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
Low wind and high demand squeeze the GB power market
There are signs of squeezed power market supply and demand margins. Last week saw National Grid ESO issue two Electricity Margin Notices (the new name for the Notice of Inadequate System Margin, or “NISM”), warning of a potential shortfall [...]
Nuclear power could be a key enabler for net zero
Despite the disruptions to the energy sector as a result of the pandemic, the Government remains committed to its 2050 net zero carbon target. The problem, as I have noted before, is that there are currently no technological solutions to [...]
How can energy suppliers survive a hostile market environment
I posted earlier about the difficult conditions facing energy suppliers in the GB market, and repeated my long-held vies that suppliers should be allowed to focus on energy supply and be released from their tax-collection activities. However, in the [...]
Energy retail in a covid world
Many industries have been hit hard by the covid-19 crisis, including the energy sector, but energy supply businesses were in trouble even before the novel coronavirus struck. This year another five suppliers have disappeared - Tonik Energy, Gnergy and [...]
Dynamic Containment: National Grid ESO launches new frequency control service
National Grid has launched a new frequency response service: Dynamic Containment, designed to provide sub-second response to faults which cause a significant deviation in the electricity system frequency. According to National Grid ESO: “Currently, the electricity system is experiencing [...]
Smart meters: handing over control of electricity usage
This month saw a flurry of negative press about smart meters as journalists awoke to the implications of some proposed industry changes that could lead to suppliers remotely switching off appliances used by domestic consumers. Back in July, SSE [...]
Hydrogen is big news but is it really the answer to de-carbonisation?
As we begin to emerge from the covid lockdown there is a lot of talk about a “green recovery” and “building-back green”, with a renewed focus on hydrogen. Last week the Confederation of British Industry (“CBI”) with the University [...]
Why the UK does not need a separate emissions trading scheme
To provide some light relief from the pervasive discussions of the novel coronavirus, I thought it might be nice to look at an interesting aspect of the Brexit negotiations. Brexit sentiment has swung significantly if perhaps not yet decisively [...]
Low system demand presents challenges to National Grid
As the country largely remains locked down, electricity demand continues to be low, and renewable generation high, particularly in the current sunny weather. This is creating challenges for National Grid ESO in balancing the electricity system, and so it [...]
“One cannot plan for the unexpected”
Today is the 4th anniversary of my blog, and it is usual at such times to comment on unexpected market changes. Indeed over the past 4 years there have been some genuinely surprising developments in the British energy market…the [...]
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