As the number of “prosumers” with batteries grows, huge opportunities will be opened up for aggregators who will be able to optimize these behind-the-meter-assets, writes energy expert Fereidoon Sioshansi, publisher of newsletter EEnergy Informer. Sioshansi explains how this development is likely to transform the electricity sector. … [Read more...]
EU gas and power transmission grid operators map out energy future (Energy Post Weekly)
For the first time ever, the gas and electricity transmission system operators in the EU have joined forces to develop a series of joint scenarios for the European energy system out to 2040. Takeaways: high carbon prices, no shale gas, hardly any CCS, less gas in heating/more gas in transport, less nuclear and more biomethane and power-to-gas. The scenarios matter because they will ultimately help decide which energy infrastructure projects get … [Read more...]
How to ensure resilience in the grid of the future
A low-carbon world is an electrified world. But electricity has an Achilles heel: it is vulnerable. And will become more so as digitalization progresses and extreme weather increases, notes Mark Byrne of the Total Environment Centre in Australia. To reduce vulnerability, Byrne believes we need to create a system of enmeshed micro-grids. Keywords: “mutual interdependence”.  … [Read more...]
How energy storage is starting to rewire the electricity industry
A world of low-cost batteries will transform the way the electricity and automotive industries operate and how homeowners, businesses and utilities produce and use power, write Eric Hittinger and Eric Williams of the University of Rochester. What is more, their research shows that storage is "future-proof" - it works no matter how the energy system evolves. Article courtesy The Conversation. … [Read more...]
Shaking up the German energy market: the Eon and RWE deal
The recent deal between German utilities RWE and Eon will lead to a concentration of power in the different segments of the energy market, writes Marius Buchmann of Jacobs University in Bremen. According to Buchmann, the big question is whether the new companies will become innovation engines or will impose new market entry barriers. Article courtesy of Buchmann’s blog Enerquire. … [Read more...]
EU electricity distributors should not be allowed to police themselves
The European Commission has proposed new European legislation that could put Europe’s distribution system operators in a powerful position to bend market rules to their own advantage, writes Julie Finkler of NGO ClientEarth. According to Finkler, this could seriously hamper other market players, like community energy initiatives, renewable energy producers and aggregators. She calls on the European Parliament and the Member States to ensure this … [Read more...]
The new EU electricity market design: more market – or more state?
As a new regulatory design for the EU electricity market is taking shape, there are grave concerns in the sector that the new rules will not advance the internal energy market very much. Or might even undermine it. Energy Post editor-in-chief Karel Beckman talked to a number of key players in the sector who will debate the proposed market design rules at an Energy Post event in Brussels on 20 March. … [Read more...]
How German Energiewende’s renewables integration points the way
The experience of the German Energiewende shows that increasing amounts of renewable energy on the power system, while at the same time reducing inflexible baseload generation, does not harm reliability write Michael Hogan, Camille Kadoch, Carl Linvill and Megan O’Reilly of the Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP). American policymakers who are still skeptical can look across the Atlantic, to Germany, for a concrete example of a successful … [Read more...]
UK’s capacity market: billions of pounds wasted
Britain has chosen to secure electricity supplies through a scheme which pays power plants to be available several years in advance, but falling prices suggest this capacity market is overkill and poor value for money, with ample alternative approaches, writes energy finance consultant Gerard Wynn. Courtesy Energy and Carbon blog. … [Read more...]
Small modular reactors for nuclear power: hope or mirage?
Supporters of nuclear power hope that small nuclear reactors, unlike large plants, will be able to compete economically with other sources of electricity. But according to M.V. Ramana, a Professor at the University of British Columbia, this is likely to be a vain hope. In fact, according to Ramana, in the absence of a mass market, they may be even more expensive than large plants. … [Read more...]
Corbyn avoids real choices with call for nationalisation of energy
Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn has called for the nationalisation of the UK energy industry in order to deliver the transition to a low-carbon economy. That may sound radical and ambitious, writes Karel Beckman, editor-in-chief of Energy Post, but it is not a solution at all. According to Beckman, the Labour Leader is shirking the responsibility to come up with realistic and effective climate change policies. … [Read more...]
Study: solar and wind won’t break the grid
A new report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) shows that major power systems are able to cope quite well with increasing shares of intermittent renewables, if the right measures are taken. The study says that increased generation of these renewables does not make the grid less reliable or compromise security of supply. … [Read more...]
Energy storage does not always make the electric grid cleaner
Energy storage can help grids use more wind and solar power, but it does not always reduce carbon emissions, write Naga Srujana Goteti, Eric Hittinger and Eric Williams of the University of Rochester. In some cases, adding storage actually even increases carbon emissions. This happens when consumption is shifted to periods when coal power is used more. Article courtesy The Conversation. … [Read more...]
A step backwards – European Member states threaten to reverse progress on the Single Electricity Market
The European Council’s proposals on the internal energy market fundamentally weaken the framework that is needed to deliver an integrated market that will benefit European energy consumers, write Philip Baker and Christos Kolokathis from the global energy policy advisors Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP). They may even legalise practices that are currently – and should remain – illegal. The authors call on European policymakers to support the … [Read more...]
Charging electric vehicles: the challenges ahead
Forget the latest Tesla announcement, writes John Massey. What is more important for the future of electric cars is how we will solve the challenge of charging them. Massey, an independent energy analyst and trainer, discusses the four main challenges of EV charging and concludes that the outcome of the process will depend on the interplay between electricity supply options, market operations, grid costs, policy choices and consumer behaviour … [Read more...]
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