Benchmark power curve

  • Press Releases

    Ageing power plants forecast to drive up grid supply costs until end of decade

    New forecasts from Cornwall Insight’s Power Curve Report show that the price paid to electricity generators to maintain a stable electricity supply in the UK will remain at least £51 per kilowatt (kW) annually until the end of the decade. Substantially higher than the current £18kW rates. Ageing power plants...

  • Press Releases

    Coal exit and workforce shortages keep short-term power prices high

    The ongoing phase-out of coal facilities and the sluggish progress in launching new renewable energy projects, partly due to shortages in the skilled workforce, are poised to push electricity prices higher until 2030 as the next tranche of coal units retires. The latest NEM Benchmark Power Curve report from Cornwall...

  • Press Releases

    Irish power prices expected to drop as gas storage levels remain high

    New forecasts from Cornwall Insight’s SEM Benchmark Power Price Curve indicate power prices are set to fall in 2024-25. Power prices are expected to drop from an average €106 per MWh during the previous 2023-24 fiscal year, to €91 per MWh over the 2024-2025 fiscal year, marking a 14% decrease....

  • Press Releases

    Power price projections fall amid high European gas stocks

    The latest projections from Cornwall Insight's Q1 Power Curve suggest that the recent drop in power prices is here to stay, extending all the way to the end of the decade. The new data shows a striking decline in projected prices, which bodes well for both households and businesses, offering...

  • Press Releases

    GB power prices to remain high despite drop in short-term forecasts

    Cornwall Insight have cut their short-term power market price forecast by 12%, with average costs for 2024 now predicted to be £113 per MWh1. The decrease in electricity price predictions is attributed to the higher than expected gas reserves in Europe, lowering fears of shortages this winter. The data, included...

  • Press Releases

    Government’s offshore wind shortfall could delay net zero

    A new report forecasting the energy generation mix out to 2030, has calculated the government will miss its 50GW offshore wind capacity target, with potential consequences for net zero.   Modelling from Cornwall Insight, included in its quarterly GB Benchmark Power Curve report, forecasts offshore wind capacity will increase from...

  • Media Mentions

    City AM| Energy Bill Support

    Our Principal Consultant Dr Craig Lowrey spoke in City AM on the financial relief that the government and wider industry should be looking to provide consumers, given energy bills were predicted to stabilise well above pre-energy crisis levels. He also emphasised that the government needed to keep a focus on...

  • Media Mentions

    The Times| Long-term energy forecasts

    The Times featured our Benchmark Power Curve forecast, revealing that energy prices were projected to remain elevated until the late 2030s, as stated by Tom Edwards, Senior Modeller at Cornwall Insight. In his conversation with The Times, Edwards explained that factors such as escalating power demand, growing exports, and dependence...

  • Press Releases

    New forecast warns power prices to remain elevated until late 2030s

    Cornwall Insight has unveiled its latest GB Power Market Outlook to 2030, revealing that power prices in Great Britain will not shift below pre-2022 levels until the late 2030s. The report cites the surging demand for power as the main driver behind this trend, as the move to electric heating...

  • Press Releases

    Increase in Irish exports raises long-term power price projections

    Cornwall Insight has raised its long-term predictions for power prices in Ireland as a projected rise in interconnector exports and reduced imports pushes up demand and costs. Ireland’s first 2023 - ‘All-Island Power Market Outlook to 2030’ – which looks at data modelled in the first quarter of the year,...

  • Press Releases

    Delays to onshore wind investment increase long-term power prices

    Note: Cornwall Insight Ireland release the 'All-Island Power Market Outlook 2023' on a quarterly basis. The increase in long-term power prices refers to the comparison with our Q3 Power Market Outlook released in October 2022. Data from Cornwall Insight Ireland’s fourth - ‘All-Island Power Market Outlook to 2030’ – has...

  • Press Releases

    Average power prices to remain elevated for the next three years

    Data from Cornwall Insight Australia’s Benchmark Power Curve (BPC)1 has forecast that from 2026, power prices in a neutral/base scenario will be, on average, ~$60-$100/MWh across all states in the National Electricity Market (NEM). This aligns with ~$40-80/MWh levels seen during 2021. The BPC has, however, forecast that the annual...

  • Press Releases

    Offshore wind crucial to stabilising the UK energy market 

    Data from Cornwall Insight included in our third 2022 - GB Power Market Outlook to 2030 - has forecast a drop in prices from late 2023, as gas prices fall from current peaks. Later in the decade, renewables play a key role in the levelling out of prices despite increased...

  • Media Mentions

    Guardian| Hydrogen could add costs to household bills

    Cornwall Insight warned that using hydrogen for domestic heating could be very expensive, with the Guardian reporting on our joint report with renewable energy charity MCS Foundation. Our Senior Consultant Jitendra Patel, spoke on why it is simply uneconomical to use 100% hydrogen for household energy. Guardian

  • Media Mentions

    Politics East| Energy Price Guarantee

    Our CEO Gareth Miller was a guest on Politics East, discussing the new Energy Price Guarantee and what this means for domestic and non-domestic consumers. Politics East

  • Media Mentions

    Telegraph| Energy Bill Relief Scheme

    Our Head of Relationship Development Robert Buckley spoke to the Telegraph on the newly announced energy bill support for businesses. He warned that while the short-term fix was welcome, the government must make longer-term reform of the energy industry a priority. Telegraph

  • Media Mentions

    Current+| Business energy crisis could raise inequality

    A paper by Cornwall Insight warned of the inequality that increasing energy costs could cause, with industries typically included in the government's levelling up agenda being the worst hit. Naomi Potter, a Lead Analyst at Cornwall Insight, called for intervention by the government to lower costs and protect small and...

