Capacity Mechanism in the EU Energy Market. Law,
Policy and Economics
Edited by Leigh Hancher, Adrien De Hauteclocque,
Malgorzata Sadowska
Oxford UP 2015
Ensuring an adequate, long-term energy supply is a
paramount concern in Europe. EU member states now intervene by encouraging
investment in generation capacity, offering an additional revenue stream for
conventional power plants in addition to the existing, heavily subsidised
investments in renewable energy sources.
These capacity
remuneration mechanisms (or simply capacity mechanisms) have become a hot topic
in the wider European regulatory debate. European electricity markets are
increasingly interconnected, so the introduction of a capacity mechanism in one
country not only distorts its national market but may have unforeseeable
consequences for neighbouring electricity markets. If these mechanisms are
adopted by several member states with no supra-national coordination and no
consideration for their cross-border impact, they may cause serious market
distortions and put the future of the European internal electricity market at
risk.
This book
provides readers with an in-depth analysis of capacity mechanisms, written by
an expert team of policy-makers, economists, and legal professionals. It will
be a first point of reference for regulators and policy-makers responsible for
designing optimal capacity mechanisms in Europe, and will be an invaluable resource
for academics and practitioners in the fields of energy, regulation, and
competition.