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Energy Post

The best thinkers on energy

Flexible renewable power: Spain to triple solar thermal capacity by 2030

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Sunny Southern Europe will become increasingly connected to its Central and Northern European neighbours with the ongoing development of cross border interconnectors. This is one of the crucial factors behind Spain’s decision to include an additional 5 GW capacity from STE/CSP plants in its Integrated National Energy and Climate plan (NECP). Complete with inherent storage capabilities, STE can provide flexible, dispatchable power supply at … [Read more...]

Time to re-think Britain’s capacity market

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Answering the call for opinions for the UK capacity market review, Gerard Wynn of the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) says its time for a rethink. Since its introduction to ensure energy security, 75% of payments have gone to existing coal, gas and nuclear plants, and only 10% to modern assets. By continuing with market reforms and building interconnections with Europe, the UK can have an efficient, market-led … [Read more...]

German electricity market in 2017: records for battery storage and redispatch

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Renewable energy generation is still on the rise in Germany, though at a much lower pace than in the years around 2010, writes Marius Buchmann of Jacobs University in a detailed overview of the German electricity market in 2017. Costs of the feed-in tariff are stagnating, notes Buchmann, but redispatch costs which grid operators incur to keep the system stable, reached a new record far above €1 billion. Courtesy of Buchmann’s blog Enerquire. … [Read more...]

The new EU electricity market design: more market – or more state?

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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...]

UK’s capacity market: billions of pounds wasted

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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...]

EU ties itself into knots with capacity market decisions [Energy Post Weekly]

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On 7 February the European Commission approved six new capacity mechanisms in the name of security of supply, insisting that they will not distort the Single Market. Two problems: one, the national decisons come as the EU tries to negotiate Europe-wide power market rules for the next decade. Two, the Commission wants those market rules to exclude coal plants from public support - when it has just authorised Poland to give state aid in the form of … [Read more...]

A step backwards – European Member states threaten to reverse progress on the Single Electricity Market

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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...]

Spain’s energy regulator rejects government plan to prop up coal

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Spain’s energy regulator has rejected an attempt by the government to prop up the nation’s oldest and most polluting coal power plants, stating that Spain’s massive overcapacity means it can safely close a “significant part of the existing coal fleet” without undermining security of supply, write Gerard Wynn of IEEFA (Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis), Paolo Coghe of Paris-based indepdent consultancy Acousmatics, and Carlota … [Read more...]

Keeping coal plants open: the Spanish government’s costly intervention in the power market

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After power producer Iberdrola announced the closure of their last coal plants, on 10 November, the Spanish government has said it might intervene to keep them open. Such an intervention, write energy experts Gerard Wynn and Paolo Coghe, is taking a page out of Donald Trump's book. It is costly, bad for the investment climate, and for the planet’s climate. … [Read more...]

Legal challenge to Spain’s capacity market payments well-founded

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Two Spanish NGO’s have started a court case against Spain’s capacity market scheme, which they say unnecessarily subsidizes operators of large power plants for billions of euros. Gerard Wynn, independent energy consultant, explains why their arguments are well-founded. According to Wynn, Spain’s capacity mechanism violates EU rules and should be scrapped as soon as possible. This article was first published on the blog of the Institute for Energy … [Read more...]

Divestment will not block German lignite

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Stock divestment strategies have been widely proposed to undercut financial support for fossil fuels. The German lignite industry, however, cannot be tackled in this way, writes independent energy expert Jeffrey Michel in a highly informative analysis. Lignite stations and mines are owned by regional communities in the west and a Czech consortium in the east. Although some power plants are being phased out against government-arranged subsidies, … [Read more...]

For Eurelectric, it’s incumbents first, competitive markets second

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Eurelectric, the association defending the interests of the European electricity industry, presents itself as a defender of the European consumer and the internal energy market. And yet many of its recommendations serve neither, argues Manon Dufour, head of the Brussels office of independent organisation E3G. … [Read more...]

Market design of 1980s not fit for today’s markets

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The renewable flood is creating havoc in wholesale electricity markets. And this will only get worse, as storage and zero net energy buildings expand, writes Fereidoon Sioshansi, editor of the newsletter EEnergy Informer. According to Sioshansi, the solutions applied today to keep the lights on do not address the fundamental flaws in market design. New solutions are needed. Courtesy EEnergy Informer. … [Read more...]

Debate over capacity markets heats up in Brussels

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Member States, MEPs and other stakeholders in Brussels are getting ready to develop rules for capacity markets in Europe. Some argue that countries should resort to capacity mechanisms only as a last resort. Other such as France insist on strong capacity markets: they are afraid of blackout risks. And there is disagreement over whether to allow coal power stations to play a role as backup source. Sonja van Renssen reports from Brussels.  … [Read more...]

Wind power blows away opposition in U.S.

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What many regarded as unthinkable just a few years ago, is happening today: U.S. utilities are almost effortlessly handling ever increasing levels of intermittent wind power, writes Washington DC-based energy author Dennis Wamsted. What is more, Democratic and Republican politicians are lauding the unprecedented way in which wind and solar resources are transforming low-income rural areas. Wind power is here to stay, regardless of who sits in the … [Read more...]