  • Media Mentions

    Independent| Decade of higher energy bills

    Senior Modeller Tom Edwards, spoke on our Benchmark Power Curve which forecast power costs to be above pre-2021 levels for the next decade. However the dip in power prices from 2024 up to 2030, shows that markets and governments are investing in renewables as a response to the current higher...

  • Press Releases

    Investment in renewable pushes power price projections down but they remain above the pre-2021 average for next decade

    Cornwall Insight’s latest - GB Power Market Outlook to 2030 – has shown greater investment in renewables by nations across the continent, which has resulted in lower price projections in GB from 2024 up until 2030. This is compared with our first report, published three months ago. Renewable investment has increased largely as...

  • Press Releases

    Energy prices across Australia to remain high until 2026

    Research from Cornwall Insight Australia’s Benchmark Power Curve (BPC)1, which looks at power prices up until 2042, has forecast that all states in the National Electricity Market (NEM) will have an annual median price of around $200/MWh, up until FY2025. These high prices are expected to feed into bills over...

  • Press Releases

    Energy prices to remain significantly above average up to 2030 and beyond

    Research from Cornwall Insight looking at Great Britain’s (GB) Power Market out to 2030 has shown energy prices will remain in excess of £100/MWh annually. This is significantly above the five year pre-2021 historic average of £50/MWh in Winter and the even lower prices in pre-2021 Summer. Cornwall Insight’s Benchmark...

  • Press Releases

    New funding mechanism essential to increasing nuclear capacity in the UK

    A new funding mechanism for the nuclear sector, the Regulated Asset Base (RAB) model, has the potential to increase the UK’s nuclear capacity to 24GW over the next 30 years, according to Cornwall Insight’s Benchmark Power Curve (BPC). A significant rise when compared with the 6.7GW that is likely to...

  • Media Mentions

    Current+| Volatile energy prices

    Current+ reported on Cornwall Insight’s Benchmark Power Curve, which forecasts that volatile wholesale energy prices could continue into 2030 and beyond. Tom Edwards, Senior Modelling Consultant, explained that low nuclear and coal assets, coupled with an overreliance on imported energy could leave the UK vulnerable to variable pricing. A greater...

  • Press Releases

    Volatile energy prices set to continue into 2030

    Research from Cornwall Insight has shown that conditions could be in place for volatile wholesale energy prices to continue into 2030 and beyond, unless the UK develops a long-term strategy to cope with changes in energy production and unstable economic, geopolitical, and ecological systems. Cornwall Insight’s Benchmark Power Curve, which...

  • Press Releases

    Cornwall Insight Australia develops a 5-minute model for Benchmark Power Curve

    Cornwall Insight Australia has developed a 5-minute model for their Benchmark Power Curve (BPC), improving the granularity of their price forecasts from 30 minutes to 5 minutes dispatch for the first five years of the 30-year forecast. Cornwall Insight Australia’s BPC helps market participants understand trends in future prices and...

  • Press Releases

    EVs are predicted to increase electricity demand by 71.6TWh

    The latest figures from Cornwall Insight’s ‘Benchmark power curve’ forecasts that by 2040 EVs will contribute an additional 71.6TWh, this is a massive 31 times higher than the current level of demand for electricity from electrified transport and 25% of current annual demand which stands at 299TWh (excluding losses). According...

  • Press Releases

    High wholesale prices and negative pricing events forecasted to grow

    Research from Cornwall Insight’s Benchmark Power Curve, which forecasts the power market to 2045 under different net zero scenarios, highlights volatility in the wholesale power market is set to increase. Its central case scenario predicts that the standard deviation of hourly wholesale prices could reach £41.8/MWh by 2030. In the...

  • Press Releases

    Great Britain could become net exporter of power by 2040s

    Interconnection with EU nations, regardless of trading arrangements post-Brexit, will continue to play a pivotal role in driving wholesale power prices and system flexibility in the future. Modelling of the GB and EU markets by Cornwall Insight shows that increased interconnection through the 2020s and 2030s could provide a route...

  • Press Releases

    Forecasts show 46 GW increase of renewables technology capacity required by 2030

    Forecasts from Cornwall Insight’s ‘Benchmark power curve’ suggests that up to ~46GW of new build renewable technology  ̶ ~11GW onshore wind, ~10GW solar and ~25GW offshore wind  ̶  may need to be developed by 2030 to keep pace with 2050 net zero targets. This large-scale deployment of very low/zero marginal...

  • Press Releases

    Can market driven subsidy-free PPAs deliver deeper, wider decarbonisation?

    In a week in which the prospect of legislating for net-zero is again in the headlines, a solid prospectus for delivering deeper and wider power sector decarbonisation has never been more critical. A positive outcome of the closure of subsidy schemes has been the way in which resilient and adaptable...