E-Thesis 231 views
Essays on Subsidy Policies Supporting Renewable Electricity in the UK: Certificate Markets, Banding Mechanisms and Declining Efficiency / YUNFEI WANG
Swansea University Author: YUNFEI WANG
DOI (Published version): 10.23889/SUthesis.66481
Abstract
Since 2002, the UK has implemented several schemes to support renewable electricity, including the Renewables Obligation scheme from 2002 and the Contract for Difference scheme from 2014. These support schemes promoted the development of renewable electricity to meet the UK renewable electricity tar...
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Swansea, Wales, UK
2024
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| Institution: | Swansea University |
| Degree level: | Doctoral |
| Degree name: | Ph.D |
| Supervisor: | Li, Jinke ; O'leary, Nigel ; Shao, Jing |
| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa66481 |
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| Abstract: |
Since 2002, the UK has implemented several schemes to support renewable electricity, including the Renewables Obligation scheme from 2002 and the Contract for Difference scheme from 2014. These support schemes promoted the development of renewable electricity to meet the UK renewable electricity target which required 30% of electricity from renewable sources in 2020. Although the UK achieved its renewable electricity targets ahead of schedule in 2018, the effectiveness of these support schemes requires detailed analysis. This PhD thesis is focused on the impacts of policies which provide subsidies to renewable electricity in the UK and explores the following three topics. The first chapter examines the impact of specific designs (the headroom and the recycling mechanism) of the Renewable Obligation scheme on the installed capacity. Findings suggest that excess demand in the Renewable Obligation scheme caused by headroom implies that the sales of certificates are more guaranteed than in the excess supply certificate market. Further, the recycling mechanism pushes up the price under the Renewable Obligation scheme. The second chapter explores the impact of the banding level in the Renewable Obligation scheme on the installation of less-developed renewable technologies. The analysis shows that, if banding was not introduced, the offshore wind would remain silent for extended periods, then the UK might have difficulty in achieving its target for renewable generation. However, the bioenergy installation is affected by the co-firing cap, not the banding mechanism. The third chapter examines the substitution effect of wind on coal-fired and gas-fired generation and the efficiency of the Renewable Obligation scheme and the Contract for Difference scheme in supporting renewable electricity. The counterfactual analysis discerns that under both schemes, with the subsidy increases, wind generation’s substitution effect for coal-fired generation and its emission reduction efficiency are both declining. |
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| Keywords: |
Energy economics, Renewable energy, Renewable policy, RO scheme, Renewable certificate, Market supply and demand, Subsidy efficiency |
| College: |
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences |