LAPSE:2023.17944
Published Article
LAPSE:2023.17944
Valuation of Distributed Wind in an Isolated System
March 7, 2023
Remote communities are increasingly adopting renewable energy, such as wind, as they transition away from diesel energy generation. It is important to understand the benefits and costs of wind energy to isolated systems so that decision-makers can optimize their choices in these communities. There are few examples of valuation of wind energy as a distributed resource and numerous differences in valuation approaches, especially in the inclusion of environmental and economic impacts. We apply a distributed wind valuation framework to calculate the benefits and costs of wind in St. Mary’s, Alaska, to the local electric cooperative and to society, finding that the project does not have a favorable benefit-to-cost ratio unless societal benefits are included, in which case the benefit-to-cost ratio is nearly double. Government funding is important to reducing the initial capital expenditures of this wind project and will likely be the case for projects with similar characteristics. Additional fuel savings benefits are potentially possible for this project through technological additions such as energy storage and advanced controls.
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Keywords
benefit–cost analysis, distributed energy resources, distributed wind, economics, isolated systems, remote communities, Technoeconomic Analysis, valuation
Subject
Suggested Citation
Barrows S, Mongird K, Naughton B, Darbali-Zamora R. Valuation of Distributed Wind in an Isolated System. (2023). LAPSE:2023.17944
Author Affiliations
Barrows S: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA 99352, USA
Mongird K: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Portland, OR 97204, USA [ORCID]
Naughton B: Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), Albuquerque, NM 87123, USA [ORCID]
Darbali-Zamora R: Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), Albuquerque, NM 87123, USA
Mongird K: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Portland, OR 97204, USA [ORCID]
Naughton B: Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), Albuquerque, NM 87123, USA [ORCID]
Darbali-Zamora R: Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), Albuquerque, NM 87123, USA
Journal Name
Energies
Volume
14
Issue
21
First Page
6956
Year
2021
Publication Date
2021-10-22
Published Version
ISSN
1996-1073
Version Comments
Original Submission
Other Meta
PII: en14216956, Publication Type: Journal Article
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Published Article
LAPSE:2023.17944
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doi:10.3390/en14216956
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[v1] (Original Submission)
Mar 7, 2023
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Mar 7, 2023
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