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As “market referees”, regulators contribute to the delivery of essential public utilities. The internal and external governance of regulatory agencies are essential to determining how regulators and the sectors they oversee perform. The OECD has developed an innovative framework that looks at the institutions, processes and practices that can enhance regulators’ performance. In this report, the framework is applied to the external governance of Mexico’s energy sector and its three regulatory bodies, the Agency for Safety, Energy and Environment (ASEA), the National Hydrocarbons Commissions (CNH) and the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE), following a structural reform of the sector and its regulatory institutions. The review offers insights into the progress and challenges in the implementation of the reform, highlighting the importance of structured co-ordination and accountability mechanisms based on a common strategic agenda, alignment of processes for good regulatory outcomes as well as sufficient operational flexibility. The report is complemented by forthcoming reviews of the internal governance arrangements of the three regulatory agencies, constituting a comprehensive body of work on the regulatory governance of Mexico’s energy sector.
As “market referees”, regulators contribute to the delivery of essential public utilities. Their organisational culture, behaviour and governance are important factors in how regulators, and the sectors they oversee, perform. The report uses the OECD Performance Assessment Framework for Economic Regulators to assess both the internal and external governance of Peru's Energy and Mining Regulator (Osinergmin). The review discusses Osinergmin's achievements and good practices, analyses the key drivers of its performance, and proposes an integrated reform package to help the regulator prepare for the future.
This report applies the PAFER to Mexico’s National Hydrocarbons Commission and assesses its functions, practices and behaviour. It focuses on internal governance, including structures and processes for decision making, managing financial resources, attracting and retaining talent, managing data and assessing performance. The review identifies a number of challenges and opportunities for improvement, and is a companion to reviews of the internal governance of two other Mexican energy regulators, the Agency for Safety, Energy and Environment and the Energy Regulatory Commission, and the review of the external governance of the country’s energy sector, Driving Peformance of Mexico’s Energy Regulators.
This report applies the PAFER to Mexico’s Energy Regulatory Commission and assesses its functions, practices and behaviour. It focuses on internal governance, including structures and processes for decision making, managing financial resources, attracting and retaining talent, managing data and assessing performance. The review identifies a number of challenges and opportunities for improvement, and is a companion to reviews of the internal governance of two other Mexican energy regulators, the Agency for Safety, Energy and Environment and the National Hydrocarbons Commission, and the review of the external governance of the country’s energy sector, Driving Peformance of Mexico’s Energy Regulators.
This report applies the PAFER to Mexico’s Agency for Safety, Energy and Environment and assesses its functions, practices and behaviour. It focuses on internal governance, including structures and processes for decision making, managing financial resources, attracting and retaining talent, managing data and assessing performance. The review identifies a number of challenges and opportunities for improvement, and is a companion to reviews of the internal governance of two other Mexican energy regulators, the National Hydrocarbons Commission and the Energy Regulatory Commission, and the review of the external governance of the country’s energy sector, Driving Performance of Mexico’s Energy Regulators.
Reducing methane emissions from oil and gas operations is among the most cost-effective and impactful actions that governments can take to achieve global climate goals. There is a major opportunity for countries looking to develop policies and regulations in this area to learn from the experience of jurisdictions that have already adopted methane-specific regulations in order to design frameworks that are adapted and tailored to local circumstances. One of the aims of any new policy effort should be to improve measurement and reporting of emissions data, which can in turn lead to more efficient regulatory interventions. However, the current state of information on emissions should not stand in the way of early action on methane abatement. Experience shows that countries can take an important “first step” today based on existing tools, which may include prescriptive requirements on known “problem sources” combined with monitoring programmes that seek to detect and address the largest emissions sources (“super-emitters”). In terms of process, implementing a new policy or regulation should involve three distinct phases, each covered in detail in this roadmap: understanding the local setting and circumstances, regulatory design and development, and finally, implementation.
Tackling methane in the coal sector is a major opportunity for climate action that can also strengthen energy security. Experience shows that there are several steps countries can take today – using existing technologies and tools – that can lead to significant reductions in methane emissions from coal mining. This report highlights the lessons learned in different coal-producing jurisdictions to support the development of smart and effective methane regulation. It then provides detailed guidance on the process of designing, drafting and implementing new regulations. Finally, it discusses the different regulatory approaches currently in use for methane, with the aim of providing a comprehensive toolkit for policy makers.
Electric power in OECD countries is mostly produced by large central generating stations, then transmitted along high voltage lines to local distribution systems that carry it to final consumers. Distributed generation plants are different. They produce power on an electricity consumer’s own site or at the local distribution substation and can supply power directly to the customer or to the local distribution network. Distributed generation technologies include engines, small turbines, fuel cells, and photovoltaic systems.
Distributed generation technologies are already having a large impact, particularly for high- reliability applications, as a source of emergency capacity or as a way of deferring the expansion of a local network. In some markets, these plants are displacing more costly grid electricity. Globally, more capacity for distributed generation was ordered in 2000 than for nuclear power.
