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
Retail energy market: does size matter?
The collapse of GB Energy in November 2016 was seen by many as the start of a market correction, with other small independent suppliers being seen as vulnerable to rising prices and higher volatility. In the event, 2017 was [...]
Updating frequency control and reserve markets
In December, National Grid published a new roadmap for its frequency control and reserve markets, setting out the principles which are to govern the development of balancing services products with a view to providing greater clarity and investor certainty. [...]
Review of 2017 and the key themes for 2018
A year ago I set out my key themes for 2017, and as predictions go it was definitely a mixed bag! In this post I review the key themes of 2017 and look forward to the current year. What [...]
A recent discovery strikes an interesting note
This time of year is full of music, with carol singers out in force and the ubiquitous Christmas “hits” playing on loop in every store, but a recent discovery has brought music to mind in a different way... The [...]
GB gas market: do recent gas infrastructure failures signal trouble ahead?
The past few weeks have seen unseasonably cold weather in the UK - we even had a dusting of snow in London(!) - which has inevitably put pressure on energy supplies, particularly against the backdrop of the Rough closure. [...]
Smoke and mirrors: talking up battery storage
There has been quite a bit of news-flow about battery storage over the past couple of weeks. There was the announcement that Elon Musk had succeeded in his bid to delivery the world's largest battery storage facility to South [...]
The UK’s new nuclear saga rumbles on, but ABWR reactors may provide hope
The saga of the UK's attempts to re-invigorate its nuclear industry continues, with further criticism of Hinkley Point C, this time by the Public Accounts Committee, speculation that an investor has finally been found for the Moorside project, and [...]
Is it time to look differently at security of supply?
National Grid's outlook for the coming winter is somewhat more positive in capacity terms than in previous winters, with a capacity margin of 6.2 GW or 10.3%. "We are confident that we have the right products and strategy in [...]
Life after Rough: what next for the UK gas market?
Last week the Competition and Markets Authority ("CMA") announced that it has provisionally accepted an application from Centrica for the company to be released from the historic undertakings relating to the Rough gas storage facility. The application came on [...]
SSE – npower merger: moving the industry chess pieces
A lot is written about the changing shape of the GB power market, with increasing decentralisation, and a shift away from large units of synchronous generation to more dispersed often intermittent renewable generation. Rather less is written about the [...]
Recent Comments