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...]
The EU wants to fight climate change – so why is it spending billions on a gas pipeline?
By funding the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), the European Investment Bank (EIB) is hardly signalling to the private sector that governments are committed to a green energy transition, writes Aled Jones, Professor and Director at the Global Sustainability Institute of  Anglia Ruskin University. Article courtesy The Conversation. … [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...]
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...]
Europe’s biggest fossil fuel project gets €1.5bn public loan
The European Investment Bank has approved a loan to the Southern Gas Corridor, in a move environmentalists described as a “historical mistake”, writes Karl Mathiesen of Climate Home News. The move brings the total public backing for Europe's biggest fossil fuel project to $3.5 billion. Courtesy Climate Home News. … [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...]
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...]
Russia starts LNG exports from Yamal – what it means for Europe
Russian company Novatek has started exporting LNG from Yamal in the Arctic. It is in many ways a game-changing project, writes Anna Mikulska of the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania and the Baker Institute’s Center for Energy Studies. It puts Russia on the map as LNG exporter, it provides a challenge to Gazprom, is a significant step in the development of the Arctic region, and it expands energy relations between … [Read more...]
Time for German network operators to come clean about tariffs
Network tariffs are an important part of energy costs for consumers, yet, surprisingly, the way these fees are established in Germany is completely opaque, writes Andreas Jahn, Berlin-based Senior Associate at global energy policy advisors Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP). According to Jahn, it is unclear how network operators and the regulator calculate costs and how they are allocated to customers. He calls on the German government—and on … [Read more...]
Exclusive interview Maros Šefčovič: Energy Union is “deepest transformation of energy systems since Industrial Revolution”
Before the next European elections in 2019, Maroš Ĺ efÄŤoviÄŤ , the European Commission’s Vice-President for the Energy Union, wants to have a new legal framework in place which will “bring in the most comprehensive and deepest transformation of energy systems in Europe, since the [industrial revolution] one hundred and fifty years ago.” In an exclusive interview with Energy Post, he says that the success of the Energy Union project “will decide the … [Read more...]
Video debate: what impact will Nord Stream 2 have on European energy security?
Is Nord Stream 2 good or bad for Europe? Is the European Commission right to try to change the EU Gas Directive apparently to halt Nord Stream 2? On 28 November Energy Post held a conference in Brussels, sponsored by Nord Stream 2, and moderated by our EU correspondent Sonja van Renssen, where Gazprom's pipeline project was debated. The video shows the highlights of the debate. … [Read more...]
How to ensure that corporate buying of renewable energy really makes a difference
Many corporations are eager to contribute to the fight against climate change by sourcing renewable energy. Yet, despite some high-profile power purchase agreements, corporate renewables sourcing is still a small market and its real contribution to the energy transition is doubtful sometimes, writes Malte Gephart, energy policy expert at international consultancy Navigant. According to Gephart, this is a missed opportunity. He explains what needs … [Read more...]
The case for additional actions within the EU ETS has just become stronger
It is sometimes thought that total emissions in the EU ETS (Emission Trading System) are equal to the cap, and so any additional actions, such as phase-out of coal power, increasing energy efficiency and deploying more renewables, have no effect. But this is not true, writes climate change economist Adam Whitmore. Indeed, according to Whitmore, recently agreed reforms to the EU ETS strengthen the case for additional actions. For policymakers, … [Read more...]
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