Insight paper

  • Regulation and policy

    Race to net zero: Rebuilding investor confidence in the UK

    Increased macroeconomic pressures and rising international competition have left the UK at risk of falling behind in the race to attract investment in the net zero transition. In this paper, we examine these headwinds alongside a discussion of the short and long-term changes to the Contracts for Difference scheme that...

  • Power and gas networks

    The shifting sands of Liquified Natural Gas in Europe

    As we look ahead to a second winter with heavily reduced levels of Russian pipeline gas being supplied to Europe, one of the key variables in the stability and security of European gas supplies and prices will be the supply of Liquified Natural Gas (LNG). In this paper, we discuss...

  • Net zero corporates and ESG

    Corporate decarbonisation: What shapes success?

    The focus of this research report is on the strategic measures that businesses can take to decarbonise their energy usage, with more practical measures discussed in Cornwall Insight’s published insight papers, “A corporate’s guide to decarbonising power” and “Business net zero: Making progress in a challenging economy”. This research centred...

  • Regulation and policy

    Reform options for TNUoS and constraint management

    This report explores the potential to enable the decarbonisation of the GB energy system and meeting net zero ambitions through evolutionary reforms to the transmission charging and constraint management arrangements. Cornwall Insight is an independent energy consultant with extensive experience in market and policy analysis. This report was produced by...

  • Regulation and policy

    Transforming the energy market: how change will work for consumers

    This report is an introduction to changes in the energy market. It has been written in a way that is easy to understand for people who are not familiar with the topics. Energy is critical to all sectors of the economy, and this report provides a high-level overview of the...

  • Home supply and services

    Decarbonising healthcare: opportunities and challenges

    In order for the UK to meet its commitment to a net zero economy by 2050, all sectors will be required to reduce their carbon emissions. In this paper, we set out some of the main options for decarbonising heat and power in the healthcare sector, and the typical advantages...

  • Home supply and services

    The power of flex: Rewarding smarter energy usage

    The research underpinning this report aims to understand the financial and environmental benefits of household flexibility for consumers and the national energy system. We have analysed the difference between a scenario where households participate in flexibility, and one where they don't. Our analysis covers three time periods (2025, 2030 and...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Ready and waiting: Opportunities for energy storage

    As the UK transitions towards net zero, the increasing share of the energy generation mix coming from renewables is resulting in greater intermittency of generation, leading to a growing system need for flexible dispatch solutions. Produced in conjunction with DLA Piper, this report provides a background to energy storage and...

  • Low carbon generation

    Is Germany going green? Charting Germany’s energy transition

    Using exclusive insights from our new North West Europe Benchmark Power Curve, our insight paper assesses the impact of the energy crisis on Germany’s net zero ambitions and attainment. Current and future policy decisions are unpacked and evaluated to determine their impact on the net zero investment landscape, with the...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Co-location, co-location, co-location

    As the UK transitions to net zero, the energy generation mix will become increasingly dominated by intermittent renewable generators, thus promoting a need for greater flexibility within the energy system. Setting up a new site, especially for storage assets, is currently a long and often costly process. Co-location is where...

  • Low carbon generation

    MCS Charitable Foundation – Hydrogen Costs

    MCS Charitable Foundation (“MCS”) in its charity goal of decarbonising homes, heat and energy has commissioned us to calculate the costs of blue and green hydrogen, based on current and projected gas prices. This report sets out our methodology for this forecast, and our findings in terms of delivered prices...

  • E-mobility and low carbon

    Battery-as-a-Service: an underexplored opportunity?

    At the back end of 2020, the government published a plan to put an end to the sale of new petrol and diesel cars in the UK by the end of the decade. While welcome news for many, this target – the most ambitious in the G7 – brought into...

  • Net zero corporates and ESG

    Securing the UK’s role as a green financial hub

    Ahead of COP26, Cornwall Insight and TLT spoke to industry leaders about the UK’s progress with building a green finance market and what’s needed to make green finance mainstream. As the whole world looks to the Glasgow summit for new, progressive policies, what do businesses, investors and financial institutions deem...

  • Heat networks

    Who pays for supporting the net zero transition

    The costs of decarbonising the power system have mainly been funded through consumers’ electricity bills. In 2020-21 these costs amounted to £10bn with the expectation that support for low carbon generation will continue to be necessary. If we are to maintain a trajectory to net zero carbon emissions at 2050,...