Socio-economic and environmental effects of concentrated solar power in spain: A multiregional input output analysis

Abstract

Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) is receiving increasing attention as a technology with the potential to provide clean electricity in a cost effective and dispatchable manner. Despite its renewable nature, solar power generation generates impacts that need to be adequately evaluated and managed. The objective of this paper is to estimate the socioeconomic and environmental life cycle impacts of the production of electricity by a commercial CSP plant using Multiregional Input Output Analysis. These effects have been estimated in terms of additional economic activity, value added, employment creation, climate change, acidification, photochemical oxidant formation and primary energy consumption. Additionally, the economic sectors and countries with higher effects in the value chain have been identified. The results are presented both in gross and net terms, including not only the effects of the system’s life cycle, but also the avoided effects derived from the displacement of other technologies in the Spanish electricity market. The effects of the displaced electricity have been calculated by estimating the Levelized Cost Of Energy of the mix of marginal technologies displaced by the CSP plant. The results indicate that producing electricity in a CSP plant and selling it into the Spanish electricity market results in net positive impacts on the economy, the employment and the environment both at a national and global scale. Taking into consideration the electricity technologies displaced by the CSP plant, the socioeconomic net effects amount to 167 €/MWh of goods and services generated, 87.9 €/MWh of value added and 4.67 h/MWh of employment creation. The global and net environmental impacts on climate change, photochemical oxidant formation, acidification and primary energy consumption amount to −188 kg eq CO2/MWh, 8 g eq NMVOC/MWh, −389 g eq SO2/MWh and −4169 MJ/MWh, respectively, implying a net prevention of pollutant emissions and primary energy consumption.