Modelling the economic impacts of 500MW of wave power in Ireland

This paper investigates the impacts of including 500MW of wave power into Ireland’s electricity generation portfolio in the year 2020. One year of detailed market simulations are undertaken to determine the impact on wholesale electricity prices, system operation costs and CO2 emissions with and without this installed wave power under a number carbon prices assumptions. In both scenarios (with and without wave energy), Ireland’s installed renewable capacity is fixed such that 40% of Ireland’s electricity in 2020 is from renewable source. The likely revenue a wave energy device would earn in the market is also investigated and compared with what is required to achieve 500MW installed capacity. It is shown that in general the inclusion of wave energy has a negligible effect on wholesale electricity prices, reduces total system cost in Ireland and can increase CO2 emissions on the island of Ireland under certain carbon price assumptions. It is also shown the current REFIT for wave energy is adequate.