1,721,087 research outputs found
Electricity Distribution Networks: Investment and Regulation, and Uncertain Demand
Full text linkElectricity distribution networks are capital intensive systems and timely investments are crucial for long-term reliability of their service. In coming years, in the UK, and elsewhere in Europe, many networks are in need of extensive investments in their aging assets. Also, aspects of energy policy concerning climate change, renewable energy, energy
efficiency, demand side management (DSM), network energy loss reduction, quality of service standards, and security of supply require active, flexible, and smart networks that can be achieved through investments. This paper is a chapter in the forthcoming book "Jamasb T. and Pollitt, M. G. (2011) Eds., The Future of Electricity Demand: Customers, Citizens and
Loads, Cambridge University Press: Cambridge" and describes a network investment assessment model developed as a tool to identify and assess the investment requirements of distribution networks. A broadening of the scope of network investments to include demand-related measures that can reduce the need for investments
Energy systems integration : implications for public policy
Full text linkPublished online: August 2020Energy Systems Integration (ESI) is an emerging paradigm and at the centre of the EU energy debate. ESI takes a holistic view of the electricity, gas, and heat sectors to deliver a clean, reliable, and affordable energy system. By using the synergies within and between sectors, ESI aims to increase flexibility in the energy system, maximise the integration of renewable energy and distributed generation, and reduce environmental impact. While ESI-enabling technologies have been studied from a technical perspective, the economic, regulatory, and policy dimensions of ESI are yet to be analysed in depth. This paper discusses ESI in a multi-step approach. We first focus on the economics of ESI-enabling technologies. Then we briefly discuss how the EU national regulators incentivise their adoption. Major economic and policy barriers to ESI are identified and policy solutions to overcome these barriers are proposed. We conclude that current regulatory frameworks in the EU do not sufficiently stimulate ESI investments and only through proper design of incentives ESI can be adopted
Network utilities performance and institutional quality : evidence from the Italian electricity sector
Full text linkPublished 13 February 2021It is generally accepted that institutions are important for economic development. However, whether the performance of regulated utilities within a country is affected by the quality of institutions is yet to be investigated thoroughly. We analyse how the quality of regional institutions impact performance of Italian electricity distribution utilities. We use a stochastic frontier analysis approach to estimate cost functions and examine the performance of 107 electricity distribution utilities from 2011 to 2015. This unique dataset was constructed with the help of the Italian Regulator for Energy, Networks, and Environment. In addition, we use a recent dataset on regional institutional quality in Italy. We present evidence that utilities in regions with better responsiveness towards citizens, control of corruption, and rule of law, tend to be more cost efficient. The results suggest that national regulators should take regional institutional diversity into account in incentive regulation and efficiency benchmarking of utilities
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Demand side participation: price constraints, technical limits and behavioural risks
No full text© Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge 2011.Introduction: Demand response in domestic contexts may be differentiated into two modes of provision. First, ‘automatic’ load control involves the direct intervention by utilities to manipulate the performance of domestic appliances using heat or power, without the immediate involvement of domestic end-users. This is sometimes referred to as ‘dynamic demand’. For example, in the UK a trial was initiated in December 2009 by a consortium including a fridge manufacturer (Indesit), an energy utility (Npower) and a technology company (RLtec). Three hundred end-users were supplied with ‘dynamic demand fridges and fridge freezers’, free of charge and the trial involved the monitoring of each device as well as the switching off of appliances for short durations in response to grid conditions. A second form of demand response can be described as more ‘intentional’ load control. This involves the direct intervention by domestic end-users themselves, rather than utilities, that would retain total control over the working of domestic appliances and would choose to modify behavioural patterns of energy consumption in response to some form of signal from a utility. This signal is most likely to be a price signal but is not necessarily so – it could involve communicating the availability of energy generated from different kinds of resource (e.g. fossil fuel or renewable) (Devine-Wright, 2003). The signal is most likely to be communicated via a smart metering device, but could alternatively involve a ‘traffic light’ device that signals the availability of energy via colour-coded signals, or a communication to other forms of ICT via text messages or emails (e.g. mobile phones)
Equity, Fuel Poverty and Demand (maintaining affordability with sustainability and security of supply)
No full textFrom state to market : essays on electricity sector reforms
Full text linkThe 1980s marked the beginning of market driven reforms in the electricity sector based on the standard textbook model. More than half of the economies around the world have initiated power sector reforms since late 1980s irrespective of the sector size, resource endowments, institutional capacity and economic development. Hence, this thesis qualitatively and quantitatively assesses the process and outcomes of market-based reforms evolving the electricity sector across the developing, transition and developed economies where reforms are on-going at various stages. Deriving relevant and feasible reform options and policy for the electricity sector based on the lessons learnt after considering more than two decades of reforms remains the major contribution of this thesis.
Chapter one is the introductory chapter and provides an outline of the motivation and context of the thesis. Chapter two is a literature review of the experiences to date with the performance of electricity reforms across the reforming countries. The chapter identifies the knowledge gaps in the literature and sets the scene for the three substantial chapters of the thesis to follow.
The third chapter assesses the issues and options in reforming small electricity sectors considering the twin complicating factors of political instability and increasing electricity demand. The reform in the small electricity sector of Nepal is cited as a specific case. Chapter four empirically investigates the often poorly explored link between power sector reforms and wider institutional reforms in the economy across different groups of transition countries. The transition countries include the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union. Chapter five examines the degree of market integration between the relatively small all-island Irish electricity market and other wholesale electricity markets in Europe. The chapter focuses on the role of interconnections and increased cross-border trade of electricity in the creation of an integrated market for electricity in Europe.
Chapter six concludes the thesis by highlighting the policy implications and areas for future research. The chapter establishes that electricity sector reform is prone to chronic political, market and regulatory failures in many reforming countries
Energy scenarios and implications for future electricity demand
No full textThis chapter sets out four energy scenarios for Great Britain in 2050 that are intended, as a set, to provide insight, assist strategic planning and promote discussion on future electricity networks and the electricity system as a whole. These scenarios were originally prepared by members and associates of the SuperGen FlexNet consortium for Ofgem in the context of their Long-Term Electricity Network Scenarios (LENS) project and benefited from several rounds of stakeholder consultation, workshops and peer review
Regulation for digital investment:Linking gains to incentives
No full textIn the move towards more decentralized, low-carbon systems, the digitalization of networks should provide the missing link that integrates the grid with a growing range of flexible resources for advanced grid operation and optimal sizing. In other words, digitalization is underway. However, a two-speed adoption can be observed between digital technologies at the interface with the grid users and the technologies deployed before the meter, suggesting a misalignment between national regulatory frameworks and digitalization. This study provides an overview of the current state of digitalization in European distribution networks, maps the features and benefits of digital solutions, and uses them as a canvas to discuss how supportive frameworks regulating investments in digital technology really are
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