Networks
In March, Ofgem disappointed many by indicating that it is minded to reject all but one of the seven interconnector projects applying for authorisation under the cap and floor mechanism. The only project which makes the grade being the Tarchon (1.4 GW) between Britain [...]
The GB electricity market has become increasingly reliant on interconnection with other markets. In its 2023 Future Energy Scenarios , NG ESO said: “To manage dunkelflaute periods, dispatchable thermal power plants (gas and/or hydrogen), depending on the scenario and year, are likely to be [...]
In recent months questions have been asked around the future of Britain's gas infrastructure and pressure put on both the Government and Ofgem to address the question of gas network decommissioning. The UK Government has entered into a legal commitment to reduce the country’s [...]
Britian’s latest subsea interconnector, the 1.4 GW Viking Link with Denmark began commercial operations at the end of December. Initially its capacity will be limited to 800 MW until internal grid reinforcement in Denmark is completed, since if it ran at full capacity the [...]
In this final post in my series on minerals critical to the energy transition I look at rare earth metals. The name "rare earths" is often used to describe all 15 elements comprising the lanthanide series on the periodic table along with scandium and [...]
In this next post in my series on the critical minerals required for the energy transition, I look at more of the essential components of batteries: graphite and manganese. Graphite is an often over-looked part of the battery supply chain Carbon is one of [...]
Continuing my series on critical minerals, in this post I will look at some of the main metals required for lithium-ion batteries, the core component in electric cars and current battery-based grid-scale electricity storage solutions, lithium, cobalt and nickel. In a lithium-ion battery, the [...]
Following on from my post about the need to secure critical minerals for the energy transition, in this post I look at copper and aluminium, two metals essential for the delivery of the huge increase in grid infrastructure that will be needed to deliver [...]
Following on from my recent post about the challenges of upgrading power grids to meet net zero ambitions, in this post I will set out the issues relating to the supply of critical minerals for the energy transition. This issue is creeping up the [...]
Yesterday I reviewed the key market themes in 2023. In this post I take a look at what we can expect in 2024... The past couple of years have been dominated by concerns over energy prices, particularly gas. However, gas prices have fallen significantly [...]