Research & Articles

Through the Electricity Markets Research Hub, we seek to connect rigorous and original academic research with policy and industry.

Our researchers’ projects include the Flexibility Markets Programme, which investigate how the UK energy grid can optimally balance supply and demand in the changing energy system, the INTEGRATE project, which investigates how thermal storage can be icorporated in a more electrified system, and research on the origins of electricity markets in the UK and abroad. Through the First Scottish Forum on Future Electricity Markets, we build expertise on the technical design and societal implications of future electricity markets amongst key stakeholders and society.

Our work has been funded by a range of organisations, including UK Research and Innovation, Innovate UK, Octopus Energy, ClimateXChange and Royal Society of Edinburgh.

Zonal pricing would have created over £2 billion more welfare in the UK between 2022 and 2024

If a zonal electricity market had been implemented in 2022, 2023, and 2024, it would have improved GB welfare by £2 billion, according to a University of Edinburgh Model. The model is an open-source, independent alternative to proprietary tools, which have dominated the discussion on the UK electricity market reform.

Electricity market reform and its possible implications for Scotland. A report from the First Scottish Forum on Future Electricity Markets

University of Edinburgh academics Dr Ronan Bolton, Prof Chris Dent and Dr Lars Schewe recently led on the establishment of the Scottish Forum on Future Electricity Markets. Working in collaboration with the Royal Society of Edinburgh and ClimateXChange, the initiative seeks to inform Scottish Government policy and wider public discourse on the crucial topic of electricity market reform.

Lars Schewe: Balancing costs have grown enormously. Zonal markets reduce them, but could disincentivise investment

Lars Schewe is a Reader in Operational Research at the School of Mathematics. Lars’s current work includes the Flexibility Markets Programme, which investigates how the UK energy grid can optimally balance supply and demand in the changing energy system. This work involves sharing and managing data, market rules testing, and is supported by ARUP.

Ronan Bolton: The energy transition is the most consequential global industrial transformation in history

Ronan Bolton is a Reader in Science, Technology and Innovation studies. Ronan’s work focuses on the political and social science of energy markets, and he is the author of Making Energy Markets: The Origins of Energy Liberalisation in Europe. Ronan recently led a project on regulatory governance and decentralisation with the UK Energy Research Centre.

Andrew Lyden: Having an open-source model would have made market reform discussions less polarised – and we’ll need one in the future

Andrew Lyden is a Lecturer within the Institute for Energy Systems. His recent work includes PyPSA-GB, a model of the UK energy grid capable of simulating both historical data and future scenarios. He is also involved in the INTEGRATE project, which focuses on integrating multiple energy sources with seasonal thermal energy storage to support the decarbonisation of heat.

Chris Dent: We need a new paradigm for local distribution networks

Chris Dent is a Professor of Industrial Mathematics specialising in operational research and optimisation, statistics, and on how analysts can manage uncertainty when empirical data is missing. Previously, Chris led the Managing Uncertainty in Government Modelling project at the Alan Turing Institute and has collaborated with The Global Power System Transformation Consortium.