Fsr Energy & Climate

The evolution of the structure of electricity systems and the new possibilities offered by digital technologies are leading to an evolution of electricity market designs around the world. In Italy, the need for new providers of flexibility and the increasing amount of distributed energy resources (DER) have prompted a reform of the market for ancillary services and its opening to virtually aggregated units of generation and consumption. In this podcast, Nicolò Rossetto (FSR) and Jan Marc Schwidtal (Università di Padova) address the results of the recent auctions that took place in Italy and that awarded the right to mixed virtually aggregated units (UVAM) to offer their capacity into the Italian market for ancillary services. Jan Marc highlights the positive result of the auction, with around one GW of capacity awarded to 26 companies. However, he also notices that for the time being, most of the UVAM are made of a relatively few large-scale distributed generation units and industrial loads. Retail-size units

In this podcast, Dr Ruven Fleming from the University of Groningen discusses electricity storage in EU law specifically from the point of view of the Clean Energy Package. He provides a brief introduction to what electricity storage is and why it is needed. He then focuses on how the new provisions of the Clean Energy Package address electricity storage and he discusses the practical implications of these new rules to four groups of market participants: energy consumers, energy producers, network system operators and, finally, private companies.

At the 2nd edition of the FSR Innovation Bootcamp, Bjarne Steffen, senior researcher at ETH Zürich and visiting researcher at MIT, gave a presentation around his work on renewable energy financing. In this podcast, Bjarne discusses his work around the cost of capital of investments in renewables with Tim Schittekatte, researcher at the FSR. Bjarne and his co-authors found that between 2005 and 2017, the cost of capital for wind and solar reduced significantly in Germany and explains how three types of drivers contributed to this decline. Learnings around these drivers can aid to foster investment conditions for new technologies in a global context and can help to understand how the levelised cost of electricity can be impacted by changes in general interest rates. Finally, Bjarne's findings are also important to inform policymakers when wanting to revise the renewable support schemes of which the design can strongly influence the cost of capital. Introducing support schemes that give more market signals can

Prof. Poul Erik Morthorst of the Danish Technical University (DTU)’s ideas are clear: carbon pricing cannot be the excuse to delay or avoid investments in technology supporting renewable energy development. On the contrary, taking immediate action could lead to short-term benefits: “We should invest in RES now, and have an immediate effect on CO2 reduction” urges Professor Morthorst. [Listen to the full podcast, recorded in the context of the FutureGas annual meeting in Vaerloese, Denmark].

Climate change is likely to modify significantly patterns of capital investments and constitutes both a risk and an opportunity for investors and financial institutions. A framework aligning the decisions of financial institutions with long-term climate goals is taking shape, and carbon intensive investments will likely face an increasing risk of being stranded. Within this framework, banks must be transparent and clear about how their products and services create value for their customers, clients, investors, as well as the environment. The Principles for Responsible Banking help banks to align their business strategy with society’s goals through ESG – Environmental Social and Governance – investments. The Principles provide the framework for a sustainable banking system, and help the industry demonstrate how it makes a positive contribution to society. They are accelerating the banking industry’s contribution to achieving society’s goals as expressed in the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climat

On 28 March 2019, the European Court of Justice annulled the Commission’s decision that the German law on renewable energy (EEG 2012) involved State aid. This annulment, in turn, has cast similar support schemes previously deemed State aid in a contentious light. What was the Court’s reasoning, and what does this ruling mean for the development of case law in State aid? In this podcast, Dr Max Klasse of Blomstein discusses the background to the case and what led to this decision before considering the implications of the judgment, and how it may reframe the criteria that constitutes State aid.

In this interview, Valerie Reif (FSR Energy) talks to Walburga Hemetsberger, CEO of SolarPower Europe, about the newest developments in solar. We look at the uptake of solar around the world, touch upon technological developments and discuss the implications of the Clean Energy Package for the evolvement of solar and other renewables in Europe. Check out SolarPower Europe's Global Market Outlook report here : solarpowereurope.org/global-market-outlook-2019-2023/ Never miss a new episode! Subscribe to our channel on Soundcloud and iTunes and sign up for our newsletter: bit.ly/2Sk4diT Connect with us on twitter @FSR_energy

What do electricity consumers really want? In this episode, Annette Jantzen, Secretary General at the National Energy Ombudsmen Network, shares her thoughts with Joana Freitas, Ambassador for the Lights on Women initiative of the FSR, on the main needs and concerns of electricity consumers, in the changing context of the energy transition. According to Annette Jantzen, one of the key issues arising from the energy transition is the high effort that the most vulnerable consumers have to make – “The households which are making the biggest effort to fund the energy transition today are the poorest ones”. At European level, the Clean Energy Package (CEP) is the first legislative package that mentions citizens in its name – Clean Energy for all Europeans. Annette Jantzen describes the CEP as very positive when it comes to consumer rights and protections, however, also notes that there is still a long way to go in terms of putting in place all the rights established in the document. “[The lack of strong legal provi

