19 November 2004: Over the last year, the Netherlands market has seen a number of considerable changes, from full liberalisation in July 2004, the re-emergence of the NorNed interconnector to the recent takeover by Eneco of Rijnmond�s power and the Government�s proposals for the complete unbundling of power networks and supply.

In light of these changes ILEX have recently updated their price projections for the Netherlands.

For further information, please click here

Projections of prices of wholesale electricity in Belgium

19 November 2004: In our new report 'Wholesale electricity price projections for Belgium', ILEX has applied its expertise and extensive modelling skills to provide a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the Belgian market.

For further information, please download the flyer here:

Wholesale electricity in Belgium

Impact of wind generation on Irish operating reserve requirements costs and emissions

28 October 2004: ILEX has recently completed a study for Sustainable Energy Ireland on the impact that the growth in wind generation to 2010 will have on the requirement for operating reserves in Ireland.

This study, undertaken in partnership with UCD, Queen's and UMIST suggests that even in a small islanded electricity system, such as the All Island Market, the impact of wind on operating reserve requirements, costs and emissions is likely to be small.

The full report is available to download from SEI's website: http://www.sei.ie/uploads/documents/upload/publications/Ilex-Wind-Reser_rev2FSFinal.pdf

Updated Italian Electricity and Renewables Reports

28 October 2004: Updated Italian Electricity and Renewables reports are now available. These reports give a comprehensive description of the Italian energy market, with price projections of both wholesale prices and prices for renewable generators

For further details on these reports, please click on the links below:

Italian Electricity Report

Italian Renewables Report

Updated Spanish wind report

22 October 2004: ILEX has recently updated its Spanish wind report to reflect the recent changes in the market, including the effects of the new legislation, the implications of the EU ETS and a potential future of high oil prices.

For further detail on this report, including a detailed table of contents, please click here

Updated Irish electricity report

22 October 2004: ILEX has recently extended its Irish generation model to explicitly model the Northern Irish market, and to improve its treatment of electricity interconnectors with Great Britain. This model was used to generate the underlying price forecasts for our latest Irish electricity market report update in September 2004.

For further detail on our Irish market report please click here.

For further information on how we model the Irish electricity market, please click here

Gas Prices in the UK - a report for UKOOA

20 October 2004: UKOOA, the UK Offshore Operators Association, commissioned ILEX to investigate recent price movements in the UK market and how the future of UK gas prices might evolve.

The report showed that the main reasons for recent gas price rises has been the combination of rising crude oil prices, supply/demand balance concerns and market sentiment. The report concluded that the recent very high prices could be caused by a lack of speculative traders in the market willing to take a short position.

ILEX also investigated how prices might evolve until 2010, using a detailed model of the UK market to model monthly supply and demand. The report looked at how import projects may affect prices, what could happen in an unusually cold winter, and whether there was a risk of a 'gas bubble' developing.

The report's conclusions also challenge the assumption that a more liberalised European gas market will lead to a full decoupling of the link between oil and gas prices and hence lower gas prices. ILEX points to the highly competitive US energy market, where a link between gas and oil prices has re-emerged since 1998.

To read the full report, please click here or go to the main UKOOA website

Modelling of pan-European CO2 prices

September 2004: At ILEX and Electrowatt-Ekono, we are currently developing our modelling capability for projecting and understanding CO2 prices in Europe, before the EU Emissions Trading Scheme commences in January 2005.

As one of the leading pan-European energy companies, we are well placed to undertake this work. Our expertise ranges from understanding hydrological conditions in Norway to potential energy savings in Poland; we cover energy-intensive sectors such as glass and paper as well as electricity; and we have offices in 9 European countries.

Study for DTI into impact of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme on electricity prices across Europe

11 August 2004: The DTI commissioned ILEX to examine the impact of the forthcoming EU Emissions Trading Scheme on the price of electricity across Europe, and the extent to which this impact has already been incorporated into forward electricity prices. This report has now been published on the DTI website. Please click here to see the accompanying press notice

To view the report in full, please go to the DTI website

DEFRA commissioned report on support mechanisms for biomass-generated heat published

14 July 2004: DEFRA commissioned ILEX to undertake an initial scoping study looking at the issues and options for support mechanisms for the production of heat from biomass sources. The resulting scoping note "Possible support mechanisms for biomass-generated heat" is now available on the DEFRA website.

