Value chain · CLM-1423
In plain terms
The UK's climate advisers said in 2019 that fitting large amounts of wind and solar power into the grid adds roughly 10 to 25 pounds to each megawatt-hour they produce, when wind and solar supply up to about half to two-thirds of the year's electricity. They also said there is little UK evidence for shares above about a third.
The claim as recorded
The Committee on Climate Change stated in 2019 that the available evidence suggests the cost of integrating variable renewables into the UK electricity system could be around GBP 10-25/MWh for annual penetrations of up to 50-65% renewables, and could rise further at higher penetrations, in addition to a levelised cost for wind and solar of around GBP 50/MWh. It noted that UK evidence on integration costs above 35% annual penetration is limited.
Evidence behind this: T3: a technical annex by the UK statutory climate adviser; a synthesis of other studies, not a new model run.
Scope and limits
UK; no price year is printed anywhere in the annex (a text search of the whole annex for the words prices, real, money and inflation found no price-year statement), so the range cannot be restated to a price base. It is a synthesis, not a model result: its sources are Imperial College 2015, UKERC 2016, Poyry 2011 and IEA/NEA 2019 (p.8 to 10), and its Box 2 draws on Imperial College 2016 (SRC-782), so it is not independent of CLM-1421 and CLM-1422. Per MWh of variable renewable generation, not per MWh of demand; the studies mix average and marginal costs (footnote 14) and are often measured against a counterfactual such as nuclear (p.8). The GBP 50/MWh levelised cost is a separate figure, not part of the range. Not additive with, and not on the same basis as, CLM-1419 to CLM-1422 or CLM-1426 to CLM-1428.
What it assumes
Improved system flexibility, as in the studies the Committee commissioned (p.9).
Where it comes from
p.8 (PDF p.8, read at a zoom 4 render): "The available evidence suggests integration costs could be around £10-25/MWh for annual penetrations of up to 50-65% renewables, but could increase further at higher penetrations." "This is in addition to a levelised cost for wind and solar of around £50/MWh." "For ease of comparison, studies often attempt to quantify the integration cost per unit of variable renewable generation." SRC-783 p.8, footnote 7: "evidence on system integration costs above annual penetrations of variable renewables of 35% or more in the UK is limited." SRC-783 p.9, footnote 14 (paraphrase): studies differ in giving average or marginal integration costs.
Basis: GBP per MWh of variable renewable generation; price year not stated; real or nominal not stated.
Related records
- Answers question
- QST-021 not published in this release
Cite this
energyaperture.com/c/clm-1423
CLM-1423, Energy Aperture, as of 2019-05.
Connected records
Other published records linked to this one. A list, not a judgement.
- Also from SRC-783
- CLM-1424The UK's climate advisers broke the extra cost of wind and solar into parts: backup power for peak demand, wasted output and keeping spare...CLM-1425The UK's climate advisers estimated that a nearly carbon-free power system in 2050 would cost about 4 billion pounds a year more than one...