In this episode, Chris Peeters, CEO of the Elia Group, shares his views with Joana Freitas, Ambassador for the Lights on Women initiative of the FSR, on what the digitalisation of the energy system really means and discusses the key challenges and consequences for different market players. In Chris Peeters’ perspective, one of the immediate uses of digital technologies will be on improving the efficiency and effectiveness of day-to-day activities. On the other hand, Chris also notes that digitalisation will enable an efficient interaction amongst the different actors of a system that will be much more decentralized and electrified. In this new context, consumers will play an increasingly important role as we will be moving to “the concept of, first of all, consumer in the centre and, secondly, around that consumer, providers of energy as a service”. Thanks to digitalisation, market players will also become much more agile in addressing consumers’ specific needs. Regarding electricity grid operators, Chris Pee

In this episode, Tara Connolly, EU Climate and Energy Policy Director at Greenpeace, reflects on the real impact of energy transition on the environment, in a candid conversation with Joana Freitas, Ambassador for the Lights on Women initiative of the FSR. While there is a big drive today in Europe to switch from fossil fuels to renewable sources, is all the emphasis on power generation enough to fight climate change? According to Tara Connolly, “decarbonizing the power sector is absolutely key”, but there needs to be more focus on other sectors, like transportation and heating and cooling. Tara Connolly also notes that, for the most part, “the technologies are there, it’s about putting in place policies that will support and accelerate their deployment”. However, a world with more renewables will also probably be a world with mass deployment of lithium ion batteries and increased mining of cobalt, which raises other environmental issues. For Tara Connolly, Europe should start by making sure that “the standar

What impact will the energy transition have on electricity prices for consumer? Monika de Volder, Senior Economic Officer at BEUC – The European Consumers Organisation, discusses with Joana Freitas, Ambassador for the FSR Lights on Women initiative, the expected impact of increased renewables and consumer-oriented services in the retail electricity prices. Monika de Volder starts by noting that, against public expectations, electricity prices for households have been increasing over the last ten years – “We see more and more liberalization, which we would expect to result in more competition and better services and lower prices for consumers. Yet we don’t see that in every country”. In fact, renewables are very often blamed for increasing electricity prices. However, as Monika de Volder refers, renewables are the best alternative to reduce the dependence on fossil fuels. In the future, the introduction of new demand response services might allow consumers to capture the positive effect of the lower marginal c

Why do TSOs and DSOs need to cooperate more than in the past? Viviana Vitto, Head of Market Studies and Strategic Analysis at Enel Global Infrastructure and Networks, joins Joana Freitas, Ambassador of the Lights on Women initiative of the FSR, to discuss how the energy transition is shaping the need and configuration of TSO/DSO coordination. In Viviana’s perspective, decentralized generation, electrification and electric vehicles are growing at a fast pace and, given this new context, “TSOs and DSOs have just not the need but the responsibility to cooperate in order to rethink the energy system”. In fact, several European grid operators have been participating in TSO/DSO coordination pilots, as CoordiNet and SmartNet. The Clean Energy Package also paves the way to a closer cooperation between TSOs and DSOs. One of the measures determined by this package is the creation of a DSO entity, which, in Viviana’s view, “will play an important role to implement this cooperation and identifying the needs of the futur

Will Europe be able to achieve 100% renewables by 2050? Albert Cheung, Head of Global Analysis at Bloomberg NEF, talks to Joana Freitas, Ambassador for the Lights on Women initiative of the FSR, about the key obstacles and challenges of an energy system with high penetration of renewables. According to Albert Cheung, although solar and wind are becoming the cheapest forms of power generation, “there are a lot of obstacles and it's a really long road to get to those sorts of high penetrations”. As 100% renewables also mean a zero-carbon power system, it will require a “huge collaborative effort between government, energy companies and the investment community”. Despite the obstacles, several European countries are already setting ambitious targets for the next decade – by 2030, Austria expects to achieve 100% of renewables in electricity consumption while UK will be coal free by 2025. Albert Cheung also notes that this change of paradigm will require “massive amounts of flexibility” as an “energy system that h

The Head of the Innovation Area at the FSR, M. Vazquez discusses the potential of peer-to-peer contracts and decentralised technologies in the energy sector with Rolf Riemenschneider (European Commission, DG Connect). The interview has been conducted in the context of the Workshop: Digital Energy Marketplaces, held on 17 September in Florence. More info here: https://fsr.eui.eu/event/dlt-smart-contracts-digitalisation-energy/

