EU perspectives on the energy transition

As part of its Market Design Initiative the European Union is currently consulting on changes to its Internal Electricity Market (IEM) - the long held ambition of an integrated, trans-national electricity infrastructure and trading zone. At the heart of the debate about IEM is a tension between the ideal of a fully harmonised pan-European market, where prices closely reflect the marginal costs of generation and transport in particular network locations regardless of national jurisdiction, and the right of states to influence the energy mix in their countries in line with their own national policy priorities.

Through an examination of the UK, and with some reference to the German case, EU Centre Visiting Fellow Dr. Ronan Bolton argues rather conforming to the economic ideal, electricity market redesign processes are strongly influenced by historical path dependencies and the politics of energy technology choice in countries and regions. Conceptual insights from Science, Technology and Innovation Studies (STIS) are drawn upon to characterise electricity market redesign a complex, socio-technical and multi-scalar process. Assoc. Prof. Malte Meinshausen, Director of the Australian-German Climate and Energy College will chair the seminar.

This will be followed by a discussion led by Dr. Fjalar de Haan, Convenor of the ASTRA Network, and a presentation by Mr. Josh Floyd, Director of the Understandascope, who will consider the implications of exploratory modelling for feasibility assessment.  

This seminar is presented by the EU Centre on Shared Complex Challenges in collaboration with the Australian-German Climate and Energy College and the ASTRA Network.