This book provides a guide to energy policy makers on this growing phenomenon. It surveys the current situation and market status of distributed generation in selected OECD countries, including the impact of current energy policies.
Direct air capture plays an important and growing role in net zero pathways. Capturing CO2 directly from the air and permanently storing it removes the CO2 from the atmosphere, providing a way to balance emissions that are difficult to avoid, including from long-distance transport and heavy industry, as well as offering a solution for legacy emissions. Air-captured CO2 can also be used as a climate-neutral feedstock for a range of products that require a source of carbon. In the IEA Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario, direct air capture technologies capture more than 85 Mt of CO2 in 2030 and around 980 MtCO2 in 2050, requiring a large and accelerated scale-up from almost 0.01 MtCO2 today. Currently 18 direct air capture facilities are operating in Canada, Europe and the United States. The first large-scale direct air capture plant of up to 1 MtCO2/year is in advanced development and is expected to be operating in the United States by the mid-2020s. This report explores the growing momentum behind direct air capture, together with the opportunities and challenges for scaling up the deployment of direct air capture technologies consistent with net zero goals. It considers the current status of these technologies, their potential for cost reductions, their future energy needs, and the optimal locations for direct air capture facilities. Finally, the report identifies the key drivers for direct air capture investment and priorities for policy action.
Digital technologies are everywhere, affecting the way we live, work, travel, and play. Digitalization is helping improve the safety, productivity, accessibility, and sustainability of energy systems around the world. But it is also raising new security and privacy risks, while disrupting markets, businesses, and workers.
Digitalization & Energy is the International Energy Agency’s first comprehensive effort to depict how digitalization could transform the world’s energy systems. The report examines the impact of digital technologies on energy demand sectors, looks at how energy suppliers can use digital tools to improve operations, and explores the transformational potential of digitalization to help create a highly interconnected energy system.
This report seeks to provide greater clarity to decision makers in government and industry on what digitalization means for energy, shining a light on its enormous potential and most pressing challenges. It also lays out no-regret recommendations to help steer the world towards a more secure, sustainable, and smarter energy future.
In its latest publication, Development of Competitive Gas Trading in Continental Europe, the IEA examines the history of major gas markets’ development in OECD Europe, and explores the possible expansion of trading through the mechanism of different hubs across the region. Lessons learned from North American markets on the benefits of regulatory convergence and investor-friendly legal framework are an important part of the analysis. Competitive trading based on transparent, non-discriminatory rules in a flexible and integrated European gas market will lead to more efficiency, timely investment, and greater market resilience, therefore ensuring more security for both customers and suppliers in the long term.
A regional ASEAN Power Grid (APG) would help ASEAN countries meet their rising energy demands, improve access to energy services and reduce the costs of developing an energy infrastructure. Two primary advantages of system integration are the increase in security of supply and efficiency. Larger service territories allow for the pooling of generating resources, thus taking advantage of the benefits of generation diversity.
Establishing electricity security regulations, co-ordinated planning, allocating the cost of transmission development, revising network codes and system monitoring is crucial for a functioning market. ASEAN member countries hence should work closely together to set common long-term goals for a regional market. The medium-term target should be harmonisation of grid codes and reliability standards. To ensure this, an independent regional regulator should be established and given a mandate to look after the common benefits and interests of the ASEAN member countries.
The OECD has been working on water policy reform in the countries of Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia for over 20 years. Three of the countries within the region, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine have signed Association Agreements with the European Union. These agreements provide a framework for deeper political ties and stronger economic links with the EU and include commitments for approximation towards EU legislation including the Water Framework Directive.
Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine have ambitious long-term strategic plans for their water sectors, which include fulfilment of requirements under the Association Agreements and international commitments including the Sustainable Development Goals. The water policy outlooks baseline the country policy framework and current performance and then define the long-term vision and aspirations to 2030. The outlooks aim to demonstrate the likelihood of the current policy framework to achieve the long-term objectives and desired future state of the water sector, and include identification of opportunities for improving policy coherence and policies that have the opportunity to improve the likelihood of success.
The trading of natural gas in the Asia-Pacific region is dominated by long-term contracts in which the price of gas is indexed to that of oil. As the price of gas between Asia and other parts of the world has widened in recent years, observers have raised serious doubts about the sustainability of this pricing model. In this report, the IEA shows what it would take to create a functional, regional natural-gas trading hub in which prices reflect the local supply and demand fundamentals.
The report aims to provide stakeholders with insights on the changes that are required in the Asia-Pacific natural gas sector -- both downstream and upstream -- to allow a competitive natural gas price to emerge. Building on OECD Europe and OECD America experiences, this report sets out to assess perspectives for these changes in the Asia-Pacific natural gas markets. It identifies obstacles and opportunities for a competitive natural gas price in the Asian economies to emerge.
