Despite the high upfront financial costs associated with the existing technologies for energy storage they have become more appealing in recent years in response to the increasing importance of non-dispatchable sources of generation in the energy systems of developed countries. One of the essential pieces of information required to value the monetary benefits which can be achieved when investing in energy storage is the price that energy will command when it is released, compared with the price paid when injected into the storage. In this paper we investigate this relationship using time series statistical techniques for various maturities of forward prices, using data on assessments of power prices for future delivery. We will examine the relationship for predictability and size of gap in order to answer questions about the likely financial benefits which can be obtained from optimal time management of storage facilities, using a technology neutral approach. Our initial results indicate that such arbitrage opportunities exist for storage facilities, especially when energy is stored over a short- term period of a day or a week.

Many countries have introduced policies to stimulate the production of electricity in a sustainable or renewable way. Theoretical and simulation studies provide evidence that the introduction of renewable energy promotion policies lead to lower electricity prices as sustainable energy supply as wind and solar have very low or even zero marginal costs. Empirical support for this result is relatively scarce. The motivation for this study is to provide additional empirical evidence on how the growth of low marginal costs renewable energy supply such as wind and solar influences power prices. We do so indirectly studying Nord Pool market prices where hydro power is the dominant supply source. We argue that the marginal costs of hydro production varies depending on reservoir levels that determine hydro production capacity. Hydro power producers have an option to produce or to delay production and the value of the option to delay increases when the reservoir levels decrease and the option to delay decreases in value when reservoir levels increase and producers face the risk of spillovers. Hence, an increase in reservoir levels mimics the situation of an increase of low marginal costs renewable energy in a market. Our results show that higher reservoir levels, more hydro capacity, lead to significant lower power prices. From this we conclude that an increase in low marginal costs renewable power supply reduces the power prices. The second contribution of this paper is that we develop a market clearing price model by modelling the supply curve of power that varies over time depending on fundamentals such as hydro capacity and the prices of alternative power sources and that deals with maximum prices which apply to all power markets that we know. With our result, we strengthen support for the view that an increase in wind and solar supply lowers the power price. This is good news for consumers, but it increases the costs of sustainable energy policies such as feed-in tariffs and at the same time lowers revenues and profits for power producers in case governments would abandon such policies. This effect makes the economic and policy support for renewable energy less sustainable. Policy makers have to account for this if they want to stimulate a sustainable growth of sustainable energy supply.

The energy industry is facing substantial challenges that require innovation to be fostered. Nevertheless, levels of R&D investment and innovation remain quite low in comparison with other sectors. In this paper we analyse the main drivers of R&D investment and obstacles to innovation in the energy industry. We examine, firstly, whether the stated R&D objectives pursued by firms play a role in their R&D effort. Secondly, we analyse the effects of financial, knowledge and market barriers on the innovation outcomes of the firms. We rely on data from the Technological Innovation Panel (PITEC) for Spanish firms for the period 2003-2010. We use a structural model with three equations corresponding to the decision to carry out R&D or not, the R&D effort and the production of innovations. The results of the econometric estimations show, first, that R&D intensity is positively related to process innovation. Second, the main barriers that hamper innovation in the energy industry are related to market factors while financial and knowledge obstacles are not significant.

The Symposium on Energy Sustainability and Competitive Markets in Barcelona will bring together high ranking researchers in the field of energy economics. The meeting will examine various questions related to energy sustainability (environmental policies and technological change; the greenhouse effect and the energy mix in Europe; R&D in the energy sector, etc.). It will also analyse various issues related to competition and consumers and the business strategies required to face the challenges of global markets in the energy sector.

The meeting, to be held in Barcelona on 29 January 2013, forms part of the activities organised by the UB-IEB Chair in Energy Sustainability, sponsored by the Foundation for Energy and Environmental Sustainability (FUNSEAM). The group hopes that the symposium will help disseminate the work of leading researchers in the field of energy economics, with a particular emphasis on energy and environmental sustainability. The aim of the meeting is also to introduce the work of the Chair to both national and international academics and to establish a network of contacts with researchers working in the same field.
As the program shows, the caliber of the speakers and the invited specialists augurs well for the success of the meeting.

En este trabajo se estiman economías de alcance, diversificación y escala en el sector eléctrico español mediante Data Envelopment Análisis. Los resultados muestran que existen economías derivadas de la integración de las fases de generación y distribución de electricidad, así como economías asociadas a la diversificación entre productos de generación. En particular, una hipotética separación vertical de las empresas analizadas y una mayor especialización en la fase de generación elevarían los costes de operación en un 4,7% y en un 3,5% respectivamente. Asimismo, el tamaño de la empresa no es un factor importante siempre que se mantenga el grado de integración vertical y diversificación horizontal. En este sentido, se ha estimado que un fraccionamiento por la mitad de las empresas analizadas, además de contribuir a crear una estructura de mercado más competitiva, mejoraría la eficiencia de escala y originaría un ahorro del 2,7% de los costes de explotación.

En este trabajo se estudia el papel que la tributación puede jugar en el desarrollo de la política energética-mediambiental española. Después de analizar el sistema tributario español se observa como la política tributaria ha jugado hasta la actualidad un papel casi irrelevante en este ámbito, si bien a nivel autonómico existe alguna figura impositiva a destacar. Esta situación contrasta con la de la mayoría de países de nuestro entorno, donde el papel de los tributos como instrumento de política energética-ambiental es cada vez más importante, llegando en algunos casos a sustituir, en parte, impuestos tradicionales que recaen sobre el trabajo. A partir de estas consideraciones, se analiza cómo podría adaptarse el sistema tributario español al argumento ecológico, proponiéndose diversas actuaciones fiscales, tanto a nivel del Estado como de los gobiernos autonómicos. No obstante, cabe señalar que las posibles reformas que estas últimas puedan adoptar dependen, obviamente, de los tributos y capacidad normativa cedidas desde el gobierno central.