The National Renewable Energy Laboratory is exploring different paths to 100% emission-free electricity in the United States.

From pv magazine USA

There are many ways to achieve 100% emission-free electricity. The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has released “Examining Supply-Side Options to Achieve 100% Clean Electricity by 2035,” which examines several scenarios.

NREL concludes that a 90% clean grid will have little additional cost and can be built primarily with new wind, solar, storage and transmission systems. However, the last 10% will present financial challenges, requiring research and new technologies.

The laboratory points to four “critical obstacles” to reaching 100%:

  1. Dramatic acceleration of electrification and increased demand efficiency
  2. New energy infrastructure rapidly installed across the country
  3. Expanding clean energy manufacturing and supply chains
  4. Ongoing support for research, development, demonstration and deployment to bring emerging technologies to market (the last 10% challenge)

In all their main scenarios, the cheapest electricity mix is ​​dominated by wind and solar, which provide the bulk of production (60% to 80%). By the end of this decade, solar will require additions of 40 GWac to 90 GWac per year, and wind will require additions of 70 GW to 150 GW per year. By 2035, the United States must have added 2 TW of wind and solar combined.

Other achievements also set to occur by 2035 include the deployment of 5 GW to 8 GW of new hydropower, 3 GW to 5 GW of geothermal, and 120 GW to 350 GW of daytime storage. Achieving these goals will require a global capital of 330 to 740 billion dollars.

Another complex issue is that the models require between 1,400 and 10,100 miles of new high-capacity lines each year. NREL says this will triple the rate of deployment volume installed today.

US solar will need to massively increase deployment, with installation rates two to eight times higher than the 15 GW of capacity that was added in 2020. These future annual installation volumes will be 25% to 110 % of total installed capacity nationwide. the world in 2020.

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