renewables

  • Low carbon generation

    Australian Chart of the week | 3 2 1… fight: VRE and price cannibalisation in NEM

    In the last decade, the rapid decline in deployment cost of variable renewable energy (VRE) generation capacity has given renewables an advantage over fossil fuels for new builds as highlighted in ‘Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2020’ report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). In the report, Australia has...

  • Low carbon generation

    Australian Chart of the week | If I should stay, I’ll only be in your way: coal and the transition

    Events in Queensland on 25 May 2021 tested the resilience of the Queensland demand/supply balance with 3GW of coal generation suddenly coming offline due to a loss of generation at the Callide power station. According to AEMO’s preliminary report – released on 1 June 2021 – on the event, the outage also...

  • 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....

  • Low carbon generation

    Chart of the week | The GB renewables pipeline: Snakes and Ladders

    Through our Renewables Pipeline Tracker (RPT) service, we have been reporting on and analysing the growing renewables pipeline in GB for the past 18 months. This week’s ‘Chart of the week’ looks at the latest numbers in the pipeline and the key trends impacting renewable assets. RPT research is gathered through a...

  • Low carbon generation

    Australian Chart of the week | When less could be more – on the states’ green targets

    This week’s ‘Chart of the week’ looks at the impact of the states’ targets on the overall NEM’s demand-supply profile. We start with the time-of-day average generation profile in 2020; add the extra renewable needed for the states’ 2030 targets; but also subtract coal and gas that are projected to...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Australian Chart of the week | Winds of change: Victoria and its unique afternoon ‘belly bump’

    To say the transition is well and truly underway in the Australian NEM is not exactly news. In the last year alone, renewables have delivered record shares in generation mix across the NEM. Whilst solar is the technology often in the news given its impact on both operational demand, mid-day...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Chart of the week | The real deal: Recent activity in the PPA market

    In this 'Chart of the week', we outline the latest research from our PPA Market Deals Trackers. We provide this as part of our 'Renewables PPA Market Share' and 'Flexible Asset PPA Market Report'. Through this analysis, we track and record all public deals relating to the PPA market. This...

  • Low carbon generation

    Australian Chart of the week | Now speed up, gas pedal, gas pedal: faster transition for NSW?

    Last month, the NSW government issued a call to renewable developers to respond to a Registration of Interest to develop a pilot Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) in the Central-West region of the state. This REZ – with an estimated worth of $4.4 billion in private investments - is expected to...

  • Commercial and market outlook

    Chart of the week | The wind of change: Germany’s future in the air

    Germany's newly installed wind capacity increased 260% in quarter one of 2020 compared to the same period last year. However, this increase is still marginal in the context of previous years and Germany’s wider renewable targets. January to March this year saw the installation of 107 new turbines, according to...

  • Low carbon generation

    Chart of the week | The pipeline for CfD AR4: Who, where, when?

    ‘Pot 1’ technologies may be reinstated in the next Contracts for Difference Allocation Round 4 in 2021. This Chart of the week looks at the pipeline of renewables projects which are most likely to enter the auction.

  • Low carbon generation

    Australian Chart of the week | CleanCo – little ripples make big waves

    Many would have noticed that CleanCo received their electricity retailer authorisation from the AER recently. Therefore, signifying a key step to providing retail electricity services to customers. In order to sell energy, a retailer needs to obtain a retailer authorisation, under the National Electricity Retail Law. Now, Cleanco can sell...

  • Low carbon generation

    Australian Chart of the week | A transition period is a period between two transition periods

    Australia’s energy transition enters a new decade. A big part of the first quarter has focused on greater renewable integration into the grid. Given the level of attention on these integration issues, now is a good time to review the last decade. This Chart of the week explores how black...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Chart of the week | Critical Link: Western HVDC & wind in the BM

    On 10 January, the Western Link HVDC suffered a fresh unplanned outage. This consequently prompted Ofgem to investigate National Grid Electricity Transmission and Scottish Power Transmission over the cable's delivery and operation. Coinciding with this outage was record-high levels of wind generation in Great Britain. This generation from transmission connected...

  • Low carbon generation

    Pixie Chart of the week | New Italian renewable subsidies awarded

    Results of the first auction under the new Italian renewables subsidy were announced on 28 January by GSE, the country’s energy agency. The format of the auction provides top-up premia for generators, with developers bidding reductions of between 2% to 70% against a reference price of €70/MWh (£59.40/MWh). This was...

  • Low carbon generation

    Chart of the week | Swing low: T-3 Capacity Market auction

    In this week's Chart of the week, we discuss the provisional results of the T-3 Capacity Market (CM) auction for Delivery Year 2022-23, published on Friday 31 January by the EMR Delivery Body (National Grid ESO). The clearing price was £6.44/kW/year, the lowest ever in a multi-year (T-4 or T-3) Capacity Market auction....

  • Low carbon generation

    Pixie Chart of the week | Electricity North West projects future energy demand

    Just as National Grid Electricity System Operator publishes its annual Future Energy Scenarios, Distribution Network Operator (DNO) Electricity North West (ENW) launched its Distribution Future Energy Scenarios. The DNO has forecast future electricity generation and consumption across its network out to 2050, across five scenarios representing a base-case, as well...

