Fsr Energy & Climate

Interested in this topic? Check out our specialised training on REMIT, designed to provide a critical understanding of how REMIT is currently being implemented and enforced, and equip participants with the necessary tools to anticipate practical issues and ensure compliance. http://bit.ly/2SbvuHt In this podcast, Sohra Askaryar from Baker Botts (Brussels) addresses the recent case before the European Court of Justice, C-15/16 Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht V Ewald Baumeister, which clarifies the definition of confidential information in the context of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) first introduced in 2004 followed by MiFID II and the regulation MiFIR in 2014, effective from January 2018. The case sets out the criteria which national financial regulators must consider to determine if the information they hold on entities under their supervision may be disclosed to third parties. National financial regulators have extensive powers to request information from companies

Digital technologies enable accurate monitoring and controlling of all devices connected to the electricity grid and the relative flows of energy. By doing so, they can harness the untapped potential for flexibility hidden in the system, both on the demand and the supply side, offering a solution to the challenges raised by decentralisation and decarbonisation. This is what aggregators and virtual power plants (VPPs) like Next Kraftwerke do. However, technology is only half of the story: favourable market conditions and an adequate regulatory framework are equally essential to get a sustainable business model.

How can you ensure that a monopoly company behaves in the best interest of consumers when the technological, economic and political landscape is always moving? In this podcast, Nicolò Rossetto (FSR) and Joe Perkins (Ofgem) discuss the British experience with inventive regulation for energy grids. In 2010, Ofgem launched a major reassessment of the regulatory framework for energy grids. The analysis showed how the incentive regulation introduced in the 1990s had both merits and drawbacks. Among the latter, a difficulty to promote investments in innovation was apparent. Building on such analysis, Ofgem decided to change the regulatory framework for grids and adopt RIIO. Far from being a revolution, that move represented a natural evolution of the framework previously in place. Achievements so far have been good, but the oversight effort required from the regulator has been significant and the regulated companies may have benefited more than expected in terms of financial returns. It is for this reason that Of

Today, in Europe electricity prices are determined per (bidding) zone which equals in most cases a country. Under zonal pricing, only transmission capacity limitations between the zones are considered in the market-clearing process. The transmission lines within a zone are assumed to have unlimited capacity. This assumption is more and more challenged; one factor is the changing pattern of network flows due to the integration of renewables. As a result, Europe’s less-than-optimal zonal configuration is becoming a limiting factor for the efficiency of the market integration process. One remedy could be to build more transmission lines. This option is however costly and takes a lot of time. Another remedy could be to redraw the boundaries of the different bidding zones, a so-called bidding zone review. In the extreme, the zones could be determined so small up to the point that each node of the transmission network is priced; this is nodal pricing. With nodal pricing, limitations on all transmission lines are

There is little debate about a charging point in your garage. It is yours. But what about charging points in the street? In this short podcast, Tim Schittekatte interviews Luca Lo Schiavo, Vice-Director Energy Infrastructure and Unbundling at the Italian regulator ARERA. The Italian experience is an interesting case in this regard. Namely, a call for pilot projects was launched to build and operate public EV charging stations between 2011 and 2015. Three possible business models were proposed, which were distinct in terms of the operator (the DSO or a third-party), the number of competing retailers at the recharging infrastructure and the allowed degree of competition between charging stations in a determined area. Want to know more? Please take a look at the recently published book ‘’Electricity Network Regulation in the EU: The Challenges Ahead‎ for Transmission and Distribution’’ edited by Leonardo Meeus and Jean-Michel Glachant: http://fsr.eui.eu/publications/electricity-network-regulation-in-the-eu-t

Is EU gas markets standardization a shortcut to energy transition or an obstacle? Listen to Ilaria Conti (FSR) and Nicolas Peugniez (GRTgaz) reflect on the status of implementation of #gasNetworkCodes and the way ahead towards #decarbonisation

In the context of a FSR workshop on zonal vs. nodal pricing in electricity markets on 25 January 2019, Valerie Reif (FSR) interviews a panellist from the Austrian regulatory authority. Christine Materazzi-Wagner, Director Electricity at E-Control, talks about her personal take-aways from the workshop, the EU target model for electricity and the possibilities of moving towards a nodal approach in Europe. She also shares her views on recent market developments in Austria In the context of the German-Austrian bidding zone split in October 2018.

