Energy Spectrum

  • Commercial and market outlook

    Ofgem outlines thinking on protecting credit balances and RO payments

    This article is an extract from our Energy Spectrum publication issued on Monday 25 April. If you are interested in receiving critical policy, regulatory, market and transactional developments across the energy sector, and would like a free full sample of Energy Spectrum, please request a copy here. You only need...

  • Home supply and services

    “Green” tariffs in the spotlight as BEIS commences review

    With the announcement on 16 August of a call for evidence on Designing a Framework for Transparency of Carbon Content in Energy Products, consultant Josephine Lord looks at the issues being considered and what the future may hold for so-called “green” tariffs. The call for evidence is the first step...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    How nuclear energy can help the UK reach its net zero goals

    This article was originally written in Energy Spectrum on 21 March 2021. To find out more about a subscription to Energy Spectrum, please contact Nick on n.palmer@cornwall-insight.com. There are several challenges to reaching net zero, where its proponents believe nuclear could add value. Some of tomorrow’s main issues concern: How to provide low...

  • Announcement

    Introducing Energy Spectrum Europe

    Cornwall Insight is pleased to announce the launch of Energy Spectrum Europe. This new addition to the Energy Spectrum stable will provide the authoritative, independent insight and analysis of energy markets for which its peers covering Great Britain, Ireland and Australia are rightly renowned. Every month Energy Spectrum Europe will...

  • Commercial and market outlook

    A look back at 2020

    As we take our first steps into 2021, we look back at the biggest developments in the UK energy markets in 2020, setting us up for the significant year ahead. As 2019 turned into 2020, we were still waiting for the Energy White Paper (EWP), a document which had been...

  • Announcement

    15 years on…

    2020 marks 15 years since the inception of Cornwall Insight. Take a look at the infographic to see how the UK energy economy and Cornwall Insight have changed.

  • Commercial and market outlook

    The PM’s 10-point plan: Further thoughts from our Energy Spectrum webinar

    In our regular Energy Spectrum webinar on Tuesday 24 November, Senior Writer Nick Palmer and Head of Relationship Development Robert Buckley discussed the government’s 10-point plan for a green industrial revolution. They considered what has led to this point, what is in the plan, what the reaction was to it...

  • Announcement

    15 years of Energy Spectrum and the Daily Bulletin

    We have just passed a notable landmark with the 15th anniversary of the launch of the Energy Spectrum Service. Things started with the first Daily Bulletin on 13 September 2005 – the main news on that day was E.ON UK applying for planning to build a CCGT at Drakelow. It...

  • Business supply and services

    Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose: the RO late payment deadline

    Today (11 November 2020) Ofgem has confirmed that there will be mutualisation of the 2019-20 Renewables Obligation. On Monday, in our 'Energy Spectrum' Perspective, we explained to customer’s why this was important and likely and what it means for the energy industry. Find out more about a free trial to Energy...

  • Commercial and market outlook

    BEIS opens consultation on CfD payment deferral

    BEIS launched a consultation on a proposal to defer to Q121 part of the increase in electricity suppliers' obligations for Q220 for the Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme. Launched on 12 May, the consultation is a follow up to the decision BEIS took on 24 April to provide a one-off...

  • Low carbon generation

    RESS-1 application closing date is further extended

    With a lot of uncertainty around the impacts of COVID-19 on global supply chains and renewable project delivery we are starting to see the effects in the Irish Energy market, notably the announcement that prequalification for the Renewable Energy Support Scheme in Ireland will be extended. In December 2019, the...

  • Commercial and market outlook

    A new playbook for the GB wholesale markets

    With the effects of COVID-19 permeating all parts of the energy value chain, in this week’s Energy Perspective our Wholesale Manager, James Brabben, takes a look at how it is impacting wholesale pricing and the electricity generation fleet, both now and, potentially, in the long term. Order of play We...

  • Commercial and market outlook

    Editor’s Pick | Ofgem delays Transmission Demand Residual change to 2022

    The regulator has accepted a request by National Grid ESO (NGESO) to replace the current CUSC proposal to implement the Targeted Charging Review (TCR) decision for a fixed residual transmission network use of system (TNUoS). A new implementation date of 1 April 2022 will replace 1 April 2021. NGESO submitted...

  • Regulation and policy

    Editor’s Pick | BEIS announces new measures to protect PPM customers

    New measures are being introduced to protect prepayment meter (PPM) customers during the Covid-19 outbreak, BEIS announced on 19 March. PPM customers, who may not be able to add credit can speak to their supplier about options to keep them supplied. This could include nominating a third party for credit top...

  • Low carbon generation

    Editor’s Pick | The green shoots of the Capacity Market auctions

    A pivotal year for the Capacity Market (CM) draws to a close, with the first long-term auctions for capacity since 2018. But for once the CM is the least interesting thing happening in the market, and the scheme itself seems out of step with the net zero future. In this Energy...

  • Commercial and market outlook

    Editor’s Pick | The costs of the net zero transition

    This article was originally published in Energy Spectrum Issue 705 on 9 March 2020. For recent news and analysis on the energy market, find out more about our weekly publication, Energy Spectrum, here. As the scale of the net zero challenge becomes clearer, Cornwall Insight Non-Executive Director Sonia Brown considers how the UK...

