What is a central West Europe (CWE) market coupling mechanism?

The Central West Europe (CWE) market coupling mechanism was launched in 2010 including the Benelux, France and Germany. In 2014, the North-Western Europe (NWE) system integrated CWE, Great Britain, the Nordics and the Baltics.

How can wind and solar help decarbonize Europe?

As wind and solar will soon become the largest sources of electricity production both within Europe, and then worldwide, this framework can help identify the optimal combination of resources that maximize production and minimize variability, contributing thus to a faster and cheaper decarbonization process.

Why is the European Union developing a joint energy strategy?

European Union The European Union (EU) has been developing a joint energy strategy since the first Energy Union communication (COM/2015/080) in 2015. As a result, electricity markets are becoming more integrated and countries are coordinating their policies towards decarbonization.

Does cross-country coordination of wind and solar capacity increase capacity factor?

We find that optimal cross-country coordination of wind and solar capacities across Europe’s integrated electricity system increases capacity factor by 22% while reducing hourly variability by 26%. We show limited benefits to solar integration due to consistent output profiles across Europe.

Why are wind patterns more heterogeneous across countries than solar?

This is because wind patterns are more heterogeneous across countries than solar (Fig. 5), so the allocation of wind capacities across locations with complementary patterns provides more benefits than combining similar solar patterns.

Are solar and wind complementary?

The larger the timescale, the higher the complementarity between both technologies (i.e. stronger negative correlation). Solar and wind are very complementary at the seasonal level, due to summer having lowest wind speeds but highest irradiance, and vice versa during winter.