At the IRENA General Assembly, Swetha Bhagwat (FSR Global) interviews Andris Piebalgs, FSR Part-time Professor and one of the authors of the Global Commission’s Report launched on 11 January in Abu Dhabi. The Report presents the first-ever comprehensive analysis of the far-reaching geopolitical consequences driven by the rapid development of renewable energy and it suggests several areas where international cooperation would help countries to mitigate the emerging risks emerging like cybersecurity, trade in electricity and clean energy technologies, critical materials. More info here: http://fsr.eui.eu/fsr-in-abu-dhabi-for-the-launch-of-new-world-the-geopolitics-of-the-energy-transformation/ Find the report here: http://www.geopoliticsofrenewables.org/

At the IRENA Assembly held in January 2019 in Abu Dhabi, the FSR Director, Jean-Michel Glachant and the Head of FSR Global, Swetha Bhagwat interview Paul Van Son, CEO of DII. What are the real cost levels of renewables (Solar and Wind) today? What should be the next measures to take and what are the roadblocks in policy and regulation? Learn more about the IRENA Assembly here: https://www.irena.org/events/2019/Jan/Ninth-Session-of-the-IRENA-Assembly

FutureGas project looks into the ways the gas sector could be integrated in the Danish energy system and contribute to clean energy transition e.g. through the injection of green gas. The researchers from Technical University of Denmark (DTU) and key stakeholders of the Danish gas industry have been working with 18 international partners (including Florence School of Regulation) to pursue the research on the potential opportunities across the gas value chain. Moreover, the project looks into different national experiences with renewable gas injection and the support systems. This four-year project (2016-2020) is funded by Innovation Fund Denmark. In this podcast, Maria Olczak (FSR) interviews Tara Sabbagh Amirkhizi (DTU) to give you some insights from the project. In the first part, the key information regarding the scope, objectives and the work packages of the project are provided. Then, we discuss how this project fits into the changing policy landscape in Denmark with the adoption of a new 55% renewable

In this podcast, Jessica Dabrowski (FSR) and Agnes da Costa (Director, Brazilian Ministry of Mines and Energy) discuss Brazil's long history of renewable energy development. Agnes provides in-depth insight on the current status of Brazil's renewable energy mix, developments in their transport sector and provides key lessons for other countries to best address challenges of the energy transition and unlock their further growth of renewable energy. The podcast also briefly turns to the Sim, elas existem, or Yes, they exist initiative which has started as a grassroots movement by Agnes and her colleague Renata Beckert Isfer. The initative recently had the spotlight after publishing a list of 163 qualified women and handing it over to the transition team of the new government to give them the chance to appoint women to leadership positions. *Correction Notice: 6:50 speaker mistakenly states the transport sector is leading instead of lagging behind.

In the context of the Energy Innovation Academy held in Florence on 28-30 November 2018, Tim Schittekatte (FSR) interviews one of the Academy participants, John Smith (University of Hertfordshire) who presented his work on ‘An ecological stock-flow consistent approach to macroeconomic stability, entropy, and chaos’. What do we mean by innovation? How can regulation deal with change in complex adaptive system, in the process of energy transitions? For more information on the FSR Energy Innovation Area, please visit: http://fsr.eui.eu/energy-innovation/

In the context of the Energy Innovation Academy held in Florence on 28-30 November 2018, the FSR Director Jean-Michel Glachant interviews Miguel Vazquez, Head of the recently launched Energy Innovation Area. Regulation in times of innovation: how to deal with complexity and uncertainty? The new FSR area provides a platform for research, training and policy discussion to respond to those challenges. More information here: http://fsr.eui.eu/energy-innovation/

The EU-funded SmartNet project http://fsr.eui.eu/event/smartnet-workshop-series/ organised in Florence (24 to 26 October) aimed to present the recent development of this research project and get feedback from different participants (TSOs/DSOs, regulators and utilities) on topics related to the coordination between TSOs and DSOs for the access to flexibility services. In this podcast, Athir Nouicer (FSR) interviews David Ziegler from Germany, a participant of the first day of the workshop, to share with you some insights from the project and also how the project could feed the EU regulations; Clean Energy Package and Network Codes. Different TSO-DSO coordination schemes were compared with reference to three national cases (Italian, Danish, and Spanish) against a set of metrics: mFRR, aFRR cost and ICT cost as well as CO2 emissions and unexpected congestions. This aims to reduce the project complexity and provide a straightforward cost-benefit analysis (CBA) of the different alternatives. In addition, three phy

