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
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 [...]
An extraordinary market sees WTI crude oil prices turn negative
I wrote recently about the increasing incidences of negative electricity prices, driven by the limited ability to store electricity meaning that to all intents and purposes, electricity is consumed as it is generated. However, electricity is not the only [...]
Green bonds outperforming during Covid-19 crisis
Access to finance is important to businesses at any time, and more so in these times of unprecedented disruption. One area that has been attracting increasing levels of interest in recent years is the area of green finance, where [...]
The GB electricity market is not yet ready to get rid of its coal
In 2019 the GB market went a total of 18 consecutive days without any coal contributing to demand and 83 days without coal throughout the year as a whole. This was hailed as a great turning point and a sign [...]
Capacity market re-start finally delivers higher prices
Since the capacity market was authorised to re-start last October, following its suspension, there have been three auctions: a T-3 auction for the delivery year 2022/23, replacing the missed T-4 auction, a T-1 auction for 2020/21 and a T-4 [...]
The impact of covid-19 on the energy markets – update
Last week I participated in a webinar hosted by Energy Live News on how the covid-19 on users, brokers and suppliers, which covered some interesting points not mentioned in my previous post on the subject. Market liquidity on the [...]
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