Cornwall Insight CEO Gareth Miller presented at the Westminster Energy and Environment: Priorities for energy security in the UK conference on 9 May.
He argued that there is a new “missing money” problem. On a national scale Miller stated that we have sufficient capacity to meet consumer demand. However, as the sector becomes increasingly decentralised, the question of energy security shifts from nameplate capacity of large power stations to procurement of flexibility and the local network’s capability to deliver. This is important as a number of adjacent sectors including heat and transport become increasingly reliant on electricity.
Miller also said the technological advancements and innovations facilitating this progression are occurring at a blistering pace, but the opportunities they offer need to be borne through into the market arrangements. And so the concept that the GB power sector has been successfully modernised is wrong. GB policy makers can’t entirely move their gaze to heat and transport as they still have a lot of work to do ensuring that market arrangements and underlying code governance for electricity are fit for the future. This is circular, in that it will in turn be impacted by how heat and transport products are designed, managed and regulated.
