In this week’s Energy Perspective, we set out the main developments in the GB Capacity Market since the November 2018 ruling by the European Court of Justice that led to its suspension including, most recently, the European Commission’s confirmation it is to undertake a full investigation into the scheme.
The business case outlined by a new report on marine energy – funding innovation through corporate PPAs with offsetting tax credits for buyers and, as it becomes established, more standardised Contracts for Difference support – would be complex to administer and would require new transparency rules. In this week’s Policy section, we find some interesting ideas in the report, produced by the UK Marine Energy Council and Scottish Renewables, but there are clearly several hurdles to utilising the “world leading” UK wave and tidal power sectors it describes.
As the Balancing Services Use of System (BSUoS) Taskforce continues to investigate possible changes into balancing services charges we see little surprise in its conclusions that BSUoS is not a cost reflective charge. Not least because it’s an opinion consistent with previous industry workstreams that have considered the matter. This week, in our Regulation section, we analyse further the progress of the Taskforce.
Continuing our rundown of the annual results of the larger suppliers, this week’s Industry Structure section analyses E.ON’s numbers, published on 13 March. The business has been repositioning across Europe and looking to develop its more consumer-facing strategy and, in headline terms, it appears that networks and renewables are driving profit growth. However, we also find that, while E.ON’s retail businesses outside GB are also growing, the squeeze from increasing competition and the introduction of price caps look to be taking their toll in GB.
Cornwall Insight’s retail team reviews the way that white label energy suppliers have evolved in the market in this week’s Nutwood. We are approaching 21 years since the official date originally slated for opening the domestic electricity market in GB (1 April) and the team finds that, while much has changed since, the white label model has remained relatively consistent.