Wind power: turbines and tribulations

Published By Datamonitor

UK electricity generation: new companies will re-invigorate competition

Dong, Vattenfall and ESB, three well-known European utilities, have recently announced plans to invest in the UK generation sector, as a potential precursor to becoming retail suppliers in the country. With the soon to be confirmed acquisition of British Energy by EDF, this should help to re-invigorate the wholesale power market in the country.

Published By Datamonitor

Shell/Elsam: playing carbon swapsies

Shell and Elsam traded carbon dioxide emission permits granted independently by the UK and Danish governments. The swap achieves commercial aims for both parties, but the environmental benefits are less clear. While the European emissions market is set to create considerable revenues for brokers, its impact on climate change may prove disappointing.

Published By Datamonitor

Finnish utilities: customers need to wake up to the competition

The end-user price for Finnish electricity customers has failed to track the fall in wholesale prices following last year's extremely high prices. The conditions that created the price peaks have now dissipated and customers need to be made more aware of this to help drive both switching and competition.

Published By Datamonitor

Elsam: shareholders deliberate the perfect fit

Elsam's board has spurned Vattenfall and thrown its weight behind a rival offer from the Danish state-owned DONG. If successful, this new entity would deliver on the government's desire to produce a national energy champion. However, shareholders are perhaps rightly unconvinced of the benefits of combining an integrated power utility and an upstream oil and gas company.

Published By Datamonitor

Dong: privatization on the horizon

Dong, the leading gas and power producer in Denmark with an installed capacity of 5.9GW, is slated to be partially de-nationalized and become a listed company in 2007. However, the company's Achilles' heel may be that it is relying on its vertically integrated structure as a competitive advantage at a time when Brussels is seeking to break up integrated utilities to stimulate competition.

Published By Datamonitor