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RENEWABLE BAZAAR
FEBRUARY 2011
MARKET REPORT
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Project in Kenya issues world’s first Reduced Deforestation (REDD) credits under VCS Wildlife Works’ Kasigau corridor REDD project is first to issue REDD credits marking an important milestone for VCS and for reduced deforestation projects around the world. The credits were issued to the Kasigau corridor REDD project – Phase I, developed by Wildlife Works in the Rukinga Sanctuary, an area of semi-arid tropical forest in Southeast Kenya. activities and had the methodology approved for use under the VCS Program.
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The fast lane to the adoption of electric cars Large cities may be the ideal test track for the mass market. Catalyzing early adoption could take less than most auto executives and policy makers think. FEBRUARY 2011 • Russell Hensley, Stefan M. Knupfer. and Axel Krieger Sources: Automotive & Assembly Practice McKinsey
As more and more electrified vehicles hit the floors of car dealerships, conventional wisdom has it that the market won’t get moving without richer incentives and dense battery-charging networks. Yet our research on demand for electric cars in very large urban 1 areas shows that plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and battery-only electric vehicles could account for 16 percent of overall new-car sales in New York, 9 percent in Paris, and 5 percent in Shanghai by 2015. That’s true even with today’s financial incentives and limited public charging 2 facilities. It’s not surprising that the market may take root in big cities: nowhere is the need for cleaner air and reduced carbon dioxide emissions more pressing, and nowhere else can you expect to find as many green-minded early adopters who will welcome a clean vehicle that takes them the short distances they need to go on one charge. These characteristics make large urban areas the ideal labs for the next phase of electric-vehicle development. Our research offers insights that can guide auto companies, battery makers, infrastructure providers, and city governments alike as they consider moving forward with this technology and the networks that support it.
Large markets are waiting to be served. We found big clusters of potential early adopters—30 percent of all car buyers in Shanghai and 20 percent in New York—who were distinguished by their green thinking and would consider buying an electric car.
For early adopters, the charging problem isn’t as big as it seems. Unlike other groups of car buyers in New York and Shanghai, early adopters were willing to adjust their driving and parking habits to
own an electric car. In fact, they indicated that a dense public charging infrastructure would only modestly increase their interest in buying such cars and that they were willing to cope with more limited charging options. This attitude reduces the need for public investments in the start-up stage, though a broad plugin infrastructure will no doubt be critical as electrified vehicles migrate to mass adoption in large cities and elsewhere.
This is also good news for automakers, which have the opportunity to overcome another major obstacle: battery limits. Since many drivers in large cities travel only short distances—to and from work, for instance—the near-term cost and duration of electric-car batteries is less of a problem there than it is elsewhere. Rather than offering only allpurpose electric vehicles, automakers can segment buyers according to their driving missions and develop attractively priced models with no more battery energy storage than many of their city drivers need.
Technology preferences vary between cities. Shanghai buyers overwhelmingly preferred plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, which can drive some 60 kilometers (about 40 miles) on one charge and then switch to a gasoline-powered engine. The reason is the large share of first-time car buyers in Shanghai who demand family-size cars with full functionality. In New York, though, small electric city cars—a type of batteryonly vehicle that can go 60 to 90 kilometers on a full charge—turned
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out to be very popular (exhibit).
Design matters, but in different ways. Most buyers in New York and Shanghai look for status: being the first with the latest technology and standing out from the crowd. But residents of Shanghai would like a novel and distinctive design, while New Yorkers prefer a more conventional design, albeit with the attributes that identify a vehicle as an electric car.
Large markets are waiting to be served. For early adopters, the charging problem isn’t as big as it seems. Technology preferences vary between cities. Design matters, but in different ways.
Nonfinancial incentives can be surprisingly effective. The smartest way to get the market going isn’t necessarily by increasing financial incentives. We found that monetary incentives, such as the US federal tax credit of up to $7,500 on the purchase of an electric car, will help stimulate initial demand. adoption. In fact, among the 30 financial and nonfinancial And more important, many weren’t aware that electric cars help drivers save money on both fuel and maintenance in the long run. So what comes next? Highly motivated private users in large cities such as New York and Shanghai—along with other potential early adopters, such as drivers of inner-city delivery vans with fixed routes—will be key to the electric-vehicle market’s longer-term development. By tailoring early products to the needs of these segments, automakers can build a strong base of core buyers whose use will spread word of mouth and drive market momentum. This approach, if supported with targeted actions by national and city governments, power providers, and battery makers, could accelerate the mass production and broad adoption of electric vehicles.
