Separating electricity from gas prices through Green Power Pools: Design options and evolution
Part of the series – Navigating the Energy Climate Crises*
The UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources have published its core proposition for the vital debate on reforming the British electricity market: Separating electricity from gas prices through Green Power Pools: Design options and evolution
The proposal has an immediate aim to help the most vulnerable consumers, in both households and businesses, by providing direct access to a pool of renewable energy output on an assured cost-plus basis. Specifically, as a first step, they focus on the renewables already on government-backed long-term contracts. The paper includes projections of volumes and costs based on those existing contracts.
The strategic aim, however, is to demonstrate a logical and efficient way to offer access to clean energy sources on a basis that reflects their costs, not fossil fuel prices. Those with ‘green tariffs’ will know that is not what they currently offer, but what should be offered. That is, transparency and consumer demand for clean power at a stable price should be a cornerstone for accelerating the low-carbon transition. The approach includes providing ‘firm power’ through an efficient process of complementary balancing – which is where it becomes complex but is eminently possible, as the publication demonstrates.
About this publication
This publication is released as Working Paper 4 in the UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources series Navigating the Energy-Climate Crises. It contains an Executive Summary for stakeholders interested in the policy-relevant findings of the underlying research. The main paper is also co-published as INET Working Paper #193.
Corresponding Author – Professor Michael Grubb, University College London Institute for Sustainable Resources m.grubb@ucl.ac.uk, Central House, 14 Upper Woburn Place, London WC1H 0NN
*For more information and to see the papers published so far visit the Navigating the Energy-Climate Crisis website.