The EU should define how much gas it wants by when, and recognise that Nord Stream 2 can provide additional security of supply, argues Klaus SchĂ€fer, the incoming CEO of E.ON spin-off Uniper in this exclusive interview with Energy Post. SchĂ€fer, who is currently Board member of the E.ON Group, says Europe is further away than ever from a single market for electricity and calls on policymakers to recognise that security of supply has a cost. He … [Read more...]
A quiet gas revolution in Central and Eastern Europe
Turkish Stream, Nord Stream, South Stream, Nabucco - the discussion about the European gas market centres on big gas pipeline projects which are supposed to make Europe either more or less dependent on Russia. However, unnoticed by most observers, Central and Eastern European countries have been carrying out numerous smaller projects that together are radically transforming the European gas market, write Colin Harrison and Zuzana Princova of … [Read more...]
Why Brussels should not interfere with Nord Stream 2
In its efforts to increase European energy security and create a common European energy market â and ultimately an Energy Union worth its label â the European Commission preeminently emphasizes the diversification of supply routes. For this reason it has criticised the Nord Stream 2 project of Gazprom and a number of European companies. But while diversification certainly remains one of the basic principles of energy security, it is only one of … [Read more...]
Exclusive: The Overlay Network – telecom experts present revolutionary plan to integrate EU power market
Four Dutch managers with a background in the telecoms sector, led by former Chairman of KPN Royal Dutch Telecom Professor Wim Dik, have come up with a simple idea that would finally make possible a truly integrated EU electricity system. Under the name of EU PowerNet Initiative they propose the building of an âOverlay Networkâ that would allow direct transmission of electricity between all countries even if they are not direct neighbours. The … [Read more...]
Why Ukraine has to reform its gas sector
Ukraine has embarked on âthe mother of all reformsâ: that of the gas sector. This is one of the most important and most difficult reforms Ukraine has to undertake. Yet without the marketisation of gas prices and an improvement in Naftogazâs financial standing, it will be impossible to reform Ukraineâs public finances and end the long-standing economic crisis. Energy sector reform is a central goal of the post-Euromaidan government and indeed the … [Read more...]
How hub-based pricing is reshaping the EU gas market â even Spain
Countries like Spain, which have long been immune to the shift from oil- to spot market-based gas pricing, are finally waking up. With that, come fresh opportunities for alternative gas suppliers to sell more and end-customers to pay less. So the evidence suggests, writes Benedict De Meulemeester, owner and founder of the international energy and environment consultancy E&C. Taking the UK as an example, he urges Spain to use a new … [Read more...]
RWE sets up its lignite plants for a taxpayer bail-out
German utility RWE has kept uneconomic lignite plants open with the explicit intention of securing a public bail-out, argue Julian Schwartzkopff, Chris Littlecott and Sabrina Schulz at E3G. It would apear the energy giant has taken a bet on being âtoo big to failâ that might just pay off: RWE is set to be the biggest beneficiary of a new 2.7GW capacity reserve in Germany which will pay lignite plants for going on standby. The alternative, a … [Read more...]
Dimitri Pescia, Agora Energiewende: “No more baseload in 2030, no case for new nuclear in Europe”
There will be no more baseload power in Germany in 2030 and possibly not anywhere in Europe. There is no business case for new nuclear power in Europe. Renewables, not thermal power, should get capacity payments - and be responsible for balancing. These are some of the explosive messages from a new report from the influential German think tank Agora Energiewende, which represents government, industry and NGO's. In an exclusive interview with … [Read more...]
Limits of the âEnergy Unionâ: expect only pragmatic progress
On 8 June the EU Member States will discuss the European Commissionâs proposals for an Energy Union. According to Severin Fischer and Oliver Geden of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) in Berlin, it is already clear that they will avoid or delay implementation of any meaningful steps in the direction of a political energy union. Over the next few years, they write, the focus of EU energy and climate policy will be … [Read more...]
The Norwegian way: what Poland and others can learn to develop their shale gas
The shale gas hopes of Poland and other countries in Eastern Europe have crumbled now that foreign investors have departed. An important reason for this failure is an inadequate political framework, write Lidia Puka and Aleksandra Gawlikowska-Fyk of the Polish Institute of International Affairs (PISM) and Ole Gunnar Austvik of the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs. They argue that these countries could learn from the Norwegian model, … [Read more...]
Energy subsidies probe is the kind of competition policy the EU needs
Capacity problems can best be tackled by letting prices fluctuate and making energy providers responsible for intermittent supply. To the extent that support schemes are used, they should be technology-neutral and driven by market forces to ensure efficiency, argues Diego Zuluaga, Deputy Director of the Epicenter (European Policy Information Center), a coalition of six free-market think tanks in Europe. For this reason, writes Zuluaga, the sector … [Read more...]
Tennet: Dutch electricity prices down 20%, price declines in almost all European countries
Electricity prices in the Netherlands declined 20% in 2014, according to a new Market Review published by Tennet, the Dutch transmission system operator (TSO), which is also active in Germany. According to the Market Review, electricity prices went down across Europe. Prices in the Netherlands and Germany showed convergence, but there was little convergence overall in Europe. The report also shows that coal-fired power plants are taking over from … [Read more...]
viEUws VIDEO: Brussels Briefing on Energy â All you need to know for April & May 2015
In this Brussels Briefing on Energy for viEUws.eu, Hughes Belin provides an overview of the latest EU energy policy developments, including the Gazprom investigation and various developments in South East Europe. … [Read more...]
Interview AndrĂ© Merlin: âEurope needs regional System Operators like in the USâ
Developing electricity interconnectors should be a shared competence of the EU and individual Member States, with costs shared out at least across regions, says AndrĂ© Merlin, President of Medgrid, a consortium looking to facilitate the exchange of electricity across the Mediterranean, in an interview with Energy Post. Merlin, former Chairman of both RTE, the French transmission system operator (TSO) and ERDF, the main French distribution system … [Read more...]
EU energy policy: still ambiguous after all these years
The Energy Union package recently announced by the European Commission is a step forward in that it puts market liberalization and integration at the centre of European energy policy, writes Carlo Stagnaro, senior fellow at the Italian free market think tank Istituto Bruno Leoni. At the same time, it is still strongly influenced by the idea that government intervention is required to ensure both security of supply and sustainability. As a result, … [Read more...]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- Next Page »