June 2004 edition of the Value of Renewable Electricity in Great Britain

6 July 2004: The June 2004 edition of ILEX's 'The Value of Renewable Electricity in Great Britain' is now available. This report has been fully updated, providing ILEX's latest projections for Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs), wholesale electricity prices, Climate Change Levy Exemption Certificates (LECs) and regional embedded benefits. The report is designed as an invaluable tool for renewable project developers and financiers and for suppliers, generators and ROC traders active in the ROC market - providing expert, independent projections for the future value of generation from renewable sources.

For more information, please click here

Update to GB Electricity Report

18 June 2004: The June 2004 update to the ILEX GB Electricity Report has now been published. This new edition has revised price projections for the market, and investigates the potential effect of current issues such as the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, the Large Combustion Plant Directive, zonal location losses, the Renewables Obligation and BETTA.

Click here for more information

UK Gas Report - May 2004 update

18 June 2004: ILEX has just published an update to its UK Gas Report. This highly regarded market report contains detailed information on the UK Gas Market, including forecasts of future prices until 2020.

Click here for more information

National Allocation Plan implications and options for CHP

20 April 2004: DEFRA has recently released an ILEX report on the impact of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme on CHP. The analysis was undertaken in the autumn of 2003 with the results feeding into development of the UK's draft National Allocation Plan, published in January 2004. A copy of the report is available from the DEFRA website.

Click here for more information

Updated Spanish Gas report

5 April 2004: ILEX has just published an update to its Spanish Gas Market Report. The report contains an overview of the current state of the Spanish market, examines supply and demand forecasts, and contains detailed projections on market prices under three scenarios until 2020.

Click here for more information

Swiss Electricity Market Review

23 March 2004: ILEX's parent company, Electrowatt-Ekono, has recently published a review of the Swiss electricity market, looking both at the current market situation and its future evolution.

The report highlights the changes due to the forthcoming liberalisation of the Swiss market and includes projections of the consumption, production and exchanges of electricity, as well as projections of the wholesale price for electricity in Switzerland.

Click here for more information

The value of gas storage in the UK

11 March 2004: It is now five years since the Rough and Hornsea storage facilities in the UK were "deregulated" with capacity sold in the first storage auctions back in early 1999.

What have we learnt from the last five years and what messages are there for users wishing to purchase storage for the first time? The following article written by Ben Farrington, a senior consultant at ILEX, looks back over the five years since 1st May 1999 and highlights the main commercial lessons.

Click here to download report

DTI releases ILEX report on Implications of the EU ETS for the Power Sector

11 Feb 2004: The DTI have just released an ILEX report on implications for the power sector from the new EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS)

A copy of the report is available from the DTI website www.dti.gov.uk/energy/sepn/euets.shtml or from the ILEX website

New updated Spanish Electricity Report

11 Feb 2004: ILEX, established expert in the Spanish electricity market, has recently completed an update to its Spanish market study.

The updated edition has revised price projections for the market, and contains information on the latest developments in MIBEL (the new Iberian Electricity Market), and investigates the potential effect of current issues such as the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, and the effect of exercise of market power by incumbents.

For further information, please follow this link

ILEX publishes report for DTI into Gas Quality

20 January 2004: ILEX has recently published a report into gas quality issues commissioned by the DTI, Ofgem and the HSE. The report examined whether there would be a gas quality problem, in particular regarding the Wobbe number (ie the heating value) of future imported gas.

ILEX's work confirms that the future Wobbe specification of gas imported into the UK before processing is likely to fall outside the current upper Wobbe limit in the Gas Safety Management Regulations (GSMR). In short the UK's increasing dependence on imported gas does raise the question whether the current upper Wobbe limit should be increased or other remedial action taken. A failure to take any remedial action would result in the UK being disadvantaged when contracting for gas in an increasingly global gas market place resulting in higher gas prices and a lower security of supply position.

For further information, the report is available from the DTI website or from the ILEX website

Allocations of Carbon Allowances for the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS)

8 January 2004: The UK government is expected to publish details of the allocation methodology for the ETS in the next few weeks, which may have significant impacts on the profitability of individual generating companies. ILEX is ready with the capabilities to assess these impacts, as soon as the allocations are promulgated.