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This paper deals with improving the feed-in tariff policy for green energy advancement in Ukraine's households based on assessing the economic efficiency of investment project implementation under the current state support mechanisms. This study was conducted for solar and wind power plants with different installed capacities. The Levelized Cost of Electricity and the payback period for such power plants were calculated considering the ongoing feed-in tariffs and discount rates determined by various equity and debt capital ratios. The results showed that the state support provides attractive payback periods for solar and wind power plants with an installed capacity of ≥30 kW. In comparison, 5 kW solar power plants and wind power plants with a capacity of up to 10 kW are not paid off during the power plants' lifecycle. It confirmed that the ongoing energy policy in Ukraine's residential sector is still designed to obtain profits by the owners of generating facilities by selling the excess electricity. In the meantime, its main goal—providing households energy independence—has been levelled. To resolve the issues caused by such a state support model, a methodical approach to improve the feed-in tariff calculation is proposed. In addition, recommendations for reconsidering other policy measures to ensure effective renewable energy development in the residential sector have been made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The integration of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) into energy systems requires a meticulous assessment of various factors, spanning renewable energy potential, legal frameworks, technical considerations, community engagement, and consumer preferences. This article synthesizes a multifaceted discussion on the subject, focusing on the need for comprehensive analyses before deciding to implement SMRs. Drawing insights from geographic information systems (GIS) and lessons from renewable energy development in Poland, this paper underscores the significance of aligning energy strategies with local needs, emphasizing stakeholder participation. This study examines the factors influencing location attractiveness for various energy technologies, including small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs), wind, solar, and hydroelectric power plants, within Poland. Employing 17 indicators sourced from Statistics Poland and URE, coupled with the application of the k-means algorithm, we outline four distinct clusters that delineate the zones of location attractiveness for SMRs and other renewable energy sources. While large and medium-sized cities exhibit optimal location attractiveness, coastal counties in northern Poland emerge as more suitable for renewable energy sources than for SMRs. The study outlines four distinct energy development strategies based on typologies of regions, each tailored to maximize the utility of available resources and minimize environmental impact. The strategies encompass renewable energy utilization, energy efficiency enhancement, energy diversification, and adaptation through innovation. Emphasizing the interplay between renewable energy potential, energy demand, and local conditions, the research suggests the strategic deployment of SMRs as part of an energy mix in areas where renewable energy resources are limited. By leveraging SMRs' continuous energy production, these reactors can complement intermittent renewables, bolstering energy security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A successful and just energy transition is subject to policies that adhere to a multi-dimensional approach to renewable energy development. To achieve success in renewable energy development, well-thought-out and efficient policies must be implemented. This paper aims to address a major shortcoming in renewable energy development in terms of understanding and recognising the policy space that promotes or hampers renewable energy growth. The paper examines the relevant literature to identify major themes and factors in renewable energy development. A thematic analysis was conducted using a hybrid inductive and deductive approach and resulted in the identification of 5 major themes namely Institutional, Environmental, Financial, Socio-cultural, Technical and 144 factors. The identified themes and factors will assist to make a policy action decisive, just, and sustainable. Recommendations including comprehensive incentivisation, regulatory support for renewable energy technologies in developing nations, environment impact assessment programs, promotion of financial transparency and opting for a just transition to benefit local and vulnerable communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current legal and policy system of renewable energy in China has set up a framework of policy instruments, which provides an important foundation for dealing with climate change and promoting the healthy development of the renewable energy industry with the goal of "carbon neutrality" and "emission peak". However, the current policy instruments cannot meet the needs for rapid development of the renewable energy industry. This paper investigates, analyzes, and concludes the status of renewable energy development along with related policy instruments in different renewable energy sources by literature and points out the problems of current policy instruments, and puts forward corresponding countermeasures. Moreover, from the perspective of energy consumption market transformation, the authors carried out an analysis of China's challenges of policy instruments, pointing out that China's renewable energy policy instruments have the potential to take one step further in the areas of the regulatory system, legal system and legal security system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conventional petrol vehicles emit a substantial quantity of greenhouse gases, leading to increasingly serious global warming problems. The expansion and development of renewable power generation technologies is conducive in promoting the use of electric vehicles, which are more environmentally friendly. This paper proposes a multi-objective power expansion model considering renewable energy policy objectives. The model regards the problem as a multi-period optimisation task, taking the newly installed capacity and the power generation capacity of each power generation technology as decision variables, and simulating the uncertain factors in the planning process using Geometric Brownian Motion and Monte Carlo approaches. The optimisation objective of the model is to minimise expected costs, reduce risk and environmental impacts, and incorporate changing policy objectives into the constraints to meet policy makers' expectations for renewable energy development. Then, a decentralised target search-based multi-objective evolutionary algorithm is proposed to solve the model. Its effectiveness is verified by a numerical example using real data from the Chinese power system. