Pathways towards 100% carbon reduction for electric utility power systems

Electric utilities and government agencies are moving towards 100% carbon-free energy. Despite the enthusiasm behind this goal there are a considerable number of open questions. For example, what is the cost of a “carbon-free” system versus a “carbon-neutral system”? And what are these costs relative to? This work addresses these questions by determining the costs and carbon reduction trajectories associated with 100% targets.

Contents

1. Introduction and background
2. The utility system
3. Future new build and other considerations for modeling future scenarios
4. Scenario definitions
5. Long-term planning approach
6. Results
7. Discussion
8. Conclusions