Energy Policy
This week has seen two significant prices of news relating to the new nuclear reactor being constructed at Hinkley Point in Somerset. Firstly, the French nuclear regulator, the Autorité de Sûreté Nucléaire (“ASN”), has made a preliminary decision relating to the pressure vessel at [...]
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 to a collapse in wholesale [...]
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 shortcomings of the project – [...]
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 voices, however, suggest that the [...]
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 year and a half. Australia's [...]
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 vehicles. According to a recent [...]
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 in terms of grid stability, [...]
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 set of manifestos. The Conservatives [...]
Retail price caps continue to make the news, as "dealing" with rising energy prices is seen as a popular move in the run up to the General Election. As has now been argued many times, including in this blog, price caps are unlikely to [...]
Last week the Conservative Party has announced a manifesto commitment to an energy price cap, despite warnings from across the industry, including in this blog, that the idea is unlikely to work, and may have significant unintended adverse consequences. In his recent address to [...]