Electricity markets & regulation

Economic curtailment: understanding its scale and impact

As part of today’s reformed national pricing process, there is an acute focus on reducing network curtailment, the renewable generation we have to switch off due to grid constraints, and the cost of replacing it with non-renewable generation elsewhere. In this working paper, I look at a different type of curtailment: oversupply of renewables, when […]

Investability and Scottish wind: the narrow path to ensuring onshore wind in Scotland is viable

Is an onshore wind farm in Scotland investable in early 2025? It is an important question. Clean Power 2030 needs 13 GW of new onshore wind by 2030, potentially 10 GW in Scotland. Full details, the report and the open source spreadsheet are available via Regen’s website. My answer, in this ‘open-source’ paper produced with

Getting interconnectors right for net zero

Electrical interconnectors linking Britain with our neighbours will be critical in a net zero electricity system. They will enable renewable generation across the country by ensuring a market for an increasing fraction of their generation. Interconnectors will also be essential to ensure a secure supply of electricity, something that will become increasingly important as we

Exploring the implications of locational marginal pricing of electricity

A wholesale market based on ‘locational marginal pricing’ (LMP) has long been advocated by a number of electricity sector economists and commentators as ‘the right answer’, but what is the question, and is it the right answer for the challenges we face now in decarbonising and expanding the electricity system in Britain? In this extended