gas

  • Commercial and market outlook

    Patriots ‘Dynasty’ off to a rough start, as New England suffers loss to the MLFs…

    For many, the first of April is marked in calendars as a day for jokes and silly nuisances. For the few, specifically the energy industry, we have it pencilled in for the release of the upcoming year’s Marginal Loss Factors (MLFs). Over the last half-decade, movements in MLFs have received...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Now we’re peaking with gas: how much evening NEM demand could be replaced with batteries?

    The events leading up to the recent market suspension in June have highlighted the role that peaking gas-fired generation plays in satisfying demand and setting prices across the NEM in the morning and evening peak periods. The team recently explored some of the drivers and effects of these events in...

  • Commercial and market outlook

    Australian gas prices have recently coupled with European spot. Will linkage persist post-2023?

    Last year it was difficult to imagine that spot gas prices in Australia would hit unprecedented levels of more than $40-50/GJ, with AEMO capping the DWGM price at $40/GJ. By comparison, the DWGM only averaged $5.10/GJ last year. As was mentioned by Energy Market Intelligence Manager Mohsin Ali in the...

  • Power and gas networks

    Australian gas markets spike to unprecedented levels

    Australia’s gas markets are in the middle of an unprecedented price spike. Current prices in the Victorian Declared Wholesale Gas Market (DWGM) have been tracking in the $20-40/GJ range since early May 2022, with prices hitting $50/GJ on 30 May. Prices in the other gas hubs of Sydney and Brisbane...

  • Commercial and market outlook

    The Victorian story of gas demand segments

    The Declared Wholesale Gas Market (DWGM) prices in Victoria have been on a rising trend since the start-up of LNG exports in 2015. Is this trend sustainable, given the Gas Statement of Opportunities (GSOO) forecasts an improved gas supply outlook with the new Port Kembla Gas Terminal (PKGT) expected to...

  • Business supply and services

    SMEs (Small and medium businesses) experience record breaking prices

    In Q321 the average SME gas contract was priced at the highest value since we started tracking propositions in 2012 (4.98p/th for 1-year acquisition contracts that assume a 25MWh annual consumption). Our Pricing in the SME Gas/Power Markets reports also shows SME electricity contracts seeing record highs, priced at 19.95p/kWh...

  • Low carbon generation

    CfD Allocation Round 4: how much capacity might we expect?

    On 13 September, BEIS published the draft budget notice and draft Allocation Framework for Allocation Round 4 (AR4) of the Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme, scheduled to open in December 2021. BEIS set out a total draft budget of £265mn (in 2011-12 money) for AR4, meaning that total spend in...

  • Power and gas networks

    The rise of wholesale gas prices … the saga

    It is certainly not a standard summer season for gas prices. Normally with demand for gas typically lower, we should see prices at the lowest levels of the calendar year. However, Summer 2021 gas prices are currently seeing bullish momentum with price points that we would expect to see in winter. In this ‘Chart of...

  • Low carbon generation

    Australian Chart of the week | A view of captured prices by technology in New South Wales

    This Chart of the week examines the historical captured prices of selected technologies within NSW for the last 10 years. Figure 1 shows the historical rolling monthly average of captured prices of various technologies within New South Wales against the monthly generation of variable renewable resources including small scale rooftop....

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Australian Chart of the week | Slow is smooth and smooth is fast for the NEM transition

    Reporting season is all but over for the energy majors in Australia and that has left us with a bevy of takeaways on the sentiment for the not-so-distant future. A key thread among reports has been the current low-price environment in the NEM. This is a topic that we have...

  • Regulation and policy

    Chart of the week | Ofgem Switching Programme regains momentum

    This 'Chart of the week' follows the seventh edition of Cornwall Insight’s Faster Switching Service (FSS), issued on Monday. Our FSS is designed to help readers understand Ofgem’s major industry programme to deliver faster and more reliable switching for consumers. The service comprises two elements: a walk-through of the entire...

  • Low carbon generation

    Australian Chart of the week | To the left, to the left; is Liddell irreplaceable through the day?

    In Issue 52, considering the recent announcement from the federal government to build a 250MW (previously 1GW) gas-fired plant in New South Wales (NSW), we investigated price volatility trends in the state and the opportunities for storage to fill the impending energy gap when Liddell retires in 2023. In this...

  • Business supply and services

    Chart of the week | Energy demand falls amid coronavirus outbreak

    Since the government imposed restrictions on movement in the UK on 24 March, demand for power has fallen around 11% March 2019 levels. Comparatively, demand for gas has been less affected due to the dominance of the domestic heating market on gas demand. In this Chart of the week, we...

  • Heat networks

    Pixie Chart of the week | Decarbonisation means lower gas consumption?

    This Pixie Chart of the week compares the source of heating fuels from four European nations with the UK. Each country has a different starting point, challenges and opportunities based on their fuel use and social and economic factors. However, they are all still looking to significantly decarbonise over the next three decades.

  • Heat networks

    Pixie Chart of the week | Carbon Connect issues third Future Gas Series paper

    A significant proportion of households in the UK currently use natural gas for heat. In a zero carbon emissions environment, this will have to change if low carbon sources of heat are to be adopted. In this week’s Chart of the Week, we examine consumer engagement issues in decarbonisation of the domestic...

  • E-mobility and low carbon

    Pixie Chart of the week | National Grid forecasts for EV uptake changed

    National Grid issued its 2019 Future Energy Scenarios forecasts on 11 July. This annual forecast provides detailed insight into the expected future energy system, against four scenarios across gas and electricity. National Grid use this data to plan the future transmission systems, but it gives a fascinating insight into likely future energy...

  • E-mobility and low carbon

    Pixie Chart of the week | OIES reviews prospects for naural gas as transport fuel

    On 23 April, the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies published A Review of Proposals for Natural Gas as a Fuel in Road Transport.  In this week's Chart of the Week we consider the environmental advantages of natural gas as a transport fuel.

  • Low carbon generation

    Chart of the week | LNG displaces gas interconnector imports

    Since February, the UK’s gas interconnector imports are being displaced in the gas supply mix by a surge in LNG imports. Month-on-month the gas supply mix has changed, with interconnector imports and LNG send-out going from 4.6% and 17.0% of total gas supply in February, to 0.1% and 20.6% respectively...

  • Regulation and policy

    Chart of the week | UIG UNC SOS

    Unidentified gas (UIG), continues to create issues for shippers and suppliers alike. Since the introduction of new gas settlement arrangements in June 2017, the UIG process has been problematic. The nub of the issue is that the initial allocation of UIG volumes can range between -15% and +25% of all...

  • Low carbon generation

    Chart of the week | Tell Sid – Gas assets for sale

    In a week when Iberdrola is rumoured to be interested in selling 2GW of CCGT in GB. We look at the recent change of ownership in this important segment of the generation market. In 2012, when the process of Electricity Market Reform got underway, the Big Six owned (or in...

  • Low carbon generation

    Chart of the Week | Low EU Gas Stocks Bullish for Summer Prices

    The surge in gas demand across Europe from the very cold sting in the tail end of this winter may only have lasted a matter of days. However, the so-called ‘Beast from the East’ also leaves a legacy of increasing demand for gas this summer and low gas stocks. In...

  • Home supply and services

    Chart of the week | Score! Gas retail market “competitive”

    Our Domestic market share survey highlighted for the first time that the gas retail market had dipped below the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI). This index indicates a competitive market and used by the US Department of Justice. Two decades after the gas retail market was opened to competition it has now...