The Pain: SEM prices get low

It is easy to forget that this weekend is Easter where a large part of the country will have a 4-day weekend.  This year the demand levels are still trending down as restrictions due to COVID-19 become ever tighter. So what will this mean for the electricity generators?

This week’s blog takes a look at what could become the norm this summer, with the electricity industry having to pay people to take power.

Related thinking

Low carbon generation

Week-on-week day-ahead power price losses in the SEM

The first reported week of February 2022 recorded week-on-week day-ahead power price losses in the SEM. Source: SEMO/Cornwall Insight Ireland Despite recent week-on-week price losses, day-ahead power prices remain significantly higher than the prices observed in the opening week of February last year, currently out turning 171.0% higher. Day-ahead power...

Home supply and services

The risks of short-term interventions distorting long-term incentives in the energy market

Christmas 2021 was not a time of cheer for the energy industry and its customers. There is acute stress on energy suppliers and consumers from current bills - let alone where they may move to in the coming year. And it seems the political and regulatory debate has moved on...

Energy storage and flexibility

The new face of frequency response – 1 year of Dynamic Containment

In October 2020, National Grid Electricity System Operator (NGESO) implemented the soft-launch of the Dynamic Containment (DC) service, the first in a new suite of faster-acting frequency response services. Since its launch, the DC service has been the most lucrative response service and has grown considerably in the past year....

Heat networks

Heat and buildings strategy: Key points

On 19 October, the government released the Heat and Buildings strategy outlining how the government will tackle the decarbonisation of the built environment to help meet the UK net zero ambition. Our experts have taken a quick look at the strategy and highlighted the key points. Heating The strategy makes...

Home supply and services

Shaken, not stirred: The fate of the supply market

This Energy market perspective was taken from our Energy Spectrum publication on 4 October 2021. To find out more about a free trial to Energy Spectrum, find out more here or contact Robert on r.buckley@cornwall-insight.com. As we enter the winter 2021-22 trading season, the energy supply market remains in intense...

Home supply and services

Rocketing energy prices and failing suppliers—what is happening?

Sky high gas prices and energy suppliers going out of business have been key headlines in the news over recent weeks, but what is actually happening?  Through the COVID-19 pandemic we saw much lower gas prices, which have been surging upwards since the spring and risen rapidly through the summer, a time...

Business supply and services

Have we given up on competition in the retail market?

“Q: How does 2pm on Wednesday sound? A: Assuming we still have a functioning energy market that'd be great”.  It’s not really what you expect to see in an email at 5pm on a Friday when trying to arrange a call. But then these are certainly not normal times. In this Energy Perspective, we will...

Power and gas networks

Electricity and gas tariffs on the rise in Ireland

The majority of energy suppliers in the Republic of Ireland have enacted several price rises in one or both electricity and gas tariffs. Figures collated by Eurostat show in the latter half of 2020, Ireland already ranked fourth highest for electricity prices in the EU and seventh highest for gas...