In November 2018, the EU General Court ruled in favour of a legal challenge mounted by Tempus Energy to the Directorate General for Competition’s (DG COMP) approval of the capacity market in Great Britain. In its challenge, Tempus successfully argued that, due to serious flaws in the design of the capacity market, DG COMP should…
The power outages that occurred in the United Kingdom on August 9 demonstrated our increasing dependence on secure electricity supplies and the extremely disruptive consequences when those supplies fail. The reasons for the extent of the disruption to transport and other critical infrastructure are beyond the scope of this blog. However, an examination of the…
Following the decision of the General Court of the European Union in November last year to annul the capacity market in Great Britain, the European Commission has now embarked on a detailed formal investigation of the market’s design. The Court’s decision no doubt caused the Commission some embarrassment. However, a positive outcome of the annulment…
Energy-only markets will enable the integration of the European electricity market and development of the flexible resources needed to support a decarbonised future. Philip Baker and Michael Hogan offer a critique to RTE’s impact assessment of the French capacity market. Energy-only markets (EoM) are the building blocks of Europe’s integrated electricity market. Not only do…
The U.K.’s marketwide capacity mechanism for electricity provides a solution to a supply problem that has yet to emerge, writes Phil Baker. A targeted strategic reserve is likely to be a more cost-reflective alternative, he argues. In 2014 Great Britain introduced a marketwide capacity mechanism in the belief that necessary investment in generation capacity could…
Der EU-Energiebinnenmarkt würde enorme Werte schaffen. Verbraucher könnten von Milliardeneinsparungen profitieren, Jahr für Jahr. Doch die Nationalstaaten blockieren. Insbesondere Deutschland muss endlich seiner Verantwortung als zentrales Bindeglied im europäischen Stromnetz nachkommen, fordern Philip Baker und Andreas Jahn vom Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP) in ihrem Standpunkt. Die aktuell in Brüssel verhandelten Vorschläge des Europäischen Rates zum…
A much more interconnected European energy market, ensuring regional cooperation and cutting out waste, makes so much sense for consumers, for security of supply, and for decarbonisation. When the European Commission first outlined its vision for a genuine Energy Union nearly three years ago, vice president for the Energy Union Maroš Šefčovič, painted in primary…
The European Council’s proposals on the internal energy market fundamentally weaken the framework that is needed to deliver an integrated market that will benefit European energy consumers, write Philip Baker and Christos Kolokathis from the global energy policy advisors Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP). The proposals may even legalise practices that are currently — and should…
The European Commission has proposed to set up Regional Operational Centers (ROCs), which is a welcome step in the further integration of the EU internal electricity market, writes Philip Baker of the Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP). However, according to Baker, the proposal does not go far enough: more regional coordination is needed if consumers are…
The European Commission has proposed that independent aggregators should not be required anymore to pay compensation to suppliers, as is the case in many EU member states today. According to Philip Baker this proposal should be supported, as it will improve the flexibility of the market and lead to lower prices for consumers. However, it…