  • Low carbon generation

    Editor’s Pick | A marathon and a sprint? What next for onshore renewables?

    This article was originally published in Energy Spectrum Issue 702 on 17 February 2020. For recent news and analysis on the energy market, find out more about our weekly publication, Energy Spectrum, here. In this week’s Energy Perspective, we take a look at the renewables pipeline and ask whether the volume of new...

  • Commercial and market outlook

    Editor’s Pick | NAO on networks: good service, but costs too high

    The National Audit Office (NAO) has concluded that electricity networks have provided a good service, but the costs for consumers have been too high. In a report, published on 30 January, the NAO examined how effectively Ofgem has used price controls. The NAO found that consumers in GB experience fewer power...

  • Commercial and market outlook

    Energy policy in 2019 – net zero and no White Paper

    2019 was the year in which we were promised that the Energy White Paper would be published, with “early summer” the proposed release time. Then, on 12 June, Theresa May, as one of her final acts as Prime Minister, announced legislation to commit the UK to achieving net zero greenhouse...

  • Commercial and market outlook

    Editor’s Pick | Letter on America: Massachusetts and Clean Peak

    This article was originally published in Energy Spectrum Issue 691 on 18 November 2019. The energy policy narrative in Great Britain has treated incentivisation of renewables and flexible resources as separate activities, with inevitable lags and imperfect scaling of system flexibility to meet the new system demands created by variable, low carbon...

  • Regulation and policy

    Editor’s Pick | From little acorns: Ofgem’s state of the market report

    This article was originally published in Energy Spectrum Issue 686 on 14 October 2019. Ofgem published its State of the Market 2019 Report on 3 October, giving us a comprehensive overview of the retail and wholesale energy markets and much more besides. Now in its third year, the report sees Ofgem diligently...

  • Low carbon generation

    Editor’s Pick | Talkin’ bout a revolution: What next for the CfD?

    This article was originally published in Energy Spectrum Issue 685 on 7 October 2019. The Contract for Difference (CfD) results for Allocation Round 3 (AR3) once again provided some striking results for the industry to ponder. In this Energy Perspective, we reflect on the success and consider what the results mean for...

  • Commercial and market outlook

    Five things we learnt from Energy Spectrum | 673

    In the week that National Grid is set to launch its 2019 Future Energy Scenarios (FES), this week’s Energy Perspective looks more closely at how new approaches could make it more attractive for small generators to connect to the transmission system. While we await with interest to see how FES treats these issues, the...

  • Commercial and market outlook

    Five things we learnt from Energy Spectrum | 672

    Our Energy Perspective this week considers how an increasingly competitive market is bringing forward new opportunities and new risks for generators, suppliers and consumers alike, as each tries to secure the best value. This was a landmark week for UK climate policy, with Parliament passing the government’s 2050 net zero legislation, Climate Change...

  • Commercial and market outlook

    Unplugged: net zero highs, but capacity market lows

    Cornwall Insight’s founder and non-executive director Nigel Cornwall is now writing a monthly review of the latest energy market developments in our weekly Energy Spectrum publication. Here is the first one.The landmark legislation of 24 June committing the government to a net zero greenhouse gas emissions target for 2050 has...

  • Commercial and market outlook

    Five things we learnt from this week’s Energy Spectrum | 671

    On 12 June the EMR Delivery Body announced that the T-1 Capacity Market auction for delivery year 2019-20 cleared at £0.77/kW – the lowest clearing price ever to be achieved in a GB capacity auction. In this week’s Energy Perspective, we pick apart the reasons behind the clearing price falling so low....

  • Commercial and market outlook

    Five things we learnt from this week’s Energy Spectrum | 670

    The government’s decision last week to legislate for a net zero carbon emissions target by 2050 is an epoch defining development for the energy sector. However, as we discuss in this week’s Energy Perspective, there is now greater expectation on the content of the upcoming White Paper to see if policy measures...

  • Commercial and market outlook

    Five things we learnt from Energy Spectrum 668

    With five of the Big Six having published their segmental accounts – breakdowns of financial performance and costs across generation and supply business areas – it is readily apparent that, in general, margins are on a downward trend. In this week’s Energy Perspective, we suggest that, while some suppliers were losing money...

  • Commercial and market outlook

    Five things we learnt from Energy Spectrum | 666

    The Labour Party’s Bringing Energy Home plan, published on 16 May, set out the party’s proposals for bringing GB’s energy networks back into public ownership. In doing so, they firmly switch the political spotlight from suppliers on to network companies and challenge the industry more generally on fairness and its own efficiency....

  • Commercial and market outlook

    Five things we learnt from Energy Spectrum | 665

    Energy UK’s Future of Energy report, published on 24 April, lays solid foundations for a industry view on the pace, cost and direction of decarbonisation across the UK economy that fits well with the recent advice on moving to a net zero emissions target. In this week’s Energy Perspective, we give out thoughts...