Report quantifies the costs of intermittency

The UK Energy Research Centre has published a report entitled "The Costs and Impacts of Intermittency: An Assessment of the Evidence on the Costs and Impacts of Intermittent Generation on the British Electricity Network". The report focuses on existing renewable energy targets and changes that might be required in the period to 2020.

Most of the report’s findings are predicated on penetrations of intermittent renewables of up to 20% of British electricity supply. At those penetrations, the aggregate costs of intermittency are of the order of £5‑£8 per MWh of intermittent generation. These comprise:

• the costs of maintaining associated required system balancing reserves (£2‑£3 per MWh), being about 5‑10% of the installed wind capacity