The Florence School of Regulation invited Jorge Moreno, Partner at inodú, to discuss inodú’s latest publication, which reviews Chile’s decarbonisation efforts. In the podcast, Pradyumna Bhagwat (Research Fellow, FSR) and Mr Moreno discuss decarbonisation measures undertaken by the Chilean Government, their impact and recommendations for rapid decarbonisation in the future. Chile has committed to reducing its CO2 emission per GDP unit to 30% below the 2007 levels by 2030 as ratified under the Paris agreement. In view of reaching carbon neutrality by 2050, several steps have been taken by the Chilean Government. Working groups were established to develop a conversion and retirement schedule for existing coal generation facilities. An example of the impact is the June 2019 agreement between generation companies and the government to retire eight coal units (1047 MW) over 5 years. Some of the key recommendations presented in their article while closing coal plants are: 1) Provide certainty on new environmental

Aggregators in the Clean Energy Package: Opportunities and Difficulties as Enablers for Decentralised Actors In this podcast, Dr. Maximilian Wimmer, senior researcher at the Foundation for Environmental Energy law (Stiftung Umweltenergierecht), analyses aggregators’ opportunities and difficulties as enablers for decentralised actors in the future energy market with a view on the relevant legal framework found in the “Clean Energy for All Europeans Package”. In the near future, aggregators are likely to play an important role as enablers for decentralised market actors like consumers, prosumers, active customers and energy communities. With the help of aggregation, it will be possible to reduce prices on control reserves and wholesale markets by combining several different units and optimising their demand and supply behaviours. For consumers and prosumers participating in aggregation services, it will have the potential to lower balancing costs and decrease the energy bill. Further, the aggregator can take

Wind power industry has been a great success in Brazil, the installed capacity of wind power has increased from less than 1 GW in 2010 to more than 15 GW in 2019 in more than 600 wind farms, accounting for more than 9% of the Brazilian electricity matrix, with an 80% nationalized production chain. Today, wind Energy is the second largest source of electric energy in Brazil. In this podcast we talk with Elbia Gannoum, who as ABEEólica´s CEO has been active in strengthening the sustainable growth of wind energy in Brazil. Elbia Gannoum has been the CEO of ABEEÓLICA, the Brazilian Wind Energy Associatio, since September 2011. She was a Member of the Board of CCEE, the Electrical Energy Chamber of Commerce from June 2006 to April 2011. She was a Chief Economist to the Ministry of Mines and Energy (2003-2006, Coordinator of the Political Institute of the Ministry of Finance (2002-2003), Advisor of Economic Affairs to the Ministry of Mines and Energy (2001), Advisor to ANEEL (2001-2001), and Professor of the Feder

Francesco Ferioli (European Commission, DG Energy) in an interview with Ilaria Conti (FSR) focuses on the question how Power-to-Gas technology could impact the future supply and demand equilibrium in the electricity sector. Mr Ferioli explains that due to its flexibility potential Power-to-Gas could help hedge the risks for renewable electricity producers in a more efficient way than Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) and batteries. The podcast recorded on the margins of training “Power to the molecules (from technology to market uptake)” on 11 and 12 July 2019 in Florence. Link to training page: https://fsr.eui.eu/training/energy/power-to-the-molecules-from-technology-to-market-uptake/

On the margins of the training “Power to the molecules (from technology to market uptake)” on 11 and 12 July 2019, Ilaria Conti (Head of FSR Gas) interviews Martina Conton (EU Policy manager at The Natural & bio Gas Vehicle Association Europe). Within the framework of the recently published EU long-term strategy, NGVA expects the hydrogen to play a more and more important role in the transport sector, mainly as blended with methane. However, since Power-to-Gas is perceived as not fully mature technology, the feasibility, cost and the sustainability of hydrogen are still to be assessed. Link to training page: https://fsr.eui.eu/training/energy/power-to-the-molecules-from-technology-to-market-uptake/

The Andean Electric Interconnexion System Initiative (SINEA by its acronym in Spanish) was created in 2011 by Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Perú and Bolivia (as an observer country) with the goal of advancing the integration of their electric systems. SINEA´s coordination rotates annually in July, this year Chile has the task of moving the path of electricity integration forward in the region. According to Paula Estevez, Energy Integration is a priority for Chile, as “Interconnected systems are more robust, resilient, and provide greater security in energy emergencies, and also they enable a higher penetration of variable renewable energies as solar and wind because they give greater flexibility to the systems”. Listen to the podcast in Spanish here: http://bit.ly/2LnyWuI Subscribe for updates and opportunities from Lights on Women! http://bit.ly/2Sk4diT