Working Paper: NBER ID: w28822
Authors: Nicolas Astier; Ram Rajagopal; Frank A. Wolak
Abstract: This paper estimates the relationship between investments in five distributed generation technologies and hourly net injections to the distribution grid for over 2,000 substations in France between 2005 and 2018. We find that investments in distributed wind and solar capacity have little or no impact on the annual peak of hourly net injections to the distribution grid, while investments in hydroelectric and thermal distributed generation significantly reduce it. An optimistic analysis of battery storage suggests that high levels of investments are required for distributed wind and solar investments to deliver similar reductions in the annual peak of hourly net injections.
Keywords: No keywords provided
JEL Codes: Q2; Q4; Q5
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| 1 MW investment in distributed solar PV capacity (E22) | highest percentiles of the annual distribution of hourly net injections (L94) |
| 1 MW investment in distributed wind capacity (E22) | 99th percentile of the annual distribution of hourly net injections (L97) |
| investments in small hydro, non-renewable thermal, or renewable thermal generation units (L94) | 99th percentile of the annual distribution of hourly net injections (L97) |
| distributed solar investments (O16) | highest percentiles of the annual distribution of hourly net withdrawals (L97) |
| distributed solar (Q42) | lowest percentiles of the annual distribution of hourly net withdrawals (L97) |
| substantial investments in battery storage (G31) | reductions in peak net withdrawals (L97) |
| increases in distributed solar and wind capacity (Q42) | increases in future network investments (D85) |