Blog edited by Professor Lévêque

EU Energy Policy Blog

• Decarbonization and Cost Reduction: Lost in Transmissions?
  A quick overview of European energy policy over the past 15 years shows that rationales for interconnections have evolved as new concerns have reinforced their importance. Originally they were seen as an instrumental part of the liberalization process. They are now considered as key to move renewable electricity across Europe. One immediate implication is that [...]
  
  
• Offshore grids: standalone lines versus combined solutions
  Grids are already developing offshore, and this development will continue even though at what pace and how they will develop is still uncertain. Indeed, there are different possible configurations for a future offshore grid: it can be a simple multiplication of standalone lines that provide each a single service (either connection of generation, or connection [...]
  
  
• Durban: The End of the Annex I/Non-Annex I Distinction
  One outcome of the recent Durban climate negotiations is a non-binding agreement to reach an agreement by 2015 that will bring all countries under the same legal regime by 2020. This “Durban Platform for Enhanced Action” – has opened an important window. To explain what I mean requires a brief review of some key points [...]
  
  
• Is the nuclear phase-out a financially viable option for France?
  Could Fukushima put an end to the French exception? Everybody in France is now talking about, and arguing for or against, a prospective nuclear phase-out. Political Candidates running for the next presidency defend their affirmative or negative position on this issue with figures published in several recent studies assessing the investment costs of an eventual [...]
  
  
• The effects of Fukushima on the construction of new nuclear power plants
  The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s forecasts can be used as a pre-fukushima baseline scenario. They use the year 2035 as their terminal year. This is unfortunate and potentially misleading. Many existing nuclear plants (essentially all existing U.S. plants) will retire within a few years after 2035, even if they are able to secure 20-year license [...]
  
  
• Planning new transmission lines in EU and US: a tragedy of the anticommons ?
  Huge investments in new transmission power lines are required on both sides of the Atlantic in the next two decades. Financial, technological and regulatory uncertainties jeopardise their timely implementation. The European Commission (EC) and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) have recently started to design a more favourable regulatory framework. Will they succeed? And do [...]
  
  
• Why Did The Lights Go Out In South Korea?
  South Korea’s rapid ascent to join the ranks of the developed economies of the world has been nothing short of miraculous. With a per capita GDP of $31,750, its citizens make more than the average European, based on purchasing power parity (PPP), a fact that surprises many. In stark contrast to its improvised neighbor to [...]
  
  
• Nuclear reactors in highly populated areas and high seismic hazards zones
  Immediately following the earthquake and tsunami residents within 20 kilometers (km) (12. 4 miles) of Fukushima Dai-ichi were evacuated and those between 20 and 30 km (12.4 to 18.6 miles) were advised to remain in their homes as shelter or voluntarily evacuate. Subsequently, the Japanese government considered extending the evacuation zone to 30 km but [...]
  
  
• Are Renewables Worth The Subsidies?
  There is little disagreement that, with a few exceptions, renewable energy technologies tend to be more expensive than conventional options, especially considering their intermittent and unpredictable nature, which often requires backup generation or storage. Their main selling point is that they are non- or significantly less polluting. Renewables gain comparative advantage if a price were [...]
  
  
• Europe’s Green Energy Chaos
  The European Union is wracked by sovereign debt, budget deficits, monetary weakness, slow economic growth, trade deficits with the Emerging economies, an ageing population, and mass unemployment – but it has the supposedly proud role of world leader in Green Energy Transition. The main goal of this is reducing dependence on fossil fuels and increasing [...]