Latest projects

Oxford Energy Associates works with governments and commercial organisations worldwide.

We have helped companies and governments respond to the challenges arising in the energy sector, ranging from issues such as climate change policy, strategic energy planning, renewable energy assessments, emissions trading, electricity sector modelling, energy efficiency and CO2 abatement strategies.

The following posts outline some of the recent projects we have been involved with. Alternatively, click here for a detailed list of publications arising from OEA’s projects.

Decision-support tools

Article published in Climatic Change with Paul Watkiss. A review of decision-support tools for assessing climate change adaptation investments.

Denial of Fossil Fuel Subsidies Hobbles UK Energy Policy

UK politicians are mired in a fruitless blame-game about energy prices. But high prices are not the problem. It is the total bill that matters, especially to poorer consumers. Dealing with the poor efficiency standards of existing UK housing stock is the way to tackle this. And reducing fossil fuel subsidies could provide the source of finance to do so. Click here to see full article at Chatham House Link to article in New Power magazine

Nuclear subsidies: a gamble on the price of gas

See here for an article of nuclear subsidies published in May 2013 edition of ‘The Conversation’

UK Energy Subsidies

OEA wrote the background paper which launched the Parliamentary Inquiry into UK energy subsidies on April 24th 2013. The report sets out the various ways in which subsidies are defined, the extent of energy subsidies in the UK, and how the UK compares internationally. Read the report. For coverage by the FT, click here. You can see footage of William Blyth’s oral evidence to the committee here. For more information on the inquiry, see the Environmental Audit Committee web page. Link to this report and other energy and finance...

Electricity Markets under Deep Decarbonisation

This research project was carried out over a period of 18 months to December 2012 for EPRI, the Electric Power Research Institute in California. The research team included faculty staff at London Business School. The aim was to assess how electricity markets will evolve as the generation portfolio shifts towards very low carbon forms of generation. In many cases, this means that there will be larger penetrations of renewables, with implications for electricity system design and regulation. New modelling techniques were developed, including...

Strategic Energy Planning – Training Course in Hong Kong

In Feb 2013, OEA led a 3 day training course for the Hong Kong government on strategic issues affecting energy sector planning. Delivered in partnership with ICPS. Topics included Geo-politics of energy Recent global developments in the oil & gas sector Nuclear industry – trends and prospects Renewable energy, on and off-grid options Electricity sector planning: regulation, markets and choice of generation technology Energy access and energy for development

Renewable Energy Readiness Assessments

Will Blyth was part of the team working for IRENA to develop ‘Renewable Energy Readiness Assessments’. This involved developing a framework for defining policy readiness, and then rolling out pilot studies. IRENA have recently published the final version of these assessments for Mozambique and Senegal.

Modelling Linked Carbon and Electricity Markets

This project developed a new analytical tool for assessing the effects of uncertainty in both carbon and electricity markets, taking account of the strong links between the two. The model includes an interface intended to allow companies to assess the performance of investment options available to them both in terms of generation capacity as well as carbon abatement and trading options. This graphic shows a screen-shot from the tool, displaying the stochastic cost curves and generation stacks for the linked markets, together with forcast...

Short-term carbon valuation

The UK Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) produces annual projections of carbon prices for use in appraisal of any government policy that might affect carbon emissions levels. The methodology for carrying out these projections has had to change as a result of structural changes in the EU emissions trading scheme, and Oxford Energy Associates were involved in advising on the new methodology. For the revised DECC guidance on short-term pricing click here. For Will’s peer review of the methodology, click here.

Energy Intensity Reduction in Gulf Countries

Oil exports underpin the economic stability of gulf countries, but the ability to export is threatened by ballooning domestic energy demand in those countries. This Chatham House project, working with regional partners, develops a set of recommendations for improving energy efficiency in GCC countries, drawing on the experiences of utilities, policymakers, industry experts, and academics. Oxford Energy Associates were involved in developing a tool for quantifying the potential and cost-effectiveness of various sources of energy efficiency...

“Scaling-up Financing of Energy Efficiency through Provision of Targeted Risk Management Products”

A huge increase in investment in energy efficiency is required if global energy systems are to be transformed to a more sustainable basis. Energy efficiency has significant and well-documented economic and environmental benefits, especially in regions with a history of cheap energy and high energy intensity. Companies’ energy costs can often be similar to or even higher than their profits. This indicates the significant financial benefits that can accrue from reducing energy costs through improved efficiency. To date, less attention has been...

“Interactions between Energy Security and Climate Change: A Focus on Developing Countries”

Abstract We briefly consider the tensions between climate change and energy security policy imperatives, and highlight some concepts that may bring additional clarity to decision-making at the nexus of the two areas. We focus on developing countries and use the case of the Medupi super-critical coal plant in South Africa to illustrate the issues. View pdf here

Impact of Climate Policy Uncertainty on Investment

Will has worked extensively over many years on the topic of investment under uncertainty, particularly in relation to investment options in the electricity sector, and how they are influenced by climate policy uncertainty as well as other risks such as fuel prices and technology costs. The publications section lists many publications related to this research, including peer reviewed journal papers, book chapters, UKERC reports and Chatham House papers. An early example is this IEA book which provides an in-depth analysis of the impact of...