Europe has set ambitious offshore wind energy targets, aiming for nearly 500 GW of capacity by 2050, with current installations at approximately 35 GW in 2024. Most wind farms are thus yet to be developed and countries with high energy demands but limited maritime space, may be forced to overexploit their domestic wind potential. Currently, some European wind farms exhibit peak power capacity...
Procurement auctions play an essential role in securing goods or services at competitive prices. One of the key challenges, particularly prominent in renewable energy auctions, is the high uncertainty bidders face regarding future costs. To mitigate this risk, it is common practice to require certain prequalification measures prior to entering the auction (Kreiss et al., 2017). This...
The transition towards the decarbonization of energy systems means a significant shift towards electrification, which concurrently leads to increasing electricity demands and higher grid loads. On the other hand, in urban energy systems large installed capacities of PV systems on rooftops can lead to grid congestion during peak generation times, when generation exceeds local demand...
In 2022, energy producers and distributors ran into financial difficulties due to the exploding electricity and gas prices (Focus online, 2022). To mitigate price and volume risks, energy companies enter into long and short positions on the futures market (Wawer, 2022, p. 196). Margins must be deposited on the exchanges to hedge the default risk vis-à-vis the clearing house (ECC, 2022, p. 4f)....
Objectives/ scope
This paper analyses the evolution of public attitudes and acceptance of nuclear energy in the Baltic States from 2009 to 2024, a period marked by deep geopolitical and technical changes. From this concrete example, it reflects on the significant problem in communicating complex issues related to energy and its infrastructure, energy policies and plans, and technological...
The German power grid is undergoing a significant transformation driven by the increasing integration of renewable energy sources. While this shift supports decarbonization goals, it introduces substantial challenges for grid stability and congestion management. The variability of renewable generation, coupled with regional supply-demand imbalances, exacerbates flow bottlenecks and connected...
Motivation and central research question
The global energy transition requires a massive re-thinking of the ways we generate, consume, and transform energy. To achieve the set climate targets of the European Union of 100% emission reductions in 2045-2050 [1], heavy electrification, combined with a significant expansion of variable renewable energy sources (vRES) is required. However, the...
Pakistan’s energy sector, heavily reliant on fossil fuels, facing rising emissions, energy insecurity, and affordability challenges. This study employs the Low Emissions Analysis Platform (LEAP) to model Pakistan’s energy landscape, analysing energy demand, generation capacity, emissions, and costs under three scenarios: Reference (business-as-usual), With Existing Measures (WEM), and With...
The rapid urbanization, population growth, and increasing demand for affordable transportation in Sub-Saharan Africa present both challenges and opportunities for sustainable mobility. In Kenya, motorcycle taxis, commonly known as boda bodas, play a vital role in the transport sector, providing an estimated 3 million jobs and facilitating movement in areas where public transport infrastructure...
The growing share of intermittent renewable infeed calls for further interconnection of electricity markets. The European commission defined one coupled European electricity market as the target model and aims for an expansion of the interconnecting capacities to cover at least 15 % of the electricity produced in each connected country (European Commission (2015), European Commission (2024))....
The transformation of Germany's energy system to renewable sources demands a diverse and expanding workforce specialized in wind and PV installations, infrastructure expansion (electricity, heating, hydrogen grids), and building renovations. This need arises as workers retire, leading to declining employment [1]. While literature highlights job gains from renewable energy, Germany faces the...
Energy communities, following the guidelines defined from the European Commission, gained in the last years an increasing attention in the research. In the European context, a regulatory framework for member States has been provided from the Clean Energy Package for all Europeans in 2019 (European Commission, 2019), where the Renewable Energy Directive REDII (European Commission, 2018) and the...
Introduction
A major change in future energy systems is that, unlike before, demand will follow available capacities. In Europe, generation and demand are allocated in zonal markets, yielding one clearing price per zone. This zonal price does not reflect local grid restrictions—such as transmission limits and physical boundaries (line loading, voltage, power quality). Under the current...
In this paper we analyze the design of hedging products for electricity to unlock industrial investments into load shifting capacity. Currently, most industrial consumers buy a large share of electricity in advance on forward and future markets, where the most liquid products are baseload contracts (EEX, 2025). However, using these contracts severely limits the direct exposure to price signals...
Overview
Sector coupling could be a cost-efficient supplement in addressing the European challenge of increasing electricity grid expansion costs. Its large-scale implementation could unlock significant electricity flexibility, storage and cross-sector synergy potential, thereby saving costs and increasing sustainability. Previous research in sector coupling concentrated on energy systems...
The rapid transition of European power systems is putting pressure on the revenues of renewable energy generators. The growing penetration of solar and wind generation has led to frequent periods with low electricity prices and a rising occurrence of negative prices in recent years. As the installed renewable capacity continues to expand across markets, price cannibalisation is expected to...
In order to meet the climate goals of the Paris Climate Agreement, participating nations are committed to finding measures to reduce CO2 emissions in their country. Over the last decade, the share of renewable energy sources (RES) in the electricity generation has increased (IEA, International Energy Agency, 2021), but the amount of CO2 emitted by the road transport sector in the EU has also...
Today, the collection of carbon plays an increasing role in the debate about climate change mitigation especially in future energy production. In recent years, fundamental research in carbon capture and storage (CCTS) technologies was particularly dynamic especially in direct air capture technologies (Renfrew, Starr, and Strasser 2020; Breyer et al. 2019). It is seen as a large-scale solution...
The purchase of a residential solar photovoltaic (PV) system necessitates a substantial initial investment and a certain degree of planning and administration. These obstacles may be overcome by implementing rental models. Furthermore, there is a growing discourse surrounding alternative business models that have the potential to address the utilization of PV electricity that is not utilized...
Poland is among the countries experiencing the highest growth dynamics in variable renewable energy sources (VRES). A country that not long ago relied almost entirely on coal-based energy is undergoing a profound transformation, with solar power plants and onshore wind farms playing a key role. Between 2020 and 2025, the installed capacity of wind power increased from 5.9 GW to more than 10...
The German government has an infrastructure plan to construct extensive hydrogen pipelines by 2032, marking a key step in advancing the sustainable energy transition. However, public knowledge and perceptions of such infrastructure projects can vary significantly, which in turn may influence individuals’ willingness-to-accept (WTA) infrastructure development near their homes or properties....
Germany’s updated National Hydrogen Strategy aims to establish a strong hydrogen economy with 30 GW of electrolyzer capacity by 2030 and a comprehensive hydrogen transmission network [1]. This is crucial for energy storage, industrial decarbonization, and reducing energy import dependence—an increasingly important goal since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. However, renewable hydrogen production...
Motivation
Residential energy usage accounts for 27% of the Swiss final energy demand and 15% of CO2 emissions. With the electrification of the heat and transport sectors, the characteristics of residential energy demand are changing. Understanding these changes is essential in light of the energy transition and the resulting decrease in supply-side flexibility from intermittent energy...
Overview
For the energy transition hydrogen and hydrogen carriers will become an important building block to defossilize many sectors such as energy, heating, industry and mobility. In light of the urgent global need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change, hydrogen emerges as a potent alternative to fossil fuels. According to the European Union the production target for...