Smart Grids require innovations in the electricity networks, mainly on the level of the distributed system operator (DSO). A main objective is to increase the share of distributed generation (DG) connected to that network level, but also to enable load management on the demand side. This paper...

The aim of this paper is to identify the main challenges regarding the achievement of a low-carbon energy system in the EU by 2050. We analyze the visions presented by stakeholders and existing strategies of member state to achieve this transition. The five main challenges identified are the...

Emissions trading is a “cap and trade” regulation aimed at reducing the cost of meeting environmental targets. This paper studies how this regulation interacts with energy and competition policies. Two vertically related and imperfectly competitive markets are investigated: 1) the...

We study the role of education as a social protection mechanism. We compare the effectiveness of direct cash handouts in comparison to education over the long-term in reducing the vulnerability to poverty. We also look at the role of three inter-related mechanisms related to protection against...

This paper, which examines the impacts of phasing out nuclear power in Germany, is the first to include an analysis of energy supply security and critical line flows in both the German and Central European electricity networks. The technical-economic model of the European electricity market,...

Since the late Nineties, the mining sector in Peru has been experiencing a protracted period of rapid growth. This paper investigates local impacts of the mining boom on migration, on access to basic services, on labour market and on occupational distribution across sectors. By applying...

Among the factors providing incentives to monitor the behaviour of input suppliers are the regulatory requirements to which downstream firms are subject. We develop a formal economic model to examine the relationship between the strictness of the regulatory environment and downstream firms’...

Ensuring access to a truly ‘European’ energy grid for every consumer and supplier in the European Union is a core objective of the single market project. From the first wave of liberalization directives up until the ‘draft’ framework guidelines of September 2010 on...

If Europe is serious about climate change, it has to reduce its overall greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050, thereby effectively going to a (near-) zero carbon energy and thus, electricity system. The European Climate Foundation, Eurelectric, and the International Energy Agency have...

This paper analyses the digital internal market and when EU intervention is needed to achieve this internal market. It sets legal and economic criteria to determine the appropriate scope of the EU intervention. It applies these criteria to several case studies and concludes that sometimes the EU...