About the Authors Russell Hensley is a principal in McKinsey’s Detroit office; Stefan Knupfer is a director in the Stamford office, where Axel Krieger is a principal. Notes 1
The study of potential private users of electric cars, conducted in late 2009, was a joint effort by McKinsey, the city authorities of New York and Shanghai, and the French government. Efforts in New York and Shanghai focused on consumer research, including qualitative research that involved individual and group interviews, as well as an extensive quantitative survey of more than 1,000 potential buyers in New York and more than 600 in Shanghai. The Paris research team developed a comprehensive market model to project demand for the greater metropolitan region. 2 The projections take into account expert forecasts of key drivers, such as the price of oil and the cost of electric-car batteries, a limited number of electric-vehicle brands and models available for sale during the time period, a set of incentives (for example, in New York a federal tax credit of up to $7,500 on purchases of electric cars), and a lack of existing public infrastructure for charging car batteries.
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REC: catalysts to development of renewable energy Nutan Zarapkar, Raja Raghavan and Atul Bachikar The Government of India’s (GoI) had voluntarily adopted targets to reduce the country’s carbon emissions intensity during the Copenhagen Conference on Climate Change in 2009. The voluntary targets of reduction of Green House Gases (GHG) emissions intensity by 20 to 25% per unit of the GDP by 2020 as compared to the 2005 level are challenging. To facilitate the achievement of the target, the GoI is modifying existing energy policies and developing new policies, which seek to incentivize growth of low carbon economy, among others, in the energy sector. One of the key areas identified as the backbone for such low carbon economy is Renewable Energy (RE). The existing policies on electricity and energy, the National Electricity Policy, the National Tariff Policy and the Electricity Act are being integrated with the Prime Minister’s mandate of the National Action Plan on Climate Change to promote RE. The result is the evolution of an innovative scheme, which seeks to promote the growth of renewable energy by trading Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs).
Need for RECs Although India is abundantly gifted with a variety of renewable energy sources, not all the states are endowed with the same potential of renewable energy generation. The existing legal framework under the Electricity Act 2003 do not recognize purchase of renewable energy from outside a state to comply with the Renewable Purchase Obligations (RPO) targets, prescribed for the obligated entities by the respective State Electricity Regulatory Commissions (SERCs). The requirement of scheduling and prohibitive long-term open access charges poses major barriers for renewable energy abundant states to undertake inter-state sale of their surplus renewable power to states with lesser potential of renewable energy-based power generation. Consequently, the renewable energy abundant states have low motivation to produce renewable energy more than that
required to comply with their RPO mandates, on the other hand, states with lesser renewable energy potential are not able to procure renewable energy from other states.
Evolution of RECs Considering the challenges in promotion of renewable energy, a mechanism was required enabling and recognizing the inter-state renewable energy transactions. Such a mechanism could also encourage the SERCs to set ambitious RPO targets irrespective of the state’s RE potential. It is against this background that the REC trading mechanism was instituted in the country. RECs represent an aggregation of certain environmental attributes of electricity generated from renewable energy sources. These attributes, embodied in the form of certificates are then traded separately from electricity. The objective of RECs include effective implementation of RPO regulations across all the states in India (i) increased flexibility for participants to carry out renewable energy transactions (ii) overcoming geographical constraints to harness available, renewable energy sources, (iii) reduce transaction cost for renewable energy, (iv) create competition among different renewable energy technologies, (v) development of all encompassing incentive mechanism and (vi) reduce risks for local electricity operator. Such schemes are operating successfully in other countries such as Australia, Japan, the US, the Netherlands, Denmark and the UK. RECs are expected to become the currency of renewable energy markets.
