Capacity remuneration mechanisms (or simply capacity mechanisms) have become a fact of life in member states' energy markets and are one of the hottest topics in the wider European regulatory debate. Concerned about the security of electricity supply, national governments are implementing subsidy schemes to encourage investment in conventional power generation capacity, alongside already heavily subsidized renewable energy sources. With the increasingly connected European electricity markets, the introduction of a capacity mechanism in one country not only tends to distort its national market but may also have unforeseeable consequences for neighbouring electricity markets. As these mechanisms are adopted by member states with limited supra-national coordination as well as consideration for the cross-border impact, they tend to cause serious market distortions and put the future of the European internal electricity market at risk. This second edition will take stock of how capacity mechanisms have actually worked so far and consider the consequences they have for the European internal electricity market. It will include a detailed overview of national capacity mechanisms, their implications for the EU internal market, and will outline the nature of market failures which are likely to occur in the European electricity markets. This edition is intended to serve as a point of reference for regulators and policy-makers on how to design optimal capacity mechanisms in Europe. It will be an invaluable resource for anyone interested in energy market design, regulation, and competition issues.

This consultation document seeks views on proposals for implementing the key mechanisms under electricity market reform (EMR) - the Contracts for Difference (CfDs), the Capacity Market, and associated institutional and delivery arrangements. A package of draft secondary legislation is included to help illustrate the proposals. EMR is the Government's response to the challenges facing the electricity sector: a fifth of 2011 capacity has to close over the next ten years; the need to transform the generation mix to respond to climate change and to meet legally-binding carbon and renewable targets; the expectation that electricity demand will continue to increase over the coming decades. An estimated £110 billion investment is required over the next 10 years. CfDs will provide long-term revenue stabilisation to low-carbon plant, allowing investment to come forward at a lower cost of capital. The Capacity Market will provide a regular retainer payment to reliable forms of capacity (both demand and supply side), in return for such capacity being available when electricity supply is being squeezed. The National Grid will be the delivery body for EMR. The key mechanisms will be supported by: carbon price floor, a tax underpinning the price of carbon emissions in the UK; emissions performance standard, a regulatory backstop to the amount of CO2 emissions from new fossil-fuel power stations; action to promote electricity demand reduction; Ofgem's measures to improve wholesale market liquidity. The Energy Bill currently progressing through Parliament will introduce the powers to implement EMR.

The Government is putting in place policies aimed at driving down energy bills for consumers, reducing input costs for industry, cutting carbon emissions and contributing to a more competitive economy. Electricity demand reduction (EDR) measures are a crucial part of delivering potential. Already developed policies include the flagship Green Deal and new domestic Energy Company Obligation. These, together with the deployment of smart meters, are expected to reduce electricity consumption by nearly 6.5TWh by 2030. In addition, the Green Investment Bank will support access to finance and, in time, audits required under the new EU energy efficiency directive will further reduce demand. However, the Department believes that above and beyond existing policies, it should be possible to reduce demand even further. If a 10% electricity demand reduction could be achieved, this could result in electricity system costs savings in the region of £4 billion in 2030. This consultation opens up a range of options to unlock the energy savings that are currently embedded in the system and seeks views on a number of market-wide financial incentives. Publishing simultaneously to the consultation are a consultation summary document (Cm. 8492, ISBN 9780101849227); Electricity market reform policy overview (Cm. 8498, ISBN 9780101849821); Energy security strategy (Cm 8466, ISBN 9780101846622); Annual energy statement 2012 (Cm. 8456, ISBN 9780101845625); and Statutory security of supply report (HC 688, session 2012-13 ISBN 9780102980691)

The Annual Energy Statement 2013 sets out the government's priorities in delivering the UK's energy policies in the near term: helping households and businesses take control of their energy bills and keep their costs down; unlocking investment in the UK's infrastructure that will support economic growth; playing a leading role in efforts to secure international action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and tackle climate change. It presents plans to make switching simpler and quicker, and a new probe into energy firms' accounts, to make them more transparent on profits and prices, as well as increasing penalties for market manipulation and regularly checking that the market is working properly

Dated May 2013

Green communications is a very hot topic. As mobile networks evolve in terms of higher rates/throughput, a consequent impact on operating costs is due to (aggregate) network energy consumption. As such, design on 4G networks and beyond have increasingly started to focus on `energy efficiency’ or so-called ‘green’ networks. Many techniques and solutions have been proposed to enhance the energy efficiency of mobile networks, yet no book has provided an in-depth analysis of the energy consumption issues in mobile networks nor has detailed theories, tools and solutions for solving the energy efficiency problems. This book presents the techniques and solutions for enhancing energy efficiency of future mobile networks, and consists of three major parts. The first part presents a general description of mobile network evolution in terms of both capacity and energy efficiency. The second part discusses the advanced techniques to green mobile networks. The third part discusses the solutions that enhance mobile network energy efficiency as well as provides future directions. Whilst the reader is expected to have basic knowledge of wireless communications, the authors present a brief introduction of the evolution of mobile networks, providing the knowledge base for understanding the content of the book. In addition, complicated network problems are illustrated using simple examples. This will help the reader understand the concept and intuition of various techniques and solutions. Incorporates the latest research results from both academia and industry, providing an up-to-date overview of existing technologies and solutions on making mobile networks greener Consists of three sections with a gradually increasing technical depth on green mobile networks, providing the reader with a systematic view of the research area, and helping those with different technical backgrounds to better understand the content Covers existing enabling technologies for green mobile networking, including an innovative discussion of state-of-the-art solutions and algorithms

Dated November 2012