Market Potentials for Renewable Energies on Islands focusing on the Caribbean, Pacific, and Mediterranean Region

Due to the dramatic cost decline of photovoltaic (PV) modules in recent years, hybridization concepts for diesel grids become increasingly interesting from an economic point of view. Especially on islands with high diesel power generation costs renewable energies such as wind and solar power become more and more attractive. Within this project power generation costs of conventional and renewable energy systems for the Caribbean, Pacific, and Mediterranean region are simulated and compared. Different scenarios (e.g. diesel price increase, technology costs, capital expenditures) and different configurations of hybrid energy systems are considered. The study reveals that energy systems with high shares of renewable energies are currently cost competitive compared to conventional ones.

The project aims to identify the most attractive islands for hybridization of diesel plants within the Caribbean, Pacific, and Mediterranean region for the Younicos AG. Doing this a cost optimized configuration of hybrid energy supply systems is simulated and LCOE reductions compared to the diesel only system are illustrated. A valuable ranking tool for all islands is developed. The weighted ranking factors such as amortization time and market volume combined with socio-economic data (e.g. ease of doing business index, political stability, inflation rate, corruption index) help to find the most attractive islands.