Search

Offshore wind energy and wave energy are two exploitable sources of renewable energy available in the same marine environment. A co-located energy harvesting system of these two resources has the potential to play a leading role in the recent renewable energy mix mandate. A co-located system of mature offshore wind technology and a nascent wave energy technology can exploit the synergies of the two technologies, including the reduced cost, the easy operation and maintenance, and more importantly the potential of decreased power variability. This paper deals with a multi-site analysis of wind and wave power resources, and the estimation of exploitable energy through different wind turbines and wave energy converters (WECs). Results are presented for NSW Australia, but the devised strategy is generic and can be implemented in any region. Ten WECs, with different operating principles, are used for the estimation of the exploitable wave power, and the best performing converter is considered for the co-located wind-wave farm. A power fluctuation factor is introduced to quantify the reduction in power variability of the co-located wind-wave farm. Different percentage mixes of wind and wave energy are evaluated for the co-located wind-wave farm in the multi-site analysis. •A multi-site analysis of wind and wave for estimation of exploitable energy. •Performance evaluation of wind and wave energy conversion technologies. •Power variability representation with power fluctuation factor for a co-located farm. •Characterization of percentage share of wind and wave in a co-located farm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both developed and developing countries have committed to reduce their emissions through the increased use of renewable energy. This paper aims to compare renewable energy deployment in developed and developing countries represented by Australia and China. The paper firstly argues the validity of comparison of renewable energy deployment in Australia and China. Then, the governance structures in both countries are compared; the paper also compares management mechanisms in terms of funding and incentive support, renewable energy grid-connection and coordination between different levels of governments in both countries. Moreover, the current status of renewable energy development in two countries is summarized. From the study, it can be concluded both countries have set a Renewable Energy Target and promulgated legislation and regulations to enlarge the scale of renewable energy; China shows a stronger commitment to renewable energy than Australia. However, Renewable Energy Certificate mechanism is implemented more effectively in Australia than in China. The paper suggests: augmenting and rebuilding the electricity network and strengthening coordination between different levels of governments for both countries; enhancing manufacturing facilities and incentives for the solar and wind industry for Australia, while developing more-detailed implementation legislation and renewable power quota system for China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To meet the future energy demand and avert any looming crises, efforts are being carried out to utilize sustainable and renewable energy resources. In this paper, the naturally occurring non-linearity and non-stationarity deficiencies within the climatological predictors to forecast solar radiation (Rdn) are resolved via a multivariate empirical mode decomposition method (MEMD). First, a set of antecedent weekly lags at timescale (t -1) of input datasets were collated and then were divided into training and testing subsets. The MEMD method is restricted to dissolve the training and testing climatic data independently into intrinsic modes functions (IMFs). As the numbers of total IMFs were very large, the singular value decomposition (SVD) algorithm is accustomed for dimensionality reduction simultaneously capturing the most relevant oscillatory features embedded within the IMFs. Finally, the random forest (RF) model is applied to forecast Rdn at selected solar-rich regions in Australia. The resulting hybrid MEMD-SVD-RF model was established as a consequence of the aforementioned modelling strategy. The results are benchmarked with other comparative models. The hybrid MEMD-SVD-RF model generates better and reliable forecasts having significant implications for renewable and sustainable energy applications and resources management. • A double decomposition based solar radiation forecasting model incorporating climate drivers. • Multivariate decomposition splits climate drivers into intrinsic mode functions (IMF). • Singular value decomposition reduces dimensionality to pertinent features from a pool of IMFs. • Random Forest (RF) algorithm used to design newly integrative hybrid model. • Hybrid model provides significant energy management implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper analyzes the ongoing transition to sustainable energy in Australia, moving from traditional large-scale plants to distributed renewable generation by studying the time series of coal and gas consumption as well as onshore wind and solar. Even though most of energy generation, especially in the form of electricity is currently being generated from coal and gas, a quantitative assessment of their evolution is necessary to understand whether, and to which extent, renewables are competing in the marketplace with conventional production means. A well-accepted innovation diffusion model is used to capture and interpret the underlying dynamics of the competitive transition in generation. The results show that renewables are exerting a competitive pressure on coal and collaborate with gas towards the transition. The view that gas should play a key role in transition is confirmed by our findings, because it is found to have a competitive role towards coal, while aiding the uptake of renewables. Highlights • Analysis of the ongoing transition to sustainable energy in Australia. • Study to understand whether renewables are competing in the marketplace. • A diffusion model used to capture the dynamics of the competitive transition. • Renewables exert a competitive pressure on coal and cooperate with gas. • Gas plays a competitive role towards coal, and aids the uptake of renewables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Residential or ‘rooftop’ solar PV can play an important role in providing renewable energy, thus offsetting fossil fuel based generation and associated greenhouse gas emissions. In Australia, subsidies are offered to encourage the deployment of residential PV in the form of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) and Feed-in Tariffs (FiTs). This paper provides a literature review of existing work which assesses renewable energy in Australia, and delves deeper into a residential PV specific analysis of available data across the five criteria of installation, employment, market maturity, FiT settings and environmental outcomes to assess successes, failures and impacts of Australian residential PV policies between 2001 and 2012. This analysis identifies overall success with regard to environmental and deployment goals, and limited success in the goal of renewable energy industry promotion, which is devoid of indigenous manufacturing. In addition, impacts, including the dominance of the FiT as the initial stimulus for rapid PV deployment, cost impacts on electricity bills for various FiT settings, and the dependence of PV employment numbers on the continuation of the FiT are also identified. Finally, inequitable outcomes due to the FiT, such as cross-subsidisation from non-solar to solar households are also detailed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]