Implications of declining costs of Solar, Wind and Storage Technologies on regional power trade in South Asia (BBIN Countries)
RADe will carry out research for EEG Energy and Economic Growth (EEG) to undertake a modelling study on the implications of declining Solar, Wind and Storage Technologies on regional power trade in South Asia particularly in the Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN Countries). To capture this technology cost decline impact in South Asia region, we will develop a regional electricity model that will comprise of reference energy system focusing on electricity capacity addition in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal using the bottom up technology-based TIMES (The Integrated MARKAL-EFOM System) model generator. The regional electricity model will be run with various scenario assumptions with cost decline for solar, wind and storages technologies. This scenario-based assessment will help in answering the following questions in South Asia:
- What will the impact of the declining cost of solar, wind and storage technologies on the regional power trade? Impact on annual quantum, seasonality and hourly trade volumes?
- What will be the implication on regional hydro potential utilization? How much of flexible hydro is utilized in the region for balancing renewables with declining storage cost?
- What will be the capacity of transmission network required?
- Possible capacity mix in the region? Fuel consumption by the power sector in the region?
- What will be the environmental benefits in terms of lower CO2 emissions?