The EU-funded SmartNet project is attracting interest from Europe and beyond. Professor Luis Ochoa (https://bit.ly/2Pj4pRa), from the University of Melbourne (Australia), joined the workshop http://fsr.eui.eu/event/smartnet-workshop-series/ organised in Florence to explore the latest novelties on related topics with a global relevance: the integration of the growing number of distributed energy resources (DER) and the coordination of transmission and distribution electricity systems. In this podcasts with Nicolò Rossetto (FSR), Professor Ochoa reflects on the difficulty of addressing the issue, especially considering the growing expectation to use DER not only to supply flexibility to the transmission system, but also to provide flexibility to the local grid. Market-based integration of DER requires coordination of the market at the local level with the market at the transmission (wholesale) level, taking into account the numerous issues that arise when dealing with low voltages and radial grids. Australia,

On the sideline of the FSR Policy Advisory Council meeting on the 5th and 6th of November 2018, Christophe Poillion (Vice President of European Affairs, GRT Gaz) and Tara Amirkhizi (Visiting PhD student, FSR) discuss the power to gas technology and the experience the French gas TSO has had with it so far. In an energy grid that perceives power and gas as a whole, Christophe describes power to gas as a conversion technology that can allow the already established gas grid to offer capacity and flexibility to the full energy system. Besides the grid services, power to gas is also a carbon capturing technology. Using the hydrogen from P2G, CO2 is converted to Syngas and be used in the gas grid. Pilot projects, such as the French project Jupiter 1000, are an approach for European TSOs to gain the technological expertise for the operation of power to gas facilities. These projects enable this technology to reach a certain maturity level, in order to be competitive. Besides the technology maturity, a well-function

Recently, reliability options were implemented as part of the new Irish integrated single electricity market (I-SEM). Thus becoming the first European Union Member state implement this capacity remuneration mechanism design. Pradyumna Bhagwat (FSR) discusses with Barry Hussey, Manager at the Irish Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU), about his thoughts on reliability options in Ireland and the experience with the recently held first auction.

In a ruling from the WTO, published on 10 August 2018, several of Russia’s arguments regarding the alleged incompatibility of the EU’s energy policy measures with multilateral trade rules were dismissed. But was it a total defeat for Russia? In this podcast Moritz Wüstenberg, a researcher at the University of Eastern Finland, discusses the ruling and its wider implications. Following Russia’s withdrawal from the Energy Charter Treaty in 2009, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules offer the only comprehensive regulatory framework for EU- Russia energy trading, which means that the compatibility of WTO rules with the EU energy policy is vital. The key ambition of the Third Energy Package was to advance the integration of the internal energy market, and thus it contains legislation on unbundling – the separation of energy supply and generation from the operation of transmission networks, non-discriminatory access to energy infrastructures and the independence of national energy regulators. Russia had claimed

Nicolò Rossetto (FSR) and Dr Carlo Stagnaro (Istituto Bruno Leoni, IBL) reflect on the potential benefits of competition in retail electricity markets and briefly discuss the situation in Italy, where a standard regulated offer, called “Maggior Tutela” in Italian, is available to households and small companies. According to Dr Stagnaro, the offer’s design nurtures consumers’ inertia and market concentration, limiting the ability and willingness of energy suppliers to develop innovative solutions and products. A proposal to accelerate the transition to a genuinely competitive and dynamic retail market is presented at the end. Interested in learning more about the Italian situation and the policy proposal? Read the recently published FSR working paper on the topic: http://fsr.eui.eu/publications/managing-the-liberalization-of-italys-retail-electricity-market-a-policy-proposal/

In this podcast, Dr. Tanya Harrington delves into the complex geopolitical, economic, and legal issues surrounding Brexit and the Irish electricity market. For more details, see here: http://fsr.eui.eu/the-irish-question-brexit-and-the-i-sem/