  • Home supply and services

    Chart of the week | A short guide to RO mutualisation

    On 7 November Ofgem confirmed that the mutualisation for the Renewables Obligation (RO) has been triggered for 2018-19 (Compliance Period (CP) 17), the second consecutive year this has happened.  With an initial shortfall in the buy-out payments of £206.0mn, this week’s Chart of the Week takes you through the RO mutualisation process...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Chart of the week | Sizing up: Flexible versus Renewable PPA markets

    Following the publication of our new Flexible PPA Market Report, we have been able to compare and contrast the different markets for PPAs between renewables and flexible assets. In this week's Chart of the Week, we highlight the primary differences in the market sizes of each sector. 

  • Low carbon generation

    Pixie Chart of the week | H2 affordability: electrolyser load factor functions

    The International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) – an intergovernmental organisation – published its latest report in September: Hydrogen: a renewable energy perspective. The report demonstrates that hydrogen production is only commercially viable at higher load factors, as illustrated in our Chart of the Week. It is also measured against the levelised...

  • Low carbon generation

    Australian Chart of the week | Price cannibalisation in the NEM: dawn of new era?

    Price outcomes in the NEM in recent weeks have left many wondering if the market is entering a new era of increased risk and volatility in prices even before 5-min settlement kicks in. In this week's Chart of the week, we look at prices at certain settlement periods. We analyse...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Chart of the week | BFG: Big Frequency Game

    Since last Friday’s (9 August’s) power blackout there has been considerable interest in how National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO) balances power demand and supply. Terms such as frequency, rate of change of frequency (RoCoF) and inertia have all gained in currency. This Chart of the Week shows the distribution of...

  • Low carbon generation

    Chart of the week | Corporate PPAs: please form an orderly queue

    With the promise of long-term fixed price agreements with creditworthy consumers, corporate power purchase agreements (CPPAs) have become one of the most talked about routes to market for new subsidy-free generators. CPPAs provide for the sale of electricity from a developer to a final consumer typically using a supplier to...

  • Low carbon generation

    Chart of the week | Turning on the tap: the renewables pipeline

    This week's Chart of the Week looks at the updated Renewable energy Planning Database (REPD) which tracks the progress of new renewables projects through the planning system. The data is often used to quantify the pipeline of new renewables capacity that could come forward. Our chart gives the capacity of onshore wind...

  • Commercial and market outlook

    Pixie Chart of the week | CARES Publishes Financial Analysis for Renewables Projects

    In this week’s Pixie Chart of the week, following the closure of the Feed-in Tariff (FiT) scheme to new generation on 31 March 2019, Community and Renewable Energy Scotland (CARES) has produced guidelines to help assess returns for investment in small-scale renewable energy. The CARES Project Viability Modelling Post Feed-in Tariff investigates the economic...

  • Low carbon generation

    Pixie Chart of the Week | Electrification can drive EU emissions reduction

    Europe could reduce its energy-related emissions by as much as 90% by 2050 by implementing ambitious policies and accelerating electrification, according to a report published by industry organisation WindEurope. The report, Breaking New Ground: Wind Energy and the Electrification of Europe’s Energy Systems, published in September, proposed an “electric future” for...

  • Low carbon generation

    Chart of the week | Subsidy-free renewables – thoughts from the industry?

    Cornwall Insight hosted an event, Into the unknown: evaluating drivers of low carbon investment in a subsidy-free world, on 17 October. It explored the future of support for renewable power generation. As well as the significant gap between current deployment levels and what must be delivered to meet decarbonisation goals. Throughout...

  • Low carbon generation

    Chart of the week | The end of vertical integration…or not?

    Within the last decade the vertically integrated (VI) model, whereby companies own generation and supply businesses, has fallen away. In 2008 the traditional VI model was at its height – the Big Six owned over two-thirds of the generation fleet, and supplied over 90% of electricity by volume (99% in...

  • Commercial and market outlook

    Chart of the week | Labour plans unprecedented renewables expansion

    The Labour Party held its annual conference in Liverpool on 23-26 September. While much of the attention focused on the party’s nationalisation plans, Labour also pledged a level of renewables deployment thus-far unimagined by one of the larger political parties. As well as headline goals of a 60% emissions reduction...

  • Low carbon generation

    Chart of the week | The policy gap – can it be met by subsidy-free renewables?

    New renewables capacity deployment in the UK is likely to slow with the closure of the Renewables Obligation (RO) and Feed-in Tariff (FiT) schemes. This is against a backdrop of the CCC's warning the fourth and fifth carbon budgets will be missed. All while “subsidy-free” renewables struggle to gain traction...

  • Low carbon generation

    Chart of the week | Subsidy-free renewables: myth to reality?

    The development of new renewables faces what would once have seemed an existential challenge – a distinct lack of available subsidies. However, we know subsidy-free renewables projects are slowly coming to fruition, particularly for solar. In this week's Chart of the week, we take a look at the value that...