Renewables are not yet the least costly option in every market, writes Tim Buckley, Director of Energy Finance Studies Australasia at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), but the pace of change demonstrates that a tipping point toward a new energy economy is coming, and fast. Article courtesy IEEFA. … [Read more...]
EU ties itself into knots with capacity market decisions [Energy Post Weekly]
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...]
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...]
Germany to set end date for coal power in 2019
Germany’s  coalition partners have concluded a treaty that may set a final deadline for coal-fired power production in Germany, Clean Energy Wire reports. A commission will decide the timeline for phasing out coal, under a coalition deal agreed between the social democrats and Angela Merkel’s conservatives. … [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...]
New German government adopts coal phase-out in all but name
The coalition accord between Angela Merkel and Martin Schulz includes an increase in the renewables target in the electricity mix from 50% to 65% by 2030. Jon Berntsen and Anders Nordeng of Thomson Reuters Point Carbon have analysed how this will impact the German energy sector and conclude that it is a coal phaseout policy in all but name. … [Read more...]
Microgrids: from niche to $100 billion market
Energy experts at Navigant Research are convinced that micro-grids are moving from a niche novelty to mainstream, writes Fereidoon Sioshansi, publisher of newsletter EEnergy Informer. They forecast cumulative micro-grid investments of over $100 billion over the next decade, much of it in North America and Asia. Europe is lagging behind, but Finland may represent a growth market. Sioshansi takes a closer look at what microgrids are and how they … [Read more...]
Empowering the powerless: here is how we can end energy poverty
Millions of people die prematurely of indoor pollution and other consequences of energy poverty. Centralized power systems have failed them, writes Jatin Nathwani of the University of Waterloo. But there is a way to empower the powerless: with microgrids and decentralized technologies. Courtesy The Conversation. … [Read more...]
Rapid wind and solar cost declines keep pushing fossil fuels out. How far can they go?
Rapid cost declines made renewable energy the United States’ cheapest available source of new electricity, without subsidies, in 2017, writes Silvio Marcacci of think tank Energy Innovation. In many parts of the U.S., building new wind is cheaper than running existing coal, while nuclear and natural gas aren’t far behind, notes Marcacci. As renewable energy costs continue their relentless decline, they keep pushing fossil fuels further from … [Read more...]
Nuclear power in crisis: we are entering the Era of Nuclear Decommissioning
Nuclear power is in crisis ‒ as even the most strident nuclear enthusiasts acknowledge ‒ and it is likely that a new era is fast emerging, writes Jim Green, editor of the Nuclear Monitor newsletter. After a growth spurt from the 1960s to the '90s, then 20 years of stagnation, the Era of Nuclear Decommissioning is upon us. Article courtesy Nuclear Monitor. … [Read more...]
French people support energy transition (more than nuclear power)
France is at a crossroads, writes Jules Hebert, program coordinator at the Heinrich Böll Foundation office in Paris. It can pursue a renewed nuclear model – or follow the German example and invest massively in renewable energy. It is often said that the French people support the nuclear path, notes Hebert – but a recent survey comes to a different conclusion. Article courtesy Energy Transition/Global Energiewende. … [Read more...]
Spain’s energy regulator rejects government plan to prop up coal
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...]
Emissions reductions from carbon pricing can be big, quick and cheap
The UK carbon tax on fuel for power generation provides the most clear-cut example anywhere in the world of large scale emissions reductions from carbon pricing, writes climate change economist Adam Whitmore. These reductions have been achieved by a price that, while higher than in the EU ETS, remains moderate or low against a range of other markers, including other carbon taxes. … [Read more...]
The climate solution no one in Davos will be talking about
Economists say a global carbon tax would efficiently shift the world to safer energy production. So why is it barely mentioned, ask Ian Lefond and Timmons Roberts of Brown University? Article courtesy of Climate Home News. … [Read more...]
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