This paper argues that the cost of decarbonising depends critically on the Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC), illustrated with a case study of Sizewell B (SZB, the nuclear station commissioned in 1995). It calculates the cost per tonne of CO2 abated with prices set as for transmission assets by the regulator under the Regulatory…
2021
Biomethane for Electricity in Mexico: A Prospective Economic Analysis
Eyes on the Price: Which Power Generation Technologies Set the Market Price?
Upon discussion of price setting on electricity wholesale markets, many refer to the so-called merit order model. Conventional belief holds that during most hours of the year, coal- or natural gas-fired power plants set the price on European markets. In this context, this paper analyses price setting on European power markets. We use a fundamental…
Comparing Regulatory Designs for the Transmission of Offshore Wind Energy
Offshore wind plays an ever-increasing role for the global transition to renewable energy. For offshore wind energy to be successful, cost-effective transport of the produced electricity to shore is necessary. The development and operation of the offshore transmission asset is costly and regulated differently across the globe. In most countries, the TSO is responsible for…
Clean Cooking: Why is Adoption Slow Despite Large Health and Environmental Benefits?
More than one-third of the world’s population, mainly the low-income group, still rely on traditional biomass fuels for household cooking. The indoor air pollution from household cooking is one of the main drivers of child mortality in developing countries. It also causes deforestation and emissions of black carbon. A large number of studies show that…
Ownership Unbundling of Electricity Distribution Networks
Traditional restructuring of power markets has focused on legally separating monopolistic transmission and distribution infrastructure with sufficient regulatory oversight to ensure non-discriminatory access to networks, and transparent and cost-reflective tariffs. There is consensus that ownership separation for transmission assets is beneficial for competition and transparency. However, at the distribution level the benefits of going beyond…
Towards Electricity Markets’ Integration and Investment in Transmission Capacity: East African Community Power Markets
This research examines the impact of transmission expansion on a future East Africa’s electricity market, to enable the five examined countries (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi) to adequately couple. As a pioneering move, we introduce nodal pricing and investigate the economic welfare arising from the planned transmission upgrade. This simulation is then compared to…
Coping with Uncertainties in the Electricity Sector – Methods for Decisions of Different Scope
Decision-making in the energy sector and notably the power industry has to cope with multiple uncertain factors such as renewable forecasts, technology developments or demand growth. At the same time, multiple methods are available to support decision-making under uncertainty. The focus of the present review is to identify the merits of different optimization modelling approaches…
The Role of Energy Poverty on Economic Growth in Sub-Saharan African Countries
Appreciating firstly the importance of access to basic services and secondly, the lack of infrastructure particularly in the energy domain in the African continent, the aim of this paper is to examine empirically the role of energy poverty to economic growth in the sub-Saharan region. The findings aim to assist in proposing directions to policy…
(Anti) Competitive Effects of RES Infeed in a Transmission-Constrained Network
Many countries are adding substantial capacities of wind- and solar-based power generation to their portfolios. While ownership of conventional capacities is typically concentrated, renewable energy (RES) is often provided by new, independent producers. Hence, one might expect competitive pressure to increase as RES production is ramped up. However, the best locations for RES are often…