A new UCL research centre, that brings academics together with industry and government to inform reform of the UK’s electricity markets, has launched today.
The new UCL Centre for Net Zero Market Design will work across academia, industry, government, regulatory bodies and other stakeholders, to provide expert advice on the best policies and practices for creating and maintaining effective electricity markets as we decarbonise power systems in the UK and beyond. UKERC is pleased to announce that our Director, Robert Gross, has joined the Advisory Board for the centre.
Based at the UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources, the new Centre will provide analysis and expert input for the UK Government’s programme to decarbonise electricity over the decade, including the ongoing Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA) programme.
The transition to net zero energy infrastructure will involve major changes for electricity generation, networks and flexibility, likely requiring hundreds of billions of pounds investment, mostly from the private sector. The Centre aims to provide recommendations to ensure that electricity markets are robust, power supplies are reliable, costs are manageable and carbon emissions are reduced to net zero. An initial project will examine how increasing periods of potential surplus generation (e.g. on very windy days) will impact further investment in renewables, and what market design changes may be needed to bring forward storage or other flexibilities.
The new centre also will work with masters courses at UCL to support the development of new talent and expertise, to help policymakers and industry to tackle upcoming electricity system challenges.
Centre Director, Professor Michael Grubb (UCL Bartlett School of Environment, Energy & Resources) said: “This new Centre fulfils an urgent need for expert insight and academic rigour as the UK seeks to transition its electricity sector to net zero. This requires independent research, informed by industry data and expertise, backed by understanding the needs and constraints of practical policymaking. The evidence-based insights and recommendations from our Centre’s activities aim to help the UK deliver its globally-leading ambition, informed also by emerging international experience.”
The new Centre will offer original and independent academic insights into the policy and regulation of the energy markets, particularly around how to best integrate sustainable and renewable technology at a time when the energy market is being fundamentally re-examined.
UK electricity has already made significant steps towards decarbonisation. However, there are still many outstanding questions around the design and operation of a system predominantly powered by renewable energy. More than a third of the UK’s electricity now comes from wind and solar, but this shift has produced its own challenges, including a mismatch in power supply and demand as weather varies.
To tackle this issue, expanding storage capacity at different levels of the system from local to national is required to even out the supply. How to encourage the necessary investment and operational changes and to expand storage capacity both economically and effectively likewise needs further analysis.
Additionally, as more heat pumps are installed in homes and electric vehicles are on the roads across the UK, demand for electricity will increase.
Professor Jim Watson (UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources) said: “The UK has been a world-leader in liberalising its electricity system, and in the pace of its transition away from coal generation and the expansion of offshore wind energy. Sustaining progress is vital to fight climate change and ensure a sustainable world for future generations. It involves a set of new challenges but must protect consumers. The rest of the world is watching and the transition has to be done right. With research at the Centre, we’re analysing critical challenges facing the electricity industry.”
The research priorities of the Centre will initially focus on some of the major challenges outlined in the Government’s REMA programme, and will look to support global efforts to accelerate decarbonisation of electricity.
Over time, and informed by a senior Advisory Board of stakeholders, the Centre will continue to adjust its focus to keep up with emerging conversations and challenges as they arise.
Advisory board chair Simon Virley, Vice Chair of KPMG, said: “No one organisation has all the answers when it comes to navigating the energy transition. So, we have to find new ways to collaborate across government, industry and academia to find the best solutions. I’m pleased to be chairing the Advisory Board, which can help facilitate that sharing of views and collaboration.”
Advisory board member Alistair McGirr, the Group Head of Policy and Advocacy at SSE said: “We are delighted to help start up the new UCL Centre for Net Zero Market Design. We have been collectively thinking how to accelerate clean electricity cost effectively, and the Centre will provide welcome and important contributions to move us forward. We’re particularly excited by the important role the Centre will play in developing the future market design experts that will help solve the energy system challenges of the future.”
Advisory board member Chris Bennett, Director of UK Regulation National Grid said: “As we approach the middle of a key decade on the path to net zero, we look forward to collaborating with and supporting the vital analysis and research of the UCL Centre on Net Zero Market Design to offer solutions and recommendations for the energy transition. The challenge ahead is a complex one which requires minds from across the academia, industry and government landscape to come together and we’re excited to play our part in this.”
The launch of the Centre has been supported by Centrica plc, SSE, Rothesay and National Grid. Corporate Partners are wholly committed to the academic independence of the Centre and its research.