Renewable electricity support in perfect markets: Economic incentives under diverse subsidy instruments

A-Tier
Journal: Energy Economics
Year: 2021
Volume: 94
Issue: C

Authors (5)

Meus, Jelle (not in RePEc) De Vits, Sarah (not in RePEc) S'heeren, Nele (not in RePEc) Delarue, Erik (not in RePEc) Proost, Stef (KU Leuven)

Score contribution per author:

0.804 = (α=2.01 / 5 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

We aim to provide an overview of renewable subsidy schemes, thereby focusing on renewable investment incentives and cost effects in a uniformly-priced market zone. Specifically, we develop a deterministic short-term market equilibrium model that allows to investigate both siting and technological distortions in onshore wind turbine deployment. This paper includes five support instruments: the feed-in tariff, sliding feed-in premium, fixed feed-in premium, investment-based subsidies and capacity-based subsidies. Investment decisions under these instruments are analyzed using an extensive German case study. Apart from providing a general overview, our contribution is threefold. First, we show that investment- and capacity-based subsidies generally are not equivalent, despite being used interchangeably in literature. Generators granted investment offsets opt for the most system-friendly technologies, whilst those granted capacity-based subsidies tend to select the least system-friendly ones. As these two generation-independent subsidy instruments promote very different technologies, we question the prevailing belief that learning-by-doing externalities must be related to capacity. Second, sliding feed-in premiums yield very similar outcomes as fixed feed-in premiums for both investment and cost effects, and can substitute fixed premiums to mitigate investment risks. This conclusion holds for technology-specific support within a uniformly-priced market zone, but might not hold over multiple pricing zones or for technology-neutral support. Finally, we show that most of these effects arise from technological distortions, whilst locational incentives are roughly the same under all instruments.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:eee:eneeco:v:94:y:2021:i:c:s0140988320304060
Journal Field
Energy
Author Count
5
Added to Database
2026-01-29