Given that wind energy is pivotal to the UK's ambitious net-zero targets, what led to no interest in the offshore wind contracts in a recent auction?

This year, Ofgem released a Call for Input (CfI) on the Future of Distributed Flexibility. Ofgem begins by introducing some of the issues which are resulting in a lower uptake of distributed flexibility on the electricity system than there ought to be.

The description of multi-sided markets has fundamentally changed the way that economists think about the boundaries of the firm. It also has dramatic implications for how entrepreneurs approach the problem of maximising firm value, as they now have to consider other product-market participants.

Since the energy price spikes and volatility in electricity markets last year, precipitated by rising wholesale gas prices, the EU Commission has looked to a reform of market design as a systematic answer to the impact of these prices on Europeans.

Last month was European Sustainability Week, which focussed on the theme ‘Going Green and Digital for Europe’s Energy Transition’. With the continuation of the conflict in Ukraine threatening the continent’s energy supply, and a commitment to decarbonisation by 2050, Europe is devoting significant attention to ensuring energy security. Despite the immediate nature of this winter’s gas crisis, however, the theme of the week demonstrated that Europe sees an opportunity to accelerate the long-term transition to clean, reliable, affordable energy.

A legacy grid design, to be simultaneously reliable, affordable, and sustainable, requires solutions from first principles innovation to be fit for purpose in a Net Zero future. The total value of the Balancing Markets more than doubled during the 2019-2021 period