people and ecosystems.