Driven by an increasing recognition of the many advantages of natural gas and by the need to diversify its coal-dominated energy supply, China’s natural gas industry is poised for rapid expansion. This study describes China’s gas market situation and examines the key issues facing its industry and policy makers. Drawing on the experiences and lessons from developed gas markets around the world and taking into account the specific circumstances of the Chinese gas market, it also offers a number of policy suggestions for the Chinese government to consider in its effort to boost the country’s natural gas industry.
Deploying Renewables: Principles for Effective Policies examines the key factors that will determine the success of renewable energy policies and how current policies can be improved to encourage greater deployment of renewables. Responding to the Gleneagles G8 call for a clean and secure energy future, it highlights key policy tools to fast-track renewables into the mainstream. This analysis illustrates good practices by applying the combined metrics of effectiveness and efficiency to renewable energy policies in the electricity, heating and transport sectors. It highlights significant barriers to accelerating renewables penetration, and argues that the great potential of renewables can be exploited much more rapidly and to a much larger extent if good practices are adopted.
The global energy system faces urgent challenges. Concerns about energy security are growing, as highlighted by the recent political turmoil in Northern Africa and the nuclear incident in Fukushima. At the same time, the need to respond to climate change is more critical than ever. Against this background, many governments have increased efforts to promote deployment of renewable energy – low-carbon sources that can strengthen energy security. This has stimulated unprecedented rise in deployment, and renewables are now the fastest growing sector of the energy mix.
This “coming of age” of renewable energy also brings challenges. Growth is focused on a few of the available technologies, and rapid deployment is confined to a relatively small number of countries. In more advanced markets, managing support costs and system integration of large shares of renewable energy in a time of economic weakness and budget austerity has sparked vigorous political debate.
The IEA’s new report, Deploying Renewables 2011: Best and Future Policy Practice:
· Provides a comprehensive review and analysis of renewable energy policy and market trends;
· Analyses in detail the dynamics of deployment and provides best-practice policy principles for different stages of market maturity;
· Assesses the impact and cost-effectiveness of support policies using new methodological tools and indicators;
· Investigates the strategic reasons underpinning the pursuit of RE deployment by different countries and the prospects for globalisation of RE.
This new book builds on and extends a 2008 IEA publication, drawing on recent policy and deployment experience world-wide. It provides guidance for policy makers and other stakeholders to avoid past mistakes, overcome new challenges and reap the benefits of deploying renewables – today and tomorrow.
Government action plays a pivotal role in ensuring secure and sustainable energy transitions and combatting the climate crisis. Energy policy is critical not just for the energy sector but also for meeting environmental, economic and social goals. Governments need to respond to their country’s specific needs, adapt to regional contexts and help address global challenges. In this context, the International Energy Agency (IEA) conducts Energy Policy Reviews to support governments in developing more impactful energy and climate policies.
This Energy Policy Review was prepared in partnership between the Government of Denmark and the IEA. It draws on the IEA's extensive knowledge and the inputs of expert peers from IEA member countries to assess Denmark’s most pressing energy sector challenges and provide recommendations on how to address them, backed by international best practices. The report also highlights areas where Denmark’s leadership can serve as an example in promoting secure clean energy transitions. It also promotes the exchange of best practices among countries to foster learning, build consensus and strengthen political will for a sustainable and affordable clean energy future.
Energy efficiency indicators are key to tracking energy efficiency progress for a variety of purposes (e.g. policy making, monitoring targets, making energy projections, developing scenarios and planning, and benchmarking). This guide is for professionals and decision makers, describing options and good practices for the collection of energy end-use data and the development of energy efficiency indicators at the national level. In parallel, it can also be used as an assessment tool, helping countries/economies to locate their starting point, and to identify appropriate targets according to their respective national interests and priorities.The roadmap presented here encompasses the results of a consultation exercise across countries and presents good practices and practical tips. It acknowledges that there is no single solution, but a number of possible pathways instead, depending on national contexts and priorities. The roadmap is a strategic document looking at the whole value chain in the development of efficiency indicators, from the initial point where the need for data and indicators arises up to the later dissemination and data use stages, and is meant to be a useful resource for practitioners across the globe in the development of energy efficiency indicators.
Bioenergy is the main source of renewable energy today. IEA modelling also indicates that modern bioenergy is an essential component of the future low carbon global energy system if global climate change commitments are to be met, playing a particularly important role in helping to decarbonise sectors such as aviation, shipping and long haul road transport.
However, the current rate of bioenergy deployment is well below the levels required in low carbon scenarios. Accelerated deployment is urgently needed to ramp up the contribution of sustainable bioenergy across all sectors, notably in the transport sector where consumption is required to triple by 2030. But bioenergy is a complex and sometimes controversial topic. There is an increasing understanding that only bioenergy that is supplied and used in a sustainable manner has a place in a low carbon energy future.
This Technology Roadmap re-examines the role of bioenergy in light of changes to the energy landscape over the past five years as well as recent experience in bioenergy policy, market development and regulation. It identifies the technical, policy and financial barriers to deployment, and suggests a range of solutions to overcome them.