Overview of the mechanism The REC mechanism is based on the premise that generation of power from RE sources entails production of certain environmental attributes in addition to electricity generation itself. Therefore, even for correct pricing of electricity from renewable energy sources, these two attributes can be priced separately; one
for energy and another for environment. It is this environmental attribute that is planned to be separated from the electricity component and is embodied by the REC. According to the proposed mechanism, the RE generators have two options: Option I: To sell ”renewable energy” at preferential tariff fixed by the concerned Electricity Regulatory Commission Option II: To sell the “electricity generated” to one entity and the “environmental attributes associated with renewable energy generation in the form of RECs” separately through marketbased mechanism such as REC to any obligated entities
Impact of REC on RE in India Some of the studies have suggested that within the next five years the RE capacities in India could increase to 2.5 to 3 times its existing level. This means approximately 27,500 to 32,500 MW RE capacities are expected to be installed, taking the total installed RE capacity up to 45,000–50,000 MW. The majority of additional RE capacity is expected from wind power, which is expected to add 17,000–20,000 MW in the next five years. Solar energy is likely to be the next most contributing source, and is expected to add 4,000–6,000 MW in the next five years. This estimation is based on likely capacity additions on account of both — capacity additions due to Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) initiatives as well as due to capacities expected to be installed in the potential states with the state government’s initiatives. Apart from these two sources, cogeneration, biomass and small hydro power are together expected to add approximately 5,500– 6,500 MW in the next five years. Another key aspect is the concentration of RE potential in certain key states. In the next few years, these states will drive the development of RE power. This is further expected to get an impetus with mechanism such as RECs transaction in place.
Implementation of RECs The success of the REC mechanism hinges on the RPO enforcement mechanisms and adequate penalties are imposed for non-compliance. Lack of adequate enforcement mechanism under existing RPO regulations in many states have been one of the reasons for noncompliance by various obligated entities to meet their RPO obligations. The success of REC mechanism is critically dependent on introduction of appropriate mechanism for enforcement. Some states such as Maharashtra and Rajasthan have introduced compensation in the form of per unit enforcement charge or surcharge for shortfall in meeting RE procurement obligations over and above penal provisions as provided under Section 142 of the Electricity Act for non-compliance. Thus, there is increasing realization that appropriate penalties for nonfulfillment of RPOs are required to be incorporated by SERCs in their regulations. The distribution licensees are not required to demonstrate compliance with the RPO targets on a periodical basis. Hence, during the initial part of the year, the distribution licensees may not procure RECs upfront and could postpone REC purchase for the latter half of the year. This could possibly result in lower prices during the initial half of the year and create irregular cash flows for RE generators. Consequently, the RE generators profitability and its ability to service long-term debt could be adversely impacted. Energy generation and, in turn, generation of RECs from variable RE sources depends upon weather conditions at the project sites. Thus REC generation could vary significantly during the year and between years as well. On the other hand, demand of RECs will remain under the control of distribution licensees, captive and open access consumers. Therefore, to reduce the mismatch between generation and demand of RECs, banking of RECs can be useful in the present mechanism. However, banking of RECs is not allowed under the current mechanism. If these issues are addressed with appropriate policy and regulatory framework, the REC mechanism can be implemented effectively. This will definitely promote further new investments in RE and is also likely to help deficit states to attain RPO
levels in line with the targets specified under the NAPCC.
Beneficiaries of RECs Grid connected power plants with a minimum capacity of 250 kW are eligible to enter the REC mechanism. The mechanism is still evolving and the eligibility for REC mechanism in future could see the inclusion of off-grid power plants as well. Existing as well as new RE-based power projects will need to evaluate whether the REC option is beneficial for them or not. Existing power projects: Entities (including the independent power producers and the captive power producers), which have existing REbased power projects and who sell power to the local distribution licensee at a preferential tariff, are eligible to enter the mechanism after the expiry of the PPA. Entities that terminate the existing PPA with the local distribution licensee can enter the mechanism after three years from the date of termination. However, if the termination of the PPA with the distribution licensee is based on mutual consent it can enter the mechanism directly. The existing renewable energy producers, which generate Domestic cleantech players renewable power for captive consumption, are also eligible to claim RECs, provided that they do not avail of any promotional benefits in the form of concessional wheeling, banking, waiver of electricity duty etc. The surplus energy that Domestic cleantech players such captive power plants generate and sell to state utility at the APPC rate is also eligible for RECs. If the surplus power from the captive power plants is sold to any third party at mutually agreed upon tariffs, RECs can be claimed for such surplus power sale as well. New power projects: Entities (including IPP and captive power producers) planning to set-up new RE-based power projects will have to factor in the REC option in their financial models at the time of the pre-project feasibility studies. Based on a “scenario analysis,� they will have to take a decision on going for preferential tariffs or REC. The decision to avail RECs is likely to involve interplay of many factors including tariffs, power production costs, existing incentives and taxes and duties. The conclusion may vary from project to
Don’t Print project and companies will need to do a detailed analysis to arrive at the final answer on the business model they need to adopt. By Nutan Zarapkar Senior Manager, Climate Change Sustainability Advisory Services Ernst & Young Nutan.Zarapkar@in.ey.com
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