Bridging theory and practice, this book offers insights into how Europe has experienced the evolution of modern electricity markets from the end of the 1990s to the present day. It explores defining moments in the process, including the four waves of European legislative packages, landmark court cases, and the impact of climate strikes and marches.
Capacity remuneration mechanisms (or simply capacity mechanisms) have become a fact of life in member states' energy markets and are one of the hottest topics in the wider European regulatory debate. Concerned about the security of electricity supply, national governments are implementing subsidy schemes to encourage investment in conventional power generation capacity, alongside already heavily subsidized renewable energy sources. With the increasingly connected European electricity markets, the introduction of a capacity mechanism in one country not only tends to distort its national market but may also have unforeseeable consequences for neighbouring electricity markets. As these mechanisms are adopted by member states with limited supra-national coordination as well as consideration for the cross-border impact, they tend to cause serious market distortions and put the future of the European internal electricity market at risk. This second edition will take stock of how capacity mechanisms have actually worked so far and consider the consequences they have for the European internal electricity market. It will include a detailed overview of national capacity mechanisms, their implications for the EU internal market, and will outline the nature of market failures which are likely to occur in the European electricity markets. This edition is intended to serve as a point of reference for regulators and policy-makers on how to design optimal capacity mechanisms in Europe. It will be an invaluable resource for anyone interested in energy market design, regulation, and competition issues.
Ensuring an adequate, long-term energy supply is a paramount concern in Europe. The security of a country's energy supply must be guaranteed, and within the EU individual member states are acting in order to safe-guard future energy production. Governments now intervene by encouraging investment in generation capacity, offering an additional revenue stream for conventional power plants in addition to the existing, heavily subsidized investments in renewable energy sources. These capacity remuneration mechanisms (or simply capacity mechanisms) have become a hot topic in the wider European regulatory debate. European electricity markets are increasingly interconnected, so the introduction of a capacity mechanism in one country not only distorts its national market but may have unforeseeable consequences for neighboring electricity markets. If these mechanisms are adopted by several member states with no supra-national coordination and no consideration for their cross-border impact, they may cause serious market distortions and put the future of the European internal electricity market at risk. These national developments are giving great cause for concern, and without a clear understanding of capacity mechanisms and their potential consequences it is difficult to predict the impact these measures will have on the internal European electricity market. This book provides readers with a thorough explanation and analysis of capacity mechanisms, written by an expert team of policy-makers, economists, and legal professionals. It will be a first point of reference for regulators and policy-makers responsible for designing optimal capacity mechanisms in Europe, and will be an invaluable resource for academics and practitioners in the fields of energy, regulation, and competition.
Ensuring an adequate, long-term energy supply is a paramount concern in Europe. EU member states now intervene by encouraging investment in generation capacity, offering an additional revenue stream for conventional power plants in addition to the existing, heavily subsidised investments in renewable energy sources. These capacity remuneration mechanisms (or simply capacity mechanisms) have become a hot topic in the wider European regulatory debate. European electricity markets are increasingly interconnected, so the introduction of a capacity mechanism in one country not only distorts its national market but may have unforeseeable consequences for neighbouring electricity markets. If these mechanisms are adopted by several member states with no supra-national coordination and no consideration for their cross-border impact, they may cause serious market distortions and put the future of the European internal electricity market at risk. This book provides readers with an in-depth analysis of capacity mechanisms, written by an expert team of policy-makers, economists, and legal professionals. It will be a first point of reference for regulators and policy-makers responsible for designing optimal capacity mechanisms in Europe, and will be an invaluable resource for academics and practitioners in the fields of energy, regulation, and competition.
Many states – including European Union (EU) Member States – subsidise energy producers in order to guarantee the uninterrupted availability of affordable electricity. This book presents the first in-depth examination of how these so-called capacity mechanisms are addressed in EU law and how they affect the functioning of the EU energy markets. Focusing on the existing legal framework as well as the new provisions of the Clean Energy for All Europeans package for capacity mechanisms, the author addresses and analyses such aspects as the following: the structure and functioning of the EU electricity markets; EU’s competence to address security of supply and Member States’ margin of discretion; sector-specific rules for security of supply; legal conditions for subsidising generation adequacy; capacity remuneration under the EU State aid regime; free movement rules that address generation adequacy measures; balancing different interests of EU energy law in the context of generation adequacy; and the requirement of proportionality in State intervention to ensure generation adequacy. The analysis draws on relevant sources of EU law (treaties, regulations and directives) as well as the case law of the European Court of Justice and the General Court, together with soft law instruments such as Commission guidelines. Scholarly sources include not only legal literature but also work on energy policy, energy engineering and energy economics. As a detailed analysis of how capacity mechanisms address issues arising in the context of the enegy transition – and how the system of EU law applicable to capacity mechanisms should be interpreted to further the objectives of EU energy law – the book will help policymakers and legislators in Member States to understand the changing legal setting for capacity mechanisms. Lawyers, academics and other professionals who deal with EU electricity markets in the EU and beyond are sure to welcome its detailed description and analysis.
