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Improving Power System Dispatch Reduces Wind Curtailment More Effectively than Retrofitting Coal Plants

By Lu Hong, Kevin Porter, Max Dupuy
China has the most installed wind and solar capacity in the world and has potential to become “the world’s renewable energy superpower.” However, China’s power sector has also struggled with extensive curtailment of wind and solar generation. Although renewables curtailment has dropped significantly in recent years, it is still an issue in large parts of ... Read More

国际电力改革和气候变化季报-Q3-2019

By Regulatory Assistance Project
国际电力改革和气候变化季报回顾近期全球电力行业和气候变化政策和监管的最新进展，并摘选一些我们认为对中国特别相关的进展，以供参考。 1) 美国得克萨斯州：德州“ERCOT”批发电力现货市场价格飙升。8月13日和15日，实时节点边际电价达到每兆瓦时9,000美元(人民币640... Read More

A Hearty Bowl of Texas Soup: How ERCOT Keeps the Lights On

By Michael Hogan
ERCOT (or the Electricity Reliability Council of Texas, the independent system operator of that state’s stand-alone wholesale market) has confounded the doomsayers once again. Despite dire predictions that ERCOT lacked sufficient generation capacity, it came through the peak summer season of 2019 without any firm load curtailments, despite a hotter-than-normal ... Read More

UK capacity market déjà vu: A solution that’s still in search of a problem

By Philip Baker, Michael Hogan
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 have had doubts over its compati... Read More

Stuck in the past: Energy performance certificates hold back heat decarbonisation

By Jan Rosenow
In 2014, we bought an old Victorian house in Oxford, UK, well aware it needed major renovation work. Our energy performance certificate (EPC), which shows the energy performance of a building, was a poor grade “E” on a scale of A to G, with A being the highest performing category. We have since carried out a major refurbishment programme, installing underfloo... Read More

Emissionspreise sind nicht alles

By Louise Sunderland, Andreas Jahn
Preise für Emissionen sind nicht alles, vielmehr ist die sinnvolle Verwendung der Einnahmen entscheidend. Schlüssig belegt ist, dass Energieeffizienzprogramme gut abschneiden. Auch das Ordnungsrecht – zum Beispiel Mindeststandards – helfe bei der Einhaltung der Klimaziele. Das Klimapaket der Bundesregierung ist derzeit in aller Munde. Wie auch die darin ... Read More

“电力期刊”(The Electricity Journal)睿博能源智库特刊简介

By John Shenot
美国是全世界温室气体排放第二大国，同时也是技术和经济实力的领头羊。美国有能力引领世界寻找应对气候变化紧迫挑战的解决方案，同时迅速彻底地完成自我脱碳。 为了使能源消费向更清洁、更具成本效益的方向转变，我们需要零碳发电技术，并在使用化石燃料的终端... Read More

Value Added: Measuring the Health Benefits of the “Layer Cake”

By Jim Lazar, Nancy Seidman
In 2013, RAP released a pathbreaking publication, Recognizing the Full Value of Energy Efficiency. We refer to the main concept of this paper as "the layer cake," after its centerpiece concept analogizing the multiple benefits of energy efficiency as layers in a cake. Health benefits, both for individual participants in an efficiency program and for society as a ... Read More

The UK’s August 9 blackout: Why did it happen and what can we learn?

By Philip Baker
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 eve... Read More

Clean, Flexible and Efficient: A Recipe for Energy Optimization

By John Shenot
The United States is the second-highest emitter of greenhouse gases on the planet — but we are also a leader in technological and economic strength. We have the capability to lead the world in finding solutions to the urgent challenge of climate change — while rapidly and thoroughly decarbonizing ourselves. To move our energy use to a cleaner and more cost... Read More

The Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP)® is an independent, non-partisan, non-governmental organization dedicated to accelerating the transition to a clean, reliable, and efficient energy future.