Featured Posts
Time to accept that wind farm costs are not falling
There has been a consistent narrative that the cost of building new wind farms is falling, with falling subsidy [...]
Windfall tax harms oil and gas production and must be cut
In May last year, the UK Government introduced a windfall tax on the profits of oil and gas companies [...]
Why Norway’s views on energy security should ring alarm bells across Europe
Norway's energy security would appear to be a done deal, yet the past couple of years have been very [...]
Addressing the high real cost of renewable generation
Over the past few months we have been inundated with claims from interested parties that more renewables are the [...]
Recent Posts
Government consults on greenwashing in retail energy tariffs
The Government has finally announced a review of so-called “green tariffs” to assess whether suppliers are communicating appropriately with consumers, or whether they are engaging in “greenwashing”. According to the Government, 9 million British households are now on green [...]
Capacity auctions underline changes to the market structure
March saw the latest capacity market auctions: the T-1 auction for delivery in 2021/22 was held on the 12th and the T-4 auction for 2024/25 was concluded on 22nd. The assets leaving the auction compared with those succeeding highlight [...]
BSUoS charging reform: benefits and risks for all parties
From 1 April 2023 the way that Balancing Services Use of System (“BSUoS”) costs are recovered could change - Ofgem is proposing to exempt generators from the charges and to recover the costs solely from end consumers. This would [...]
As the price cap rises again it’s time to fix a broken market
Last week Ofgem announced another increase to the price cap on so-called default energy tariffs, which will take effect from 1 October, the start of the winter season. This comes after a previous increase to the cap last February, [...]
Taishan EPR shuts down to repair damaged fuel rods
Regular readers will know that I am no fan of EDF’s third generation nuclear technology being deployed at Hinkley Point C – the European Pressurised Water Reactor (“EPR”). The company has been trying and failing to complete its flagship [...]
NG ESO sees tighter capacity margins next winter
Yesterday, National grid ESO published a preliminary Winter Outlook for next winter (2021/22), deciding to come out with an early view following last winter’s market tightness, which I discussed in a series of posts last month: With tight margins [...]
The Maths of Net Zero: ensuring a smooth & fair transition
Yesterday I had the pleasure of addressing the All Party Parliamentary Group for Energy Studies (and was delighted to be confirmed as the newest member of the PGES Executive Council). Along with Richard Norris from Pandreco and Mike Lakin [...]
The G7 makes little progress towards coal phase-out
Shortly after I published my post on the use of coal on the GB electricity system in Winter 2020, there was excitment after the G7 nations (United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan) announced they would end [...]
What have we learned since the launch of the UK ETS?
Last month saw the launch of the UK Emissions Trading System (“UK ETS”), which replaces the EU equivalent which the country left at the beginning of the year with the implementation of Brexit. The first auctions on ICE took [...]
Falling nuclear capacity adds to winter worries
Low nuclear availability added to the capacity issues in the GB market over the past winter, and as the fleet ages and new nuclear is further delayed, these problems are set to become more acute. Since the first commercial [...]
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