So much happened last year within the world of energy and blogs are meant to be short, aren’t they… However here are my thoughts in brief…
Energy markets
That spell of inclement weather aka ‘The Beast from the East’ certainly put the wind up the energy markets. National Grid issued a ‘Request for additional gas supplies’ or in Layman’s terms ‘HELP, we will pay whatever we have to for extra gas'. The bottom line was that having bumbled along at around 55p/Therm in early 2018 the day ahead price spiked at 203p/Therm on the 01 March. Although it settled down again surprisingly quickly, the forward price for winter 2018 climbed steadily through the year on the back of rising oil prices, peaking at around 75p/Therm in October but has fallen back since then with the day ahead prices around the 65p/Therm mark. With electricity being closely linked to the price of gas it followed suit.
Renewable Heat Incentive
I forget how many different date changes to the RHI legislation were meant to kick in but they eventually did on 22 May, so there was the inevitable rush of applications. To find out more take a look at https://www.fec-energy.co.uk/news/rhi-regulations-come-force-today
Embedded generators – TRIAD income going
With a value of up to £50,000 per MW of generation, the loss of this income stream was a big deal for many of our clients. Whilst the writing had been on the wall for some time, OFGEM put the final nail in the coffin on the 22 June. More info here
Renewable energy records set almost daily
Through the summer barely a day went by when one record or another was broken:
- Most electricity ever from PV
- Days on end when no electricity at all was generated from coal
New energy suppliers
The Government wants us all to switch energy suppliers more often, forcing the ‘big six’ to compete harder for our business. According to OFGEM, in June there were 73 suppliers competing for domestic customers. Good news? Well, I have lost count of how many have gone into Administration in recent months. A little known fact is that some of the debts they leave behind have to be picked up by the remaining suppliers, and guess what, that ends up on your/my energy bill eventually. A bit of horse – stable – bolted going on but OFGEM has at last decided they maybe ought to check out companies applying for a supply license a bit more closely…..
Capacity Market
This is all about proving stability and security of electricity supply in the UK. Read more here...
Then, out of the blue, the EU court finally ruled on a case lodged in 2014 in November 2018. This brought the Capacity Market to a Standstill (literally not metaphorically).
Stay tuned for our next blog that will be my thoughts on what is meant to be happening in 2019!