Event - Renewable Power Economics

Renewable Power Economics is a comprehensive 2-day programme that will take place on 8-9-July-2013 providing an independent analysis of the energy market economics, competitiveness, risks and development trajectories of renewable power solutions.

Course objectives

Understand, compare and contrast the different resource potentials, market positioning and risk factors for renewable power generation (wind, solar, geothermal, biopower, hydro, tidal and wave).

Analyse and discuss both the current and future market competitiveness of renewable power solutions versus “conventional” power- and versus each other

Quantify the current trends and future influences on renewable power growth and investment Describe key changes in the wider energy and commodity markets and their impact on renewable power (including “unconventional” fossil fuels such as shale gas, and traditional resources such as coal and iron ore)

Learn how Policy impacts the economics of renewables, how uncertainty impacts future growth and how policy solutions are changing in both scope and mechanism

Whether you are already working within one of the “green power” sectors, developing policy frameworks or evaluating investment from outside, this comprehensive, time-effective training course ensures you are brought up-to-speed with the key economic aspects of the various renewable power solutions.

Reviewing both technological and economic factors in a clear and business-focused manner, the course is particularly valuable to those in senior, strategic and business development positions - for whom it is critical to understand renewable power solutions not as individual market sectors, but as players within a wider, highly competitive and interconnected energy market.

Independently researched and presented by Green Power Academy, the course aims to be hype-free, pragmatic, realistic and – above all – interactive; addressing not just the questions that the course itself raises, but also the ones that individual attendees need to ask.

Level & Style

The course explains all key concepts and terminology, be they in energy, technology or finance, and so is suitable for a wide range of backgrounds. Indeed the course is specifically designed to be of value to those who need to understand the various market fundamentals, market developments and financial measures.

The course runs in a friendly, informal manner, encouraging discussions and questions to ensure that participants get the most out of their time.

In order to better understand and illustrate the various topics, a variety of simple calculations, cash flow and other models and explanatory exercises are incorporated, with all materials available for attendees to take away with them, along with hard and soft copies of the course documentation, plus a comprehensive further reading list.

Approximate Timings (include lunch plus morning and afternoon refreshment breaks): Day 1: 09:00 - 17:00 // Day 2: 09:00 – 16.00

About your trainer

Christian Erich Grütte is a regular Green Power Academy Trainer and Senior Advisor Renewable Energies at Leonardo Venablers, with many years’ experience in the renewable energy sector. He advises leading corporate and financial investors, project developers and manufacturers on business development and investment strategies internationally, assessing the potential and bankability of renewable energy deals and leading negotiations between stakeholders of the projects. Christian brings a number of specific skills including (but not exhaustive): the identification of investment drivers & inhibitors; risk assessment of technologies and policies; deal assessment & valuation; negotiations between developers, lenders and EPCs and presentation to investment committees. He holds an MSc in Industrial Engineering and Management from the Technical University of Berlin, where he also served as a Lecturer at the chair of Investment and Financing.

Testimonials

“Very solid introduction from a very knowledgeable instructor”
“Rich in discussion”
“Good balance between theoretical and interactive”

Agenda Details

Understanding World Markets for Power

Conventional power generation mixes: how they differ and why Conventional power fuel sources
Current and projected power markets, in terms of demand and supply
Key concepts: energy, efficiency, work and power
Fundamental aspects of power delivery, including scale, grid balancing, responsiveness, cost influences
Power pricing, including various measures of cost (capital, levelised, marginal etc.) and the merit order curve
Power policies and supports

Renewables in the Power Mix

Current renewable power solutions, markets and applications
Renewable investment trends and growth

The physical and practical limits on available natural energy resources:

Variability
Scalability
Land use and location
Capital requirements
Other economic inputs
Energy Storage (characteristics, current usage and future solutions)
Reviewing the deployment barriers, challenges, costs and risks of the various renewable power solutions: Solar: Photovoltaics (PV & CPV) and CSP Wind Power (onshore & offshore)
Hydropower
Ocean Power (wave & tidal)
Geothermal Energy
Biopower (and other Bioenergy routes to power)
Large-scale vs. distributed (small-scale) power generation: applicability, impact on both energy systems and business models

The Economics of Power Projects

The factors determining profitability: energy resource vs. cost to convert vs. power sale price
Quantifying renewable power risks and their impacts on macro power delivery and individual project returns:
Resource risks, such as forecasting risks and sustainability
Technology risks and power conversion issues
Balancing costs and issues around back-up power generation and grid integration
Understanding the different focus of economic analysis from a project vs. a government perspective (and why each needs to understand the other)

Policy mechanisms for renewable power support:

Feed-in-Tariffs, plus changing ways to determine or award them (e.g. auctions and bids)
Obligations and Portfolio Standards Green Certificates & Obligations Certificates
Loan Guarantees
Tax Credits
Other

Levelised Cost of Electricity:

Understanding the variety of ways used to derive of LCOE; some simple, some complex
Levelised cost and policy mechanisms such as Feed-in-Tariffs
Relating LCOE to project cash flows and to other project measures such as cost per Watt, NPV, IRR and payback times
Evaluating the factors which most impact LCOE; including project costs, energy generation and financing factors such as discount rates and debt/equity splits LCOE versus marginal cost and electricity price
The dangers of interpreting others’ LCOE figures and its limitations as a metric: what it can and cannot tell about the value of a project

Factors Influencing the Future Growth of Renewable Power