SRC-782

Whole-system cost of variable renewables in future GB electricity system, October 2016

Commissioned by Joint industry project with RWE Innogy, Renewable Energy Systems and ScottishPower Renewables (title page). Who paid for a study is recorded because it bears on how its conclusions should be read, not because it makes them wrong.

Published claims resting on this source

• CLM-1421 A 2016 Imperial College study run jointly with three renewable-energy companies found that adding wind to Britain's grid in 2030 would bring extra system costs of about 5 to 9 pounds for each megawatt-hour the wind farms produce, compared with adding nuclear, if the grid has a fair amount of storage and other flexibility. Most of that extra cost is back-up power stations for windless periods.
• CLM-1422 Imperial College found that the extra system cost of wind and solar in Britain in 2030 depends heavily on how flexible the grid is: about 40 to 48 pounds per megawatt-hour of their output with no new storage or demand response, but about 5 to 17 pounds once those are added. The figures are measured against nuclear power, not counted from zero.

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