Chart of the week
Our complimentary Charts of the week analyse the latest news and updates in the energy industry. The articles offer a visual way of understanding complex issues and are complemented by our expert’s analysis.
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Categories
Latest Charts of the week
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Home supply and services
With wholesale prices falling, how many domestic customers are looking for better prices?
In anticipation of supply contracts being offered below the Energy Price Guarantee (EPG), what might happen to customer switching rates? In this week’s 'Chart of the week', we look at how many domestic consumers might be ready to switch when suppliers increasingly offer contracts below the price cap supported level,...
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Commercial and market outlook
It’s finally happening; EV market hotter than ICE in 2022! Is the NEM ready?
For the first time in 30 years, Australia’s highest-selling mid-size vehicle is not a Toyota Camry - running an internal combustion engine (ICE). As reported by 7 news, it has been replaced by the Tesla Model 3. This piece of information demonstrates that the EV uptake in Australia is achieving...
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Business supply and services
Help has arrived? A review of the government’s new Energy Bills Discount Scheme
Over the past year, the combination of volatile wholesale energy prices, economic recession, and both political and market uncertainty, have necessitated government intervention in UK energy markets to offer protection and stability to both domestic and non-domestic UK energy consumers. In this week’s 'Chart of the week', we further review...
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Low carbon generation
Building up the road to the coast – can we deliver energy from Gippsland’s offshore wind?
On 19 December 2022, the Federal Minister for Climate and Energy officially declared the area in Bass Strait off the Victorian Gippsland Coast suitable for offshore wind. The declared area covers approximately 15,000 square kilometres, from Lakes Entrance in the east to south of Wilsons Promontory in the west. Based...
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Business supply and services
Newly announced Energy Bills Discount Scheme scales back support for businesses’ energy bills
On Monday 9 January, the outcome from the long-anticipated review of the current Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS) for businesses was published. With the EBRS due to end on 31 March 2023, the government announced a new Energy Bills Discount Scheme (EBDS) as its one-year replacement to run from 1...
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E-mobility and low carbon
Energy crisis prompts peak prices at public charge points
Last month, three charge point operators (CPOs) rolled out dynamic pricing across their public networks, offering drivers lower rates for charging at off-peak hours, and higher prices during times of peak demand. In this week's 'Chart of the Week', we’ll look at the three tariffs introduced and ask what it...
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Regulation and policy
Capacity Market prequalification
On 29 November, National Grid ESO in its role as EMR Delivery Body published the prequalification registers for the 2023-24 (T-1) and 2026-27 (T-4) Capacity Market (CM) auctions. In this week's 'Chart of the Week', we explore some of the highlights from the initial registers.
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Commercial and market outlook
“There’s a hole in the bucket, dear Liza”: but maybe not as big as we think?…
There has been talk for years about the potential introduction into the National Electricity Market of a “capacity market”, with significant pushback from the industry over the potential for a capacity market to prolong the life of coal and gas and slow decarbonisation of the grid. On Friday last week...
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Energy storage and flexibility
What’s GoOing on with REGOs?
The world of Green Certificates is a complex area of the energy sector and is set to become more-so as we head towards a period of major regulatory change in 2023. The EU’s Guarantee of Origins (GoOs) and GB’s equivalent Renewable Energy Guarantee of Origin (REGOs) are certificates proving the production...
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Commercial and market outlook
“If everything seems under control, you’re not going fast enough.” – Mario Andretti
Over the past few months, there has been an avalanche of announcements related to the energy market. Victoria wants to be 65% renewable by 2030 and 95% by 2035, AGL is likely to retire Loy Yang A ten years earlier, Queensland has its Energy and Jobs Plan, and transmission investment...
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Energy storage and flexibility
DFS – home delivery now available
On 4 November, Ofgem granted approval to the National Grid ESO proposal to create a demand flexibility service this winter. This will allow consumers and businesses to be paid for the first time to reduce or shift their electricity usage out of peak periods this winter following a signal from...
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Commercial and market outlook
Casualties of the energy transition highway – market effects of Torrens Island B retirement
As part of Australia’s energy transition, investments are being made to ensure sufficient network capacity to host renewable energy generation, share them between regions, and maintain power system security and reliability. One of the interconnectors being built is Project EnergyConnect (PEC), which will provide 800 MW of transfer capacity between...
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Power and gas networks
How much impact does the MSC have now?
As prices in the market remain volatile, a recent drop in the price of wholesale gas has caused the Market Stabilisation Charge (MSC) to be triggered. The MSC was introduced in April 2022 as a short-term intervention in an unstable market, designed to protect suppliers that have hedged in advance...
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Low carbon generation
Lean, clean, electrolysing machines – how clean is Australia’s hydrogen future?
The Clean Energy Regulator is currently exploring how to define ‘low-emissions’ hydrogen production through a Guarantee of Origin (GO) scheme for Australia. Such a scheme could set a threshold level for carbon emissions from the production process in order to classify it as being ‘clean’, similar to schemes in operation...
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Power and gas networks
Sharing is Caring: UK Gas and Power Exports Volumes Versus 2021
It is perhaps unsurprising to highlight that global energy markets have been exposed to significant volatility in recent years. Whether this be through the emergence of a global pandemic, dampening demand and drastically altering consumption behaviour thereafter, to the Russian invasion of Ukraine which resulted in significant changes to historic...
