How Did the COVID-19 Crisis Affect the Efficiency of European Intraday Electricity Markets?

Our goal is to examine the efficiency of different intraday electricity markets and if any of their price prediction models is more accurate than others. The focus is on the German intraday market for electricity. We want to find out whether the COVID-19 crisis has an influence on the price development. This paper includes a comprehensive review between Germany, France and Norway (NOR1) day-ahead and intraday electricity market prices. These markets represent different energy mixes which would allow us to analyse the impact of the energy mix on the efficiencies of these markets. To draw conclusions about extreme market conditions (i) we reviewed the market data linked to COVID-19. We expected a higher volatility in the lockdowns than before and therefore decrease in efficiency of the prediction models. With our analysis, (ii) we want to draw conclusions as to whether a mix based mainly on renewable energies such as that in Norway implies lower volatilities even in times of crisis. This would answer the question (iii) whether a market with an energy mix like Norway is more efficient in highly volatile phases. For the analysis we use data visualization and statistical models as well as sample and out-of-sample data. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

The EU Clean Energy Policy under the European Green Deal and COVID-19 pandemics - how the renewables historically won the majority share in the EU's electrical energy mix

The paper presents a regional case study of the European Union's clean energy policy impact on the European electricity market transformation reaching a tremendous milestone for the EU as confirmed by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Energy (ENER) on 9th April 2021 - the renewable energy sources for the first time in the history overcoming the combined fossil fuels in electrical energy generation mix of the year 2020. This achievement, although influenced by exceptional circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemics and the electricity demand shock, is primarily an effect of the Clean Energy for all Europeans Package implementing the European Green Deal strategy designed to position the EU as a global leader in the green transformation, leading by example and turning climate challenges into a growth opportunity, as such presenting optimistic policy perspective for a global transformation towards a 100% renewable energy world, thus mitigating dire threats of the global warming by drastically cutting greenhouse gases emissions. © 2021. The Authors. Published by International Solar Energy Society Selection and/or peer review under responsibility of Scientific Committee.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic Crisis on the Efficiency of European Intraday Electricity Markets

Our goal is to examine the efficiency of different intraday electricity markets and if any of their price prediction models are more accurate than others. This paper includes a comprehensive review of Germany, France, and Norway’s (NOR1) day-ahead and intraday electricity market prices. These markets represent different energy mixes which would allow us to analyze the impact of the energy mix on the efficiencies of these markets. To draw conclusions about extreme market conditions, (i) we reviewed the market data linked to COVID-19. We expected higher volatility in the lockdowns than before and therefore decrease in the efficiency of the prediction models. With our analysis, (ii) we want to draw conclusions as to whether a mix based mainly on renewable energies such as that in Norway implies lower volatilities even in times of crisis. This would answer (iii) whether a market with an energy mix like Norway is more efficient in highly volatile phases. For the analysis, we use data visualization and statistical models as well as sample and out-of-sample data. Our finding was that while the different price and volatility levels occurred, the direction of the market was similar. We could find evidence that our expectations (i–iii) were met. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Biomass waste as a renewable energy in developing bio-based economies in Indonesia: A review

The pressure on the government to use renewable energy sources as a future substitute for fossil fuels has prompted it to pursue alternative energy sources. Biomass has considerable potential as a renewable energy source in Indonesia. However, several barriers remain in relation to the application and development of biomass-based energy, including the concurrent use of biomass sources, such as CPO converted to stearin, for example, as a biofuel feedstock. Excluding the biodiesel industry, stearin is required by various large industries, including the oleochemicals, food, and cosmetics sectors. This situation results in competition and a conflict of interest among these industries. Furthermore, issues persist, for instance, plentiful forest fires and illegal logging. This situation has a significant impact on the loss of biomass sources. Conversely, the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted the global economy, reducing global energy demand, delaying the development of renewable energy priorities, in addition to placing the attainment of the national energy mix at risk. This study contributes to a greater understanding of the implementation, constraints, and challenges, as well as regulations associated with converting biomass to renewable energy and meeting the 2025 energy mix target.