A quick overview of European energy policy over the past 15 years shows that rationales for interconnections have evolved as new concerns have reinforced their importance. Originally they were seen as an instrumental part of the liberalization process. They are now considered as key to move renewable electricity across Europe.
Grids are already developing offshore, and this development will continue even though at what pace and how they will develop is still uncertain. Indeed, there are different possible configurations for a future offshore grid: it can be a simple multiplication of standalone lines that provide each a single service (either connection of generation, or connection between transmission grids); or it can be a more integrated infrastructure like an offshore meshed grid that combines and interconnects dozens of offshore lines and generation units (hereafter combined solution). Continue reading »
Could Fukushima put an end to the French exception? Everybody in France is now talking about, and arguing for or against, a prospective nuclear phase-out. Political Candidates running for the next presidency defend their affirmative or negative position on this issue with figures published in several recent studies assessing the investment costs of an eventual a potential phase-out, as opposed to a continuation of the current power generation model. Unsurprisingly, the numbers differ. Why?
Huge investments in new transmission power lines are required on both sides of the Atlantic in the next two decades. Financial, technological and regulatory uncertainties jeopardise their timely implementation. The European Commission (EC) and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) have recently started to design a more favourable regulatory framework. Will they succeed? And do their proposals differ? Continue reading »
South Korea’s rapid ascent to join the ranks of the developed economies of the world has been nothing short of miraculous. With a per capita GDP of $31,750, its citizens make more than the average European, based on purchasing power parity (PPP), a fact that surprises many. In stark contrast to its improvised neighbor to the north, the country is blessed with a dependable electricity delivery infrastructure that is the envy of many. Power shortages afflicting other parts of the world are unheard of in Korea, which enjoys low – albeit subsidized – electricity prices.
Continue reading »
China may not be where cutting edge research takes place or innovative technologies emerge, and Chinese manufacturers are not usually the first to develop and market new products. But once they identify a product as globally marketable, Chinese manufacturers typically copy and apply reverse engineering techniques and then undercut their Western competitors in their own markets. With substantially lower wages, they can be fierce competitors. This pattern is repeated to one product after another, and in one market after another. A recent example is the market for utility-scale wind turbines where China has made impressive progress in the last few years.
Continue reading »
The European Union is engaged in a process of market inte- gration over a long period. Cross-border energy infrastructure investments should play a key role in reaching this objective. However, cross-border investment projects having a European interest are currently undertaken only country by country with an insufficient cooperation between actors involved in such a project. Beside the lack of cooperation, the asymmetries of cost allocation and of benefit distribution of cross-border infrastructure plus the presence of economic externalities have lead to a suboptimal situation at the EU level. Continue reading »
On 22 June 2011, a proposal for increased Energy Efficiency was presented by the European Commission. The energy efficiency directive was intensely negotiated and faced strong internal opposition from a number of players. DG Climate officials have shared their concerns with the public.
Continue reading »
Electricity market regime is at a crossroads. There is a fundamental tension between short term pricing as a signal for investing in the whole generation mix and the long term policy objectives in matter of energy security and carbon emission control. It is due to inherent specific price- and volume-risks inherent to electricity markets for investing in large-sized technologies with large upfront costs and long lead times, like non-fossil technologies, and more generally low carbon equipment. Risk mitigation and risk sharing by long term contracts or vertical integration are needed with even the generalization of these arrangements under the government coordination as it is envisaged by the Electricity Market Reform in the UK.
Continue reading »
Reacting to the Fukushima nuclear disaster the German government has decided to phase out nuclear power in Germany. The seven oldest of the 17 reactors that were temporarily shutdown in a 3-months “moratorium” will not be restarted again but closed down for good. The remaining 10 reactors will be run down within the next decade according to a predefined timetable that leaves no place for reopening the debate. It is one of the peculiarities of history that the center-right government of Chancellor Mrs. Merkel is thus implementing a decision taken under the social democratic-green coalition a decade ago that it had try to reverse only six months ago…
Continue reading »