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm exhibits improved performance compared with benchmark algorithms and provides high quality and diverse Pareto-optimal solutions to decision makers. Finally, the optimal plans for power expansion and generation mix under different preferences and policy objectives are discussed and corresponding recommendations are made. [Display omitted] • Planning for the expansion of power generation under uncertainties is determined. • Strategies for the expansion of power generation towards renewable energy are optimised. • A novel multi-objective evolutionary algorithm with a constraint handling method is developed. • The impact of multiple renewable energy policies on power generation expansion planning is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identifying the research topics of China's energy transition policy and predicting future research trends are crucial for policymakers to make informed decisions and advance the energy transition. This study applied the Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) to extract 26 major research topics from the 13,976 abstracts of Chinese policy research papers in web of science (WOS), conceptualized the five most popular topics and used the ARIMA model to predict trends over the next 36 months. The results show that except for Economic and Environmental Impact of Renewable Energy Consumption (Topic13), which will first experience unanticipated fluctuations and then show strong growth capacity, all other topics will continue to remain positive growth trend. Research and Development (Topic3) is driven by the urgency of China's energy transformation. Economic and Environmental Impact of Renewable Energy Consumption (Topic13) is driven by the potential for the development of renewable energy. Economic Impact of Climate Change (Topic26) is driven by the climate change debate. Economic Growth, Urbanization, and Energy Consumption (Topic7) is driven by a discussion of their relationship and the mechanisms influencing them. Regional Efficiency and Productivity Analysis (Topic19) is driven by regional differences in China's energy policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policies targeting energy efficiency and renewable energy are sometimes viewed as more politically feasible than carbon pricing in pursuit of emission reduction goals. This paper assesses underlying drivers of energy policy development. These factors include economic, social, environmental, and institutional variables. The between estimator for panel data is an appropriate method for our focus on some exogenous variables that vary more across countries than over time. We find that larger oil reserves per capita have a negative relationship with renewable energy policy development. Education and political globalisation have strong positive relationships with both energy-efficiency and renewable-energy policy development. These results suggest that greater participation in global political groups can be an indirect approach toward energy policy development, in cases where direct and immediate policies are hard to implement. OECD countries have higher policy scores by 33 and 25 points in energy efficiency and renewable energy respectively. Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition analysis shows that these higher scores are primarily due to social and political institution predictors rather than economics and physical endowments. • Large-n cross country international sample on continuous policy score measurement. • Political globalisation is positively linked with renewables and energy efficiency policies. • Education is positively linked to energy policy development, especially for efficiency. • Higher OECD countries' policy scores are primarily due to social and political predictors. • Higher incomes are unlikely to lead to automatic improvements in energy policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes methodological approaches to assessing the impact of renewable energy and energy efficiency development on emerging economies' energy security. It is suggested to supplement the current methodology for assessing energy security with the decoupling index of the renewable energy financial burden on the state budget, the energy efficiency decoupling index, the households' energy poverty indicator, the index of capacity development for balancing electricity generation volumes, and the energy fluctuations indicator. These indices provide a comprehensive assessment of energy security under the latest challenges. Thus, the COVID-19 pandemic in the Ukrainian energy sector led to the "green and coal paradox", when the government decided to keep green electricity generation but limit nuclear generation. It required increased flexible capacities (thermal generation) and led to a rise in electricity prices and environmental pollution. Forecasting energy fluctuations with Butterworth filters allows minimizing the risks of maximum peak loads on the grid and timely prevention of emergencies. The energy fluctuations within the 20% range guarantee energy security and optimal energy companies' operation. It is proposed to smooth out energy consumption fluctuations through green energy development, smart grids formation, energy efficiency improvements, and energy capacities balancing to ensure energy and economic sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concern about energy in the European Union (EU) has been a recurrent issue from the very beginning. Though initially addressed at the state level, energy is now a shared competency as stressed by article 194 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. New challenges, added from time to time, need public support in order to be properly addressed. Such is the case of substituting traditional energy production with renewable energy sources. Our paper seeks to determine whether the Romanian public opinion favors such an evolution, which is traditionally associated with significant investment efforts. The study is focused on the north-east development region, which has the highest population and registered the fastest economic growth in 2019. The topic was explored through a survey applied to a sample of 649 household respondents. The results suggest strong support for introducing renewable energy sources, serious concerns about climate change, and a preoccupation for energy saving. Concerns regarding climate change or various economic factors, behaviors oriented towards reducing energy waste, as well as perceived knowledge on the matter are the factors with the biggest impact on supporting electricity production based on renewable energy sources. However, TV and online exposure have a negative impact on support. Demographics, along with social and political values remain mostly not significant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]