Renewable Energy Partnerships and Project Economics

Pembina Institute Renewable Energy Partnerships and Project Economics | 1 Executive summary Motivations This work is motivated by the desire to understand and improve the relationship between Indigenous power proponents and utilities as well as the difficult project economics that slow the development of remote renewable energy projects. [...] It aims to contribute to the well-being of Indigenous Peoples by paying special attention to the voices of Indigenous power proponents and the increased consideration Indigenous self-determination and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) require. [...] The research also indicates that the concept and terms marginal and avoided cost of energy are not fully understood and calculating the cost of energy varies and is complicated. [...] This is a rich, complicated area of research that has the potential to significantly advance the deployment of renewable projects through the establishment of a well-understood framework, a common understanding of these terms and PPA negotiations that going beyond the de facto approach of PPA rates that hover around the marginal cost of energy and often do not progressively support a good business [...] With regards to partnerships, the barriers are clear: partnership and the opportunities for Indigenous inclusion are currently rooted in the colonial, market-based reality of energy development in the North, power imbalances between utilities and Indigenous power proponents (where utilities currently have the authoritative advantage) and lack of transparent information sharing.