Increasing climate-related-energy penetration by integrating run-of-the river hydropower to wind/solar mix

Based on 33 years of daily data (1980-2012) for a set of 12 European regions, we re-estimate the optimal mix when wild run-of-the-river energy is included in the solar/wind mix. It is found to be highly region dependent but the highest shares are often obtained for run-of-the-river, ranging from 35% to 65% in Belarus and England. High solar shares (>40%) are found in southern countries but solar shares drop to less than 15% in northern countries. Wind shares range from 10 to 35% with the exception of Norway where it reaches 50%. These results put in perspective the optimal 60%-40% wind/solar mix currently used for Europe. For all regions, including run-of-the-river in the mix allows increasing the penetration rate of CREs (from 1 to 8% points).