The study from Tony Blair’s think-tank Institute for Global Change anticipates a “hugely expanded” role for the electricity sector in the coming years as it becomes the energy source for much of our transport and heating – replacing fossil fuels such as diesel and natural gas.
However, the current electricity market is “not well placed to deliver these changes”, the study says, as it has been designed around fossil-fuel technologies. Current attempts to integrate new technologies involve “shoehorning” them into a market that is not designed for them.
The report - Powering Ahead: The Need to Reform UK Energy Markets, authored by industry experts Tim Lord and Phil McNally - recommends more incentives for consumers to invest in decarbonisation or alter their energy usage patterns to fit the demand flexibility that future electricity grids will rely upon.
“With more than 20 suppliers going bust in recent months, profound problems [have been exposed in the...