Increasing climate-related hazards demand a more resilient system that can withstand, adapt, and quickly recover from such shocks. Simultaneously, the drive towards a cleaner energy system, a rapid rise in renewables, and increased sector integration have led to a less stable system that is more volatile than before and more vulnerable to shocks. This development calls for more and better energy-network system services. EU energy legislation addresses specific sides of resilience. Grid planning involves specific resilience assessment requirements for regulators as part of the network development plans. However, resilience must be better integrated and defined as a mandatory assessment requirement. Some national regulatory authorities have already incorporated resilience in their frameworks, but we argue that a targeted regulatory and legislative approach at the EU level is also needed. The benefits of resilience investments must be measured and monetised to be adequately incentivised and included in CBA analyses. In particular, due to the increased coupling between the gas and electricity sectors, new resilience metrics that reflect the growing interdependence and feedback between the two sectors are needed. We examine several approaches to measuring resilience and suggest an approach to monetisation.
Tag: Regulation
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…
Facilitating Transmission Expansion to Support Efficient Decarbonization of the Electricity Sector
Many governments, electric utilities, and large electricity consumers have committed to deep decarbonization of the electricity sector by 2050 or earlier. Over at least the next 30 years, achieving decarbonization targets will require replacing most fossil-fueled generators with zero carbon wind and solar generation along with energy storage to manage intermittency and for balancing more…
Shale Gas and Oil Development: A Review of the Local Environmental, Fiscal, and Social Impacts
In the early 2000s, advances in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing technologies led to a veritable boom in the extraction of natural gas and oil from shale plays. In this review article, we discuss the local, state, and federal regulatory context in which this shale gas and oil production occurs and review how it affects…
Regulatory impact on Quality of Electricity Distribution Services: The case of Latin America and the Caribbean
In this study, we empirically estimate the impact of quality regulation based on economic incentives on the frequency and duration of power outages. First, based on a sample of 143 electricity distributors across Latin America and the Caribbean, we show that between 2003 and 2019, the System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI) and the System…
Do Almost Mature Renewable Energy Technologies Still Need Dedicated Support Towards 2030?
The discussion on whether and how to continue support for almost mature renewable electricity (RES-E) technologies, such as onshore wind and PV, has recently intensified. In this paper we analyze arguments in the literature in favor and against the phase-out of renewables support in the context of increasingly competitive RES-E technologies. We conclude that there…
Electricity Network Charging in the Presence of Distributed Energy Resources: Principles, Problems and Solutions
This paper discusses the principles of electricity network charging in the light of increasing amounts of distributed generation and the potential for significant increases in electric vehicles or distributed electrical energy storage. We outline cost reflective pricing, traditional public service pricing, platform market pricing and customer- focused business model pricing. We focus on the particular…
Who Knows What: Information Barriers to Efficient DER Roll-out in the U.S.
Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) are increasingly popular. Their relevance to the functioning of energy systems and emissions reduction has spurred a flurry of policy discussions and research into the measures needed to facilitate integration of these resources. However, the majority of that work focuses on systems characterized by complete and perfect information, while in reality,…
Modeling CO2 Pipeline Systems: An Analytical Lens for CCS Regulation
Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is regularly depicted as a crucial technology to reduce the social cost of achieving carbon neutrality. However, its deployment critically depends on the installation of CO2 infrastructures. As the regulatory procedures governing their provision are yet to be clarified, this paper aims to assess the social and environmental impacts of…
Comparing Interstate Regulation and Investment in US Gas and Electric Transmission
The interstate electric and natural gas sectors in the United States share some common regulatory elements, although the simpler economics of network expansion in gas pipelines allow the industry to operate on a contract-based framework that would be highly inefficient in electric transmission. The strong incentives for new pipeline development have allowed new gas pipeline…