Capacity remuneration mechanisms (or simply capacity mechanisms) have become a fact of life in member states' energy markets and are one of the hottest topics in the wider European regulatory debate. Concerned about the security of electricity supply, national governments are implementing subsidy schemes to encourage investment in conventional power generation capacity, alongside already heavily subsidized renewable energy sources. With the increasingly connected European electricity markets, the introduction of a capacity mechanism in one country not only tends to distort its national market but may also have unforeseeable consequences for neighbouring electricity markets. As these mechanisms are adopted by member states with limited supra-national coordination as well as consideration for the cross-border impact, they tend to cause serious market distortions and put the future of the European internal electricity market at risk. This second edition will take stock of how capacity mechanisms have actually worked so far and consider the consequences they have for the European internal electricity market. It will include a detailed overview of national capacity mechanisms, their implications for the EU internal market, and will outline the nature of market failures which are likely to occur in the European electricity markets. This edition is intended to serve as a point of reference for regulators and policy-makers on how to design optimal capacity mechanisms in Europe. It will be an invaluable resource for anyone interested in energy market design, regulation, and competition issues.
The world is currently undergoing an historic energy transition, driven by increasingly stringent decarbonisation policies and rapid advances in low-carbon technologies. The large-scale shift to low-carbon energy is disrupting the global energy system, impacting whole economies, and changing the political dynamics within and between countries. This open access book, written by leading energy scholars, examines the economic and geopolitical implications of the global energy transition, from both regional and thematic perspectives. The first part of the book addresses the geopolitical implications in the world’s main energy-producing and energy-consuming regions, while the second presents in-depth case studies on selected issues, ranging from the geopolitics of renewable energy, to the mineral foundations of the global energy transformation, to governance issues in connection with the changing global energy order. Given its scope, the book will appeal to researchers in energy, climate change and international relations, as well as to professionals working in the energy industry.
Electricity supply plays a strategic role for Russia’s economic development and for social peace. As a main consumer of natural gas, electricity is also of central importance for the efficient management of Russia’s energy resource basis. Today, however, the electricity sector is in an obsolete condition. Investments are needed in the modernization of the infrastructure. This book analyzes the liberalization and privatization program that Russia is implementing to attract private investments in this modernization process. Taking a comparative approach, this analysis critically assesses Russian electricity law in the light of the European liberalization experience. Given the strategic importance of electricity, investors face significant risks of government intervention. This book identifies these regulatory risks and examines investment protection mechanisms under Russia’s national and international investment obligations.
This incisive Research Handbook examines the relationship between energy and society, across both macro- and micro-scales, in the context of the climate crisis. Featuring an extensive examination of current research in the field from fifty expert international contributors, it offers important insights into the inter-connections between the globally organised fossil fuel energy system and the changing structures of society. Structured in four thematic parts, the Research Handbook begins with an analysis of the evolution of large-scale energy production and consumption using coal, oil and gas. Chapters then explore social divisions and inequalities in energy systems in different countries, before moving on to discuss energy governance, policy and politics, along with strategies to achieve transformation. In the final part, the Research Handbook investigates forms of knowledge, stories and public engagement being used to re-make energy futures, concluding that social sciences are identifying the inter-locking societal and technical changes needed to enable rapid systemic changes in energy. The Research Handbook on Energy and Society will be a crucial resource for social science scholars and students interested in the intersections of energy, climate change and society, including aspects of governance, policy and politics, social identity, social justice and inequalities.
There is a need for fundamental changes in the ways society views electric energy. Electric energy must be treated as a commodity which can be bought, sold, and traded, taking into account its time-and space-varying values and costs. This book presents a complete framework for the establishment of such an energy marketplace. The framework is based on the use of spot prices. In general terms: o An hourly spot price (in dollars per kilowatt hour) reflects the operating and capital costs of generating, transmitting and distributing electric energy. It varies each hour and from place to place. o The spot price based energy marketplace involves a variety of utility-customer transactions (ranging from hourly varying prices to long-term, multiple-year contracts), all of which are based in a consistent manner on hourly spot prices. These transactions may include customers selling to, as well as buying from, the utility. The basic theory and practical implementation issues associated with a spot price based energy marketplace have been developed and discussed through a number of different reports, theses, and papers. Each addresses only a part of the total picture, and often with a somewhat different notation and terminology (which has evolved in parallel with our growing experience). This book was xvii xviii Preface written to serve as a single, integrated sourcebook on the theory and imple mentation of a spot price based energy marketplace.