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Energy storage and flexibility
Christmas comes early for South Australian battery owners
The choice of Chart of the week was an easy one following Saturday’s storms that ‘reined’ down on South Australia. The state became isolated from the rest of the National Electricity Market after one of ElectraNet’s pylons, supporting the interconnector between SA and Victoria, was knocked down[1]. The consequence...
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Home supply and services
A bumpy ride: Why rising wholesale prices are impacting NTS charges
Due to the current energy crisis, consumer energy bills have been exposed to substantial increases over the past year. The recent rise in wholesale prices has had knock-on effects in many non-commodity costs within consumer bills, some of which will be baked into charges for several years to come In...
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Energy storage and flexibility
State of Storage: Investigating battery profit for NEM states
It has been an interesting year for Australian energy markets, facing unprecedentedly high energy prices, coal outages, and market suspension. In today’s Chart of the week, we will investigate the impact a BESS would have made during FY 2022. Using Cornwall Insight Australia’s battery simulation model, we simulated a stand-alone...
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Home supply and services
Market share shifts: Octopus Energy’s acquisition of Bulb accelerates growth
On Saturday 29 October BEIS confirmed it had approved the transfer of Bulb’s 1.5mn customers, as well as 650 employees, to Octopus Energy. In this week's 'Chart of the Week', we look back over time at the two suppliers and the growth Octopus Energy has seen through organic means and...
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Power and gas networks
The Quest of the Ring: Will the Sydney Ring of Power unlock commercial viability of renewables?
With the development of Renewable Energy Zones (REZs), the need for transmission augmentation arises to unlock the transfer of energy from Renewable Energy Zones to major load centres. This may subsequently increase the commercial viability of renewable generators within the Renewable Energy Zones, for example, by reducing plants’ technical curtailments...
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Energy storage and flexibility
It’s My Birthday – Two years of Dynamic Containment
October marks two years since the launch of the frequency response service, Dynamic Containment (DC). Its inception was the first in the roll out of new faster-acting frequency response services, accompanied by Dynamic Moderation (DM) and Dynamic Regulation (DR) earlier this year. In this week's 'Chart of the Week', we...
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Commercial and market outlook
A taste of freedom for renewables with syncons in South Australia
Today wind capacity in South Australia stands at 2500MW, contributing to almost 40% of the energy generation in the state. This is in addition to utility-scale solar and rooftop PV, which contribute 4% and 15% of total generation in SA, respectively. With such a high level of variable renewable energy...
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Regulation and policy
Adjustments to the Energy Bill Relief Scheme
In October, the government announced a number of adjustments to the Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS) for non-domestic consumers. In this week’s 'Chart of the week', we look at the impact of the maximum discount on those businesses that have been unable to fix their energy costs.
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Commercial and market outlook
Selling out the ARENA – how grants for renewables have changed over time
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) was one of those rare institutions that managed to survive the political energy battles over the last decade. Initially established in 2012, ARENA has dispensed over $1.9b in funding to date to support renewable technologies, often at the ‘pre-commercial’ stage. The ARENA funding gives...
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Energy storage and flexibility
Record renewables pipeline: will investors reconsider after UK proposes green revenue cap?
News this week that the UK government is mulling over a cap on green generation revenues comes at a time when our research finds that the investment pipeline for electricity renewables generation is the highest it has ever been. In our Renewables Pipeline Tracker (RPT) service we analyse the growing...
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Low carbon generation
Loy Yang A closure: How much VRE and firming capacity is required to cover peak hours?
AGL has accelerated the closure of the Loy Yang A power station for the second time in 2022, a few days after the Victorian government announced a target of 2.6 GW storage by 2030, increasing to 6.3 GW storage by 2035. According to the AGL announcement, released on 29 September,...
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Energy storage and flexibility
National Grid outlines Winter Demand and Supply scenarios
National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO) and National Grid Gas both published their respective 2022-23 Winter Outlook reports on 6 October. The reports are published at a time of unprecedented flux both domestically and aboard, largely stemming from the Russian invasion of Ukraine earlier this year. In this week's 'Chart...
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Commercial and market outlook
Boulevard of Broken Plants: Can NSW reserves handle non-Green Days?
It’s been easy to get caught up in all the news from the Victoria and Queensland governments proposing record-setting funding and environmental targets by 2030 and 2035, along with the news of AGL bringing forward the closure of Loy Yang A. This signals that energy transition is now well and...
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Commercial and market outlook
EV uptake set to transform the grid in the Australia – but how much?
Electric vehicles (EVs) are slowly becoming more popular in Australia, with new car sales increased during the last two years. Although Australia is behind in EV deployment compared to other countries, Federal and state governments have taken serious steps to accelerate EV uptake. Therefore, EVs could play a significant role...
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Energy storage and flexibility
Unlocking REMA: emerging market views
Recent market events have continued to highlight the challenges of the energy trilemma, specifically the need to decarbonise the energy system while ensuring energy security and affordability. The government announced in April 2022 it would be undertaking a Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA) to address these issues, and in...
