Energy: rigging the market

Dr Richard North
"Sneaked in a week ago, therefore, was a detailed report addressed to the EU commission, entitled, "Creating the Internal Energy Market". Dealing with the lack of profitability in the wind industry, it is promoting no less than a revolution in the way electricity is priced and marketed. At its heart is the premise we saw yesterday, where it is recognised that, "in contrast to conventional power generation, which is demand driven, wind energy is mainly supply driven according to the availability of its energy source". It took 20 years to connect the first 10GW of wind power to the grids in European countries, and another 13 years to add 90GW - with over half installed in just the last six years. Still unable to compete, in order to get its next 100GW, and the next, conventional electricity generation is to be made vastly more expensive, while the market is to be redesigned (i.e., rigged) to fit the renewables supplier rather than the consumer."