Solar

  • Announcement

    What are Australia’s emissions reduction targets?

    From Cornwall Insight Australia's Energy Market Alerts service Energy laws have now been amended to incorporate an emissions reduction objective alongside the other objectives. The list of targets that the market bodies will need to consider is listed in a separately published Targets Statement. The targets currently listed cover both...

  • Announcement

    Energy prices tumble in October

    From Cornwall Insight Australia’s NEM Market Analysis report With over 700 GWh of rooftop PV added to the NEM since October last year, records were again set in NEM minimum demands along with a high instantaneous renewable penetration within the grid of 71.4%. Once again, the month’s main story was...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Emerging utility business models

    This article is from our latest Energy Spectrum and the January 2022 issue of EEnergy Informer, a newsletter edited by Fereidoon Sioshansi of Menlo Energy Economics and editor of Variable Generation, Flexible Demand. As numerous prior articles have pointed out, the traditional utility business model seems to be on its...

  • Net zero corporates and ESG

    More details required for large-scale solar rollout in EU

    Last week, our 'Financing net zero forum' gathered to discuss the role of private capital for the next wave of solar across Europe. Joining the meeting chair, Cornwall Insight's Daniel Atzori, were our guest panellists from a leading developer and the Global Infrastructure Investor Association (GIIA). With the European Commission...

  • Commercial and market outlook

    In the midst of the Australian Energy Transformation Process

    Australia is in the midst of an energy supply and distribution transformation. This transition is twofold and includes not just bridging the gap from conventional fossil fuels to renewable technologies (due to their reduced carbon footprint, lower levelized cost of energy and improved reliability levels by comparation), but also requires...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    FiT costs to reach all-time high amid COVID outbreak

    Energy Third Party Charges (TPCs) have certainly been in the limelight recently, and rightly so as less consumption from non-domestic sectors is resulting in a greater recovery of money from domestic households amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Several measures have been taken to date to protect domestic suppliers and consumers from...

  • Commercial and market outlook

    Flight of the Phoenix – could green investment point the way forward post-COVID?

    As economies around the world move from “disaster preparation” to “recovery preparation”, the low carbon and renewable sector has been earmarked as a means by which to target government support in a manner consistent with medium and long-term policy targets – such  the UK’s own net zero 2050 objectives. While...

  • Low carbon generation

    Will the neighbourhood get a windmill?

    With the Renewable Energy Support Scheme (RESS) auction scheduled to kick off this June, community projects have been given a special preference category as part of the auction design. The question remains, will this be enough to spark a change in how we develop, operate and own assets in the...

  • 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...

  • Low carbon generation

    Take That: Will solar applications see the light of RESS?

    The capacity available through the Renewable Energy Support Scheme (RESS) will see competition high as the long-awaited subsidy scheme for renewables opens its auction doors on 16 June 2020. The RESS will provide relief to new entrants offering renewable capacity, following the closure of the Renewable Energy Feed-in Tariff which...

  • Low carbon generation

    Easter weekend – a glimpse into the future for wholesale power?

    In what has previously been a rare occurrence on the GB transmission system, the minimum daytime demand dropped below night time minimum demand twice in succession over the Easter weekend, as high levels of embedded solar generation reduced the need for grid connected energy production. In this blog we look...

  • Commercial and market outlook

    Clarity on Capacity Market renewable ratings, but gap in government policy remains

    On 7 January, National Grid ESO published its consultation on the new de-rating factor methodology to be used for renewables participating in the Capacity Market (CM). The document forms a key part of the five-year review of the CM, for which a government call for evidence was published in August 2018.   In previous...

  • Low carbon generation

    As the witching hour approaches, RO mutualisation looms

    Halloween is just a week away, and it is rapidly taking on a rather other-worldly significance for suppliers. This is because Ofgem reported yesterday that, based on supplier compliance under the Renewables Obligation for 2017-18 (CP16), there has been a significant shortfall by suppliers who have not submitted ROCs and...

  • Low carbon generation

    Cornwall Insight: evaluating drivers of low-carbon investment in a subsidy free world event

    On 17 October 2018 Cornwall Insight hosted a successful and well attended event where the future of support for renewable power generation, against the backdrop of the significant gap between current deployment levels and what must be delivered to meet decarbonisation goals, was discussed. Cornwall Insight experts discussed how although...

  • Announcement

    Pixie Energy enjoys second anniversary

    Pixie Energy hosted its 2018 annual conference at Norwich Cathedral on 10 September. Members of the Pixie team gave briefings on the progress of a range of its local energy innovation projects, and we also welcomed key external speakers on the theme of market transformation. The event was organised with...

  • Low carbon generation

    House of the Rising Sun… solar’s time to shine?

    The eagerly awaited results of the first Enduring Connection Policy (ECP-1) batch application process have finally been released. This is a new system for granting connection offers for storage capacity and new generation that succeeds the previous non-Group Processing Approach (non-GPA) and “Gate” systems. The grid application process has been...

  • Low carbon generation

    Every rose has its thorn: the importance of public awareness to domestic solar PV take-up

    Minister Naughten announced that a new scheme for rooftop solar for residential customers, starting on the 31st of July. The new scheme sees a grant administered by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) for domestic solar PV installation on houses built before 2011. The pilot grant will run until 2020...

  • Commercial and market outlook

    This week’s Energy Spectrum overview | 29 May 2018

    Energy Perspective In this week’s Energy Perspective, we look ahead to this summer, a period that we believe could prove to be ground-breaking in terms of testing some long-held theories about flexible power systems. With the electricity market in rapid in transition we explore a range of emerging market phenomena...

  • Low carbon generation

    Wholesale price “cannibalisation effect” puts economics of renewables at risk

    Our research has revealed that as capacity and output from solar and windfarm projects increases in coming years, the “cannibalisation effect” is set to lower wholesale power prices to the extent that by the 2030s it could put at risk the viability of future renewables. With the withdrawal of government...

  • Low carbon generation

    Q118 FiT costs confirmed at £290mn

    Suppliers were invoiced for Q118 (January – March) Feed-in Tariff levelisation on 25 April, confirming total scheme costs for the quarter at just under £290mn. This consisted of £281.7mn in generation payments, £7.7mn in deemed export payments and £0.3mn in qualifying costs that help cover the supplier cost to administer...

  • Low carbon generation

    RO capacity climbing, for now

    As we issue our Baseline Long-term Roc Forecast for 2018, we take the opportunity to reflect on key trends seen in the renewables market and look at how the impending deadline for projects to accredit under the Renewables Obligation (RO) may impact capacity levels over the coming compliance periods (CPs)....

  • Low carbon generation

    PPA market interviews: 5 key trends in the renewables market

    As a part of Cornwall Insight’s Green Power Forecast report, we interviewed a number of suppliers, offtakers and generators in the market to identify key trends in the renewables Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) market. Here we detail five key trends that came from our interviews and research. The PPA market...