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
What does the closure of Rough storage mean?
On Tuesday, Centrica announced the permanent closure of Rough, its large seasonal gas storage facility. This is the UK’s only long-term gas storage asset, with a capacity equivalent to about 10% of winter peak demand and 70% of the [...]
The writing is on the wall for coal generation
The UK broke new ground on Friday 21 April 2017 seeing the first continuous 24-hour period since the industrial revolution when coal made no contribution to the power sector. The country which led the way in the introduction of coal [...]
The Californian electricity market is also straining under the weight of renewables
I wrote recently about the challenges being faced in Australia as a result of the rapid deployment of renewable generation. Similar problems are being seen in the Californian electricity market where progress against ambitious renewable generation targets has led [...]
Smart meter problems keep growing: time for a re-think
As the dust settles (or not) after the General Election, the wider impact on the energy sector is unclear, however one initiative continues on despite increasing calls for a re-think: smart meters. I have previously written about the technological [...]
Electricity storage on the fly
Last week saw the news that the UK is to host Europe’s largest battery flywheel energy storage system, which will provide fast frequency response services to both the GB and Irish markets. The £3.5 million project will be delivered [...]
Why the US withdrawal from the Paris agreement is not a disaster
On Thursday Donald Trump caused outrage by withdrawing the United States from the Paris climate agreement, something widely derided by politicians and the media globally as a retrograde step that literally risks the future health of our planet. Quieter [...]
Australian electricity market: struggling to cope with de-carbonisation
The words "Australia" and "energy crisis" are increasingly being used together, so it is interesting to consider how an energy rich country has found itself on the brink of energy chaos, with blackouts and brownouts occurring over the past [...]
Electric vehicle infrastructure a significant barrier to uptake
Much has been made recently about the potential for electric vehicles ("EVs") to transform transport and related industries, even going as far as to suggest that demand for oil is close to peaking as EVs displace petrol and diesel [...]
Germany-Austria electricity zone to spilt due to renewable power spills into neighbouring grids
The German electricity system has been celebrating record levels of renewable generation, with 85% of the electricity consumed in the country on 30 April coming from renewable sources. However, this high level of renewable energy is not without cost [...]
The General Election: nothing to get excited about for energy
This week the main political parties published their manifestos ahead of the General Election next month. In this post I will explore what they mean for the energy markets. The current political landscape has resulted in a very interesting [...]
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