Increasing levels of intermittent generation around the world are prompting debates for market participants and operators about how to optimise network design and ensure appropriate regulatory and commercial arrangements. This includes the most appropriate methods for charging for networks, managing access to them and dealing with issues such as network congestion and constraint.
Despite differences in market design and characteristics, public and private stakeholders across borders and markets are grappling with similar issues. There is a ubiquitous factor, at least in nations which have adopted deep decarbonisation commitments: which relates to the scale of renewable capacity seeking to connect to networks in locations outside of those around which traditional network infrastructure has been constructed.
As a pre-eminent energy research, consulting and market intelligence business that operates in Australia, Great Britain (GB) and Ireland, we have analysed the outlook for transmission networks, and how legacy designs are shaping this, policies supporting decarbonisation and physical network realities.
In this paper, we share some of our key research findings:
- Transmission systems
- Wholesale market structure
- Generation mix
- Network charges
- Balancing the system
- Congestion and network access
