Featured Posts
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
Energy Price Guarantee to support households and businesses this winter
Today the new Prime Minister has announced the long-awaited support for rising energy bills. A new Energy Price Guarantee is being introduced which supersedes the price cap and will fix average energy costs for households at £2,500 for 2 [...]
Dealing with high energy prices – a message to Jacob Rees-Mogg
With the largely expected news that Liz Truss would become the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, speculation is growing about the support that will be offered to consumers ahead of the increase in the price cap that [...]
Renewed interest in nuclear as energy crisis deepens
Nuclear power may be on the verge of a global renaissance just over a decade after the Fukushima disaster placed its future in doubt. The global shortage of gas in the face of the Ukraine war, with western buyers [...]
Reduce energy waste to tackle energy security and affordability
With the growing energy crisis across Europe there are calls for more action on demand reduction, and in particular to reduce energy wasted through heat losses. Research by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (“ECIU”) suggests that poorly insulated [...]
The energy crisis requires an urgent response from the Government
Over the past few days I have been invited to comment in the mainstream press about the current energy crisis, both in terms of security of supply and high costs. These two legs of the trilemma now dominate the [...]
Major changes to Europe’s gas markets in response to the conflict with Russia
European gas prices have risen sharply in the past two months, as EU nations strive to fill gas storage facilities ahead of the winter. The widening spread between the main EU benchmark, TTF, and the British price, NBP, reflects [...]
Re-opening Rough: what are the prospects for gas storage this winter?
There are growing noises suggesting that the UK’s only large seasonal gas storage facility, Rough, which closed in 2017 may re-open for the winter. Centrica’s storage licence was renewed late last month, and on 3 August, Ofgem granted Centrica [...]
Confirmation bias: ignoring the evidence when assessing the early outlook
I have received a response from National Grid ESO to some of my questions on the Early Outlook for Winter 2022. In this post I update my analysis and add some further commentary on the risks to energy security [...]
NG ESO expects to rely on interconnectors this winter: this looks like wishful thinking
Today National Grid ESO has published its early view of the Winter Outlook for 2022/23. Unbelievably, it believes the capacity margin will be slightly higher than last year at 4.0 GW compared with 3.9 GW. This strikes me as [...]
BEIS Select Committee seeks retail energy market reform
Following on from my previous post describing the BEIS Select Committee’s recommendations into improved governance at Ofgem, this post examines the specific market reforms to the retail energy market proposed by the Committee. In particular the Committee is calling [...]
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