News
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Global Insights: 1st May 2018
AUSTRALIA Energy customers could leave the grid if there is limited action on affordability concerns Network charging is causing affordability concerns for some customers in the National Energy Market. The prohibitive cost of grid connection for new homes and the rising cost of the network standing charge on basic customer bills means that off-grid self-generation and storage is now more affordable, and in some areas more reliable, than a grid connection. If customers leave the grid this means that the remaining grid connected customers face paying even higher network charges. In order to reduce the
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Presentation: Assessing market arrangements and getting the best deal for users
Assessing market arrangements and getting the best deal for users From: Catherine Mitchell Presentation to: WEET Forum – Priorities for the UK Energy Market: competition, infrastructure and innovation, 26th April 2018, London Summary Getting the best deal for users – much broader than p/unit – more to do with having governance arrangements which deliver the services that users want Best deal for users with respect to decarbonisation: a new ‘user’ proposition Best deal for users with respect to the services users want and cost of service: we need a new energy system structure We need process and
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New Thinking: Will the EV future be diverted by a charging let-down?
Will the EV future be diverted by a charging let-down? Jess Britton, IGov Team, 26th April 2018 Following the Government’s pledge to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars in Britain by 2040 a host of support schemes for electric vehicles were announced in the Autumn Statement, including a Charging Investment Infrastructure Fund to accelerate the roll out of charging infrastructure, and more money to help people buy electric cars. Already 2018 has seen a flurry of announcements from both policymakers and energy companies, including the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) announcing
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Global Insights: 24th April 2018
AUSTRALIA National Energy Guarantee moves to next stage of the design process The COAG Energy Council met on Friday with one of the main points of discussion being the high-level design of the new National Energy Guarantee (NEG). The NEG contains a Reliability Guarantee and Emissions Guarantee and the document released on Friday gives a high-level view of the how the National Energy Market (NEM) will meet the guarantee requirements. It does not include what the Emissions Guarantee target will be but it does set out the detail of the reliability requirement. There has been
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Progress in Energy System Transformation: The Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue
Progress in Energy System Transformation: The Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue Anthony Froggatt, IGov Team and Senior Research Fellow at Chatham House, 24th April 2018 Taking stock of progress in the transformation of the global energy sector is necessary, to assess the pace of technology deployment; the impact that this is having on current systems; and the challenges ahead. The 4th Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue (BETD) does just this, but it was also an occasion to assess the geographical breadth of the transformation. With BETD representatives from ninety countries, it is clear that there is now
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Global Insights: 17th April 2018
AUSTRALIA Huge growth expected for the commercial and industrial solar market The Clean Energy Regulator has projected a boom in the commercial and industrial (C&I) solar market in 2018. The boom in 100kW-1MW solar installations is expected to reach 100MW of cumulative capacity by the end of the year. This is compared to a total of 10MW two years ago. The economics around incorporating battery storage to gain more value from their PV and reduce grid reliance is also likely to prove attractive to the C&I market. The ‘Monash Forum’ backs coal in its manifesto
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Postcard from Australia – A National Electricity Market Overview
Postcard from Australia A National Electricity Market Overview: decentralisation of electricity is not a future possibility, it is happening now Helen Poulter, IGov Team, 16th April 2018 Over the last few months, I have reported on a number of issues within the National Electricity Market (NEM), the electricity market for the eastern states of Australia, and its governance. These issues have arisen from the world leading levels of DER penetration in some of those States and also the rise of large-scale renewable energy generation within the NEM, particularly in South Australia (SA). What is noticeable is
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Event Report: Innovation & Governance for Future Energy Systems
8th March 2018, Coin Street, London Download a PDF of the report here: FES 080318 event summary Introduction Energy systems in the UK and around the world are going through a period of fundamental change due to the emergence of new technologies, energy economics, business models and changing social preferences. Much of the momentum for change is closer to the demand side and at the local distribution level, where the opportunities for taking a whole systems approach across electricity, heat and transport are easier to identify and act upon. Such an approach to system transformation is based
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Global Insights: 10th April 2018
AUSTRALIA Tesla big battery proves it’s worth The Tesla big battery in South Australia, the Hornsdale Power Reserve, is a 100MW/129MWh battery. In the first quarter of this year it has proven its worth in the Frequency Control Ancillary Services (FCAS) market by showing its speed and accuracy, in comparison to a conventional large steam turbine, to respond to frequency control events. This speed is also being recognised in the battery’s ability to respond to major faults in the system. The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) is expecting to use batteries in its new System
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Presentation: Smart Lessons from States of USA and Australia
Smart Lessons from States of USA and Australia From: Catherine Mitchell Presentation to: BEIS, Brown Bag Lunch, 22nd March 2018 Summary Australia is an example of where the ‘future’ energy system is already happening Came from one big mistake of traditional regulatory mechanism combined with technology cost reductions; Government / Regulator not waking up to situation / taking action fast enough; plus governance which is difficult to change NYS was given mandate by people of NYS after Hurricane Sandy and has proactively torn up rule book to put in place fit-for-purpose governance for sustainable technologies and
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