Brave New World: Deep Decarbonization of Electricity Grids
In their last few annual energy notes, JP Morgan analyzed the individual components of the electricity grid: coal, nuclear, natural gas, wind, solar and energy storage. This year, they look at how they fit together in a system dominated by renewable energy, with a focus on cost and CO2 emissions. The importance of
understanding such systems is amplified by President Obama’s “Clean Power Plan”, a by-product of which
will likely be greater use of renewable energy for electricity generation.
This year, they focus on Germany and its “Energiewende”-plan (deep de-carbonization of the electricity grid in which 80% of demand is met by renewable energy), and on a California version they refer to as
Caliwende. They compare these systems to the current electricity mix, and to a balanced system with a mix
of renewable and nuclear energy.