CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2023
| Author | Aliyev, Ismayil |
|---|---|
| Title | REPowerEU: Feasibility of Fast Renewable Energy Growth under a Crisis |
| Summary | The European Union (EU) proposed the REPowerEU Plan in May 2022 to reduce its dependency on Russian fossil fuels following the start of Russo-Ukrainian war. One of the key pillars of this plan is to quickly expand wind and solar energy, which will be instrumental in achieving both climate targets and energy independence. Given the ambitious target of total 1.1 terawatt wind and solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity by 2030, feasibility of achieving it is an important question. This study evaluates the feasibility of REPowerEU targets through a variety of approaches: sufficiency of national targets of the major electricity producers, comparative assessment of recent trends and historical precedents of fast energy transitions, as well as the forecasts from international reports. It was found that the current national targets are insufficient and should be raised to deliver on collective EU targets. The envisioned growth of wind and solar was found to share similarities with the historical growth of nuclear power in 1980s. Historically, a few Member States have achieved fast adoption rates of solar PV and onshore wind, that will need to be replicated at EU-27 scale to reach REPowerEU targets. The offshore wind ambition is considerably higher than its historical trends and its successful implementation at EU-scale will be more difficult. Overall, solar power can be expected to exceed its target, while the envisioned wind installations will require extensive efforts for speed-up of permitting procedures, upgrade of grid infrastructure, and close cooperation between the Member States. |
| Supervisor | Cherp, Aleh |
| Department | Environment Sciences and Policy MSc |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2023/aliyev_ismayil.pdf |
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