A climatological assessment of balancing effects and shortfall risks of photovoltaics and wind energy in Germany and Europe

Kaspar, Frank; Borsche, Michael; Pfeifroth, Uwe; Trentmann, Jörg; Drücke, Jaqueline; Becker, Paul

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-16-119-2019

Articles | Volume 16

https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-16-119-2019

© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-16-119-2019

© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 16

02 Jul 2019

| 02 Jul 2019

A climatological assessment of balancing effects and shortfall risks of photovoltaics and wind energy in Germany and Europe

Frank Kaspar, Michael Borsche, Uwe Pfeifroth, Jörg Trentmann, Jaqueline Drücke, and Paul Becker

Data sets

Surface Radiation Data Set - Heliosat (SARAH) - Edition 2 U. Pfeifroth, S. Kothe, R. Müller, J. Trentmann, R. Hollmann, P. Fuchs, and M. Werscheck https://doi.org/10.5676/EUM_SAF_CM/SARAH/V002

COSMO-REA6 regional reanalysis DWD/HErZ (Deutscher Wetterdienst – Climate Data Center/Hans-Ertel Center for Weather Research) https://opendata.dwd.de/climate_environment/REA/

Short summary

In this study, we assess balancing effects between photovoltaics and wind energy. On average, the seasonal cycles complement each other in Germany as well as in Europe. The frequency of events with a risk of low electricity generation is analyzed. The results illustrate that the number of such events is reduced when offshore regions are included, or when a combined system of PV and wind energy is considered. A European-wide analysis also leads to a distinct reduction of such events.