Evaluation of renewable energy development in power generation in Finland

Renewable energy resources have historically played an important role for heat/electricity generation in Finland. Although diffusion costs of renewable energy utilization are higher than fossil fuels and nuclear power plants, other policy aspects and operation costs of renewables cover this gap particularly in high dependent countries to fossil fuels. The current paper discusses the role of renewable portfolio in the Finland's energy action plan during 2011-2020. A system dynamics model is constructed to evaluate different costs of renewable energy utilization by 2020. Results show that total costs of new capacities of renewable energy systems as well as operation and maintenance costs of current systems bring 7% saving compared to total costs of new natural gas power plants (as a sample for second scenario) in Finland. (C) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.