net zero

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Review of deployment of long duration energy storage in the electricity sector in Ireland

    This report seeks to assess the potential for Long Duration Energy Storage technologies (LDES) in Ireland, focusing on barriers and opportunities for the sector. The report focuses on policy, regulatory and market based opportunities and challenges, as the first step in understanding the market landscape for the sector. Read the...

  • 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...

  • 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...

  • Business supply and services

    Business net zero: Making progress in a challenging economy

    In light of the financial pressures faced by enterprises from rising inflation and interest rates, tight supply chains and labour markets, alongside high energy bills, this paper investigates to what extent decarbonisation is still a priority for corporates and how progress towards net zero has been impacted by recent developments....

  • 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...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Unlocking REMA

    Recent challenges have emphasised the recurring importance of the energy trilemma, namely the need to decarbonise the energy system while ensuring energy security and affordability. The government announced its Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA) in April 2022 to address these issues. In July, the government published a consultation paper...

  • Business supply and services

    Weathering the storm: Mitigating the impact of energy price hikes for businesses

    The challenging gas supply situation and record-high electricity prices are putting considerable pressures on the GB economy as we enter winter 2022-23. Unfortunately, as the winter approaches, wholesale energy prices are set to rise even further, constraining the growth of businesses that were starting to recover from the scars of...

  • 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...

  • Low carbon generation

    A corporate’s guide to decarbonising power

    From 6 April 2022 it has become mandatory for over 1,300 of the largest UK-registered companies to disclose their climate-related financial information in line with the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations. As part of this, all corporations on the Financial Conduct Authority’s Official List (are “listed”) are required...

  • Low carbon generation

    Future-proofing energy market design: the net zero challenge

    With climate change high on the agenda, many countries are looking at decarbonising their electricity generation and incorporating more renewable generation into their electricity systems. This research snapshot focuses on energy market design in Great Britain (GB), Ireland and Australia, considering what is being done to adapt to the changing...

  • Home supply and services

    Assessing the potential of hydrogen in decarbonising residential heating in Ireland

    Ireland has an ambitious vision to reach net zero by 2050, and decarbonising residential heating is a significant challenge. This report examines the potential for hydrogen-based heating solutions in decarbonising residential heating in Ireland.On comparing the various options of using hydrogen for domestic heating in Ireland, hydrogen blending in the...

  • Net zero corporates and ESG

    Unlocking net zero strategies for business

    An increasing number of businesses are looking to reduce their emissions and become sustainable to align with the government’s net zero strategy. Setting targets is crucial for companies with complexity across sectors, technologies and business structures. This paper, in partnership with Shoosmiths, explores the potential routes to decarbonisation that businesses...

  • Net zero corporates and ESG

    An equitable transition to net zero

    This paper addresses one of the fundamental issues in the transition to net zero: how to resolve the accrual of national decarbonisation benefits with the imposition of regional network costs through distribution charges. It examines this through the lens of North Scotland, where the tension between these two forces is...

  • Home supply and services

    The role of connected homes in achieving net zero

    A connected home is defined as one with multiple integrated devices that can be automated and easily controlled to create a safe, convenient, and comfortable environment. The largest companies operating in the connected home sector are the technology majors such as Amazon, Google and Apple, but there are also many...

  • 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...

  • Low carbon generation

    Four technologies to reach net zero

    There is no single technological fix to resolve the climate crisis. Instead, a range of technologies must be developed and deployed at scale to tackle the vast challenges associated with the deep decarbonisation of the economy. This report will cover a few of those technologies, including carbon capture, hydrogen, floating...

  • 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,...

  • Low carbon generation

    The net zero paradox – challenges of designing markets to bring forward low marginal cost resources

    The scale and speed of the net zero targets require a refocus of the traditional goals of electricity market design to ensure efficient dispatch, adequate capacity and optimal investment. Electricity markets need to support the investment and dispatch to meet low carbon objectives, but the fundamental drivers of the electricity...