|
NREL's Market Analysis helps key players increase the use of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies in the marketplace. Our strategic vision is to be a national resource for understanding, promoting, and facilitating the application of renewable energy technologies in electricity markets. The Market Analysis Team represents a dedicated team of experienced utility industry analysts, who provide strategic information to clients focused on rapidly changing electricity markets. We conduct high-quality and objective crosscutting assessments and analysis to support informed decision-making by our clients and other industry stakeholders.
The Market Analysis Team has four primary business lines:
The Market Analysis Team provides foundational data and tools for performing analyses of renewable electric applications and markets.
Renewable Electric Data. The Renewable Electric Plant Information System (REPiS) — is a database developed and recently updated by the Strategic Energy Analysis Center (SEAC) at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). REPiS includes information on operating (as well as planned) renewable energy units for biomass, geothermal, hydroelectric, photovoltaics, solar thermal, and wind energy technologies. This data represents an inventory of all known U.S. grid-connected renewable electric facilities in the United States. Originally created in 1984, REPIS is current and validated through 2002. The "coverage" represented by REPiS is one of the most complete out there. The database contains information on nearly 115,000 MW of renewable energy generation capacity connected to the utility grid, including 2,725 MW that went online from 2000 to 2002. It provides plant and capacity information useful to energy planners, policy makers, and others interested in renewable energy.
Financial Analysis. The Market Analysis Team has core capabilities in performing project financial evaluations and public policy financial impact assessments using a financial analysis model, RETFinance. This levelized cost-of-energy model — which simulates a detailed 20-year nominal dollar cash flow for renewable energy projects — estimates earnings, cash flows, and debt payment to calculate a project's levelized cost-of-electricity, after-tax nominal Internal Rate of Return, and annual Debt-Service-Coverage-Ratios.
The Market Analysis Team promotes and facilitates greater adoption of renewable energy technologies (RET) in the electric marketplace by working with utilities and other industry stakeholders to identify appropriate technologies and to address system integration issues.
Technology Characterizations. NREL supports DOE in the ongoing development of performance and cost trends for renewable electric technologies. Although these technology characterizations are used primarily to support strategic and programmatic planning at DOE, an increasing number of researchers and energy policy analysts have expressed interest in these data. Renewable Energy Technology Characterizations are available online.
The Market Analysis Team fosters improved understanding of the role of renewables in energy markets by identifying market barriers and opportunities, and promoting market-based solutions, when possible, to achieve greater renewable energy deployment.
Technical Assistance. The Market Analysis Team provides information and guidance to key decision makers in order to positively influence RET deployment decisions. This includes fostering the establishment of national and regional constituencies through work with various interest groups, and providing assistance to customer and stakeholder groups to develop and implement market-based programs for renewables.
The Market Analysis Team provides tailored assistance to state agencies and other industry stakeholders to help meet their renewable energy analysis needs. We work directly with electric utilities to help design successful green pricing programs.
Electric Utility Restructuring. The Market Analysis Team performs assessments of the implications of electric industry restructuring for renewable energy technologies. We have performed analyses of different proposals for a national renewable portfolio standard, transmission pricing, and independent system operators; as well as analyses of retail access pilot programs and system benefits charges.
Market Analysis. The Market Analysis Team performs analyses of markets to increase understanding of related issues.
Policy Analysis. The Market Analysis Team performs analyses of federal and state policy options to broaden market opportunities for renewables. Among the policies that we have analyzed are integrated resource planning, environmental externalities, competitive bidding, and net metering.
Green Power Markets. The Market Analysis Team leads NREL's activities on analyzing the implications of customer choice on the market demand for renewable energy. We have performed analyses of customer preferences for clean energy and utility green pricing programs, and have designed a Web site, the Green Power Network, which tracks green power marketing activities worldwide.
More Information
Related publications
Related models/tools
Key staff analysts
Jørn Aabakken
Lori Bird
Access more information on all of our Staff Analysts
|
