Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
strong nuclear power programs. For example, in Japan, regional utilities
have invested heavily in nuclear power. he inancial and operational com-
mitment made to nuclear power engenders a high degree of resistance to
change and impedes independent wind power providers from gaining a
competitive foothold. Similarly, in China, the coal industry is still a source
of employment and tax revenues in many provinces. his provides economic
and political rationale for maintaining coal-ired power plants, despite wide-
spread knowledge that coal-ired power is a major contributor to the pollu-
tion problems that plague the nation.
Technological lock should be assessed separately in an analysis of a
nation's energy mix because some nations exhibit energy proiles that are
dominated by one or two technologies but the political and economic might
of the irms that support the technologies is not suicient to engender tech-
nological lock. For example, in Germany, nuclear power irms have been
on the defensive for so many decades that the ability to preserve market
share through political pressure is limited. In Denmark, the nation boasts
reserves in natural gas; however, the irms within this industry are not
strong enough to engender a degree of technological lock in regard to natu-
ral gas-ired power.
Accordingly, when assessing the threat of technological lock, policymak-
ers need to look at the individual and collective capacity of the dominant
technologies to inluence market developments. If there are powerful stake-
holders that are capable of insulating markets from competitive challenge,
policymakers must be prepared to initiate policy to open doors for com-
petitive activity. his may mean advocating market push policies (renewable
portfolio standards) rather than market pull strategies (feed-in tarifs).
10.3.4 Technological Factor 4: Distance to the Grid
In each of the case studies presented in this topic, the economic and tech-
nological challenges of transmitting power from wind farms to demand
centers were highlighted as key challenges for policymakers. In the case of
China, it was noted that some operational wind farms have been unable to
get the electricity generated to the grid. In Germany, policymakers face the
costly challenge of trying to harness wind power potential from the north
and deliver it to demand centers in the south. In Denmark, the nation is
now grappling with substantial costs for connecting ofshore wind farms
to the electricity grid. In all cases, there is a shared challenge—many of the
most attractive wind sites are in remote locations and must be transmitted
back to demand centers, thereby amplifying the cost of wind power.
