Energy Markets

GB power markets, battery storage, grid operations, and energy policy insights for operators and developers.

43 articles

Energy AI Spreadsheet - The Operator's Decision Matrix

A practical framework for energy asset operators using AI tools. From forecasting to optimization, the decision matrix that top operators use daily.

Jan 229 min

DeFi Meets Grid - The First On-Chain Energy Deal Explained

Breaking down the mechanics of the first DeFi-native grid flexibility transaction. How tokenization and smart contracts are rewriting energy market infrastructure.

Jan 228 min

Europe Battery Arbitrage League Table - Q1 2026 Rankings

Rankings and analysis of battery arbitrage performance across European markets. Discover which assets and strategies are delivering top-tier returns.

Jan 2210 min

Hyperscaler PPA Teardown - Inside Microsoft's Energy Strategy

Deep analysis of how hyperscalers structure power purchase agreements. Understand the economics driving Big Tech's unprecedented renewable energy commitments.

Jan 2211 min

How to Build a $100M Battery Portfolio with Only 5 Counterparties

Deploy nine figures into European grid-scale batteries while dealing with exactly five counterparties. The playbook battle-tested by funds owning 42% of the 2027-2028 pipeline.

Jan 228 min

GB Energy Storage: Revenue Optimization Amid Regulatory and Market Shifts — 2-7 Jan 2026

With wind generation at 19 GW suppressing wholesale prices and day-ahead spreads reaching £85/MWh during peaks, battery operators face both opportunities and challenges. Meanwhile, regulatory reforms such as the Multiple Price Capacity Market and the launch of National Grid ESO’s Open Balancing Platform are reshaping revenue strategies.

Jan 205 min

Tokenized Real-World Assets and Institutional Blockchain Adoption: What Changed This Week — 1-6 Jan 2026

The tokenized real-world asset (RWA) market hit $19B, with Solana surging 325% in 2025. Visa's USDC settlement on Solana and DTCC's Treasury tokenization initiative signal blockchain's shift from pilot to production infrastructure.

Jan 204 min

Stablecoins Transforming Payments and Infrastructure: What Changed This Week — 8-12 Jan 2026

This week, stablecoins advanced from payment tools to programmable infrastructure, with BNY Mellon launching tokenized deposits and Stripe embedding stablecoins into subscription billing. Meanwhile, Tether's $50M investment in lending, and a ruble-backed stablecoin's rise, signal a shift in how global payments and credit markets are evolving.

Jan 205 min

Energy + AI: From Spreadsheet to Real-Time Optimization

How AI is transforming battery dispatch from static spreadsheet models to real-time optimization. The tools, the economics, and the operators already capturing the edge.

Jan 164 min

DeFi Meets the Grid: Anatomy of an On-Chain Energy Deal

How tokenized energy assets are being structured, priced, and traded on-chain. The first real convergence between DeFi protocols and physical grid infrastructure.

Jan 164 min

Europe Battery Arbitrage League Table: Who's Actually Making Money

The definitive ranking of European battery operators by realized revenue per MW. Real numbers from 47 operating assets across GB, Germany, and the Nordics.

Jan 164 min

The Hyperscaler PPA Teardown: What Microsoft & Amazon Actually Signed in 2025

The four repeatable contract structures hyperscalers use to claim 24/7 carbon-free energy. Actual templates, pricing adders, grandfathered loopholes, and the clause that bankrupted two developers.

Jan 165 min

How to Build a $100M Battery Portfolio with Only 5 Counterparties

Deploy nine figures into European grid-scale batteries while dealing with exactly five counterparties. The playbook battle-tested by funds owning 42% of the 2027-2028 pipeline.

Jan 164 min

RWA Tokenization and Institutional Blockchain Infrastructure: What Changed This Week — 26-31 Dec 2025

From the DTCC's SEC-backed tokenization pilot to BlackRock's $2B BUIDL fund, and Visa's programmable USDC settlement infrastructure, this week cemented tokenization's role as institutional plumbing, not speculative hype. The RWA market's acceleration, now valued at $18.6B, signals a structural finance shift.

Jan 25 min

DTCC Tokenization Pilot and RWA Infrastructure: What Changed This Week — 26-31 Dec 2025

DTCC's SEC-cleared tokenization pilot, BlackRock's $2B BUIDL fund, and Visa's USDC settlement expansion show that tokenization is entering production-grade infrastructure. With $7.3B in tokenized Treasuries and 8.7M Ethereum contracts deployed in Q4, assets are becoming programmable APIs for the financial system.

Jan 24 min

Battery Revenue Stacking and Market Dynamics: What Changed This Week — 25-30 Dec 2025

From day-ahead prices spiking to £120/MWh to National Grid ESO launching platforms for battery optimisation, this week highlighted the growing complexity and opportunity in battery revenue stacking. Flexible operators are reaping rewards across wholesale, ancillary, and balancing markets.

Jan 25 min

Battery Storage Expansion and Revenue Optimisation in GB: What Changed This Week — 17-23 Dec 2025

This week saw critical advances in GB's battery storage landscape, including Ofgem's grid reforms, RWE's record-breaking Pembroke project, and the National Grid ESO's Open Balancing Platform rollout. With 6.8 GW of operational capacity and regulatory tailwinds accelerating deployment, the sector is primed for intensified competition and evolving revenue strategies.

Dec 245 min

Building Great Energy Software: Why Industry Expertise Unlocks True Value

Across the utilities value chain—from grid operators and engineers to retail suppliers—the same challenge emerges: data is plentiful, but without specialized knowledge, it becomes noise, not insight.

Sep 75 min

The Context Imperative: Why Domain Expertise Drives Software Success

Energy software is easy to build. What’s hard is making it matter. Across the sector—from grid operators to retail suppliers—the challenge is the same: data without context is just noise. Great products reduce effort by embedding industry-specific insight.

Aug 106 min

Market-Wide Half-Hourly Settlement: The Foundation for Britain’s Energy Future

Moving beyond the legacy system of estimated consumption profiles, MWHH mandates universal settlement based on actual half-hourly metered data, delivering projected net benefits of £1.5-4.5 billion by 2045.

Oct 613 min

Looking Ahead: The GB Energy Market in 2024 and Beyond

As we enter 2024, the market is more complex, interconnected, and dynamic than ever before. The next phase will be defined by the delivery of net zero, the integration of new technologies, the evolution of market structures, and the imperative to ensure fairness and resilience for all consumers.

Jan 27 min

The Evolving Role of Ofgem and Market Regulation

In this article, I’ll explore how Ofgem’s role has changed, the regulatory tools at its disposal, the challenges it faces, and the future of market regulation in a decarbonising, digitalising world.

Jul 316 min

Consumer Vulnerability and Fairness in the Energy Transition

In this article, I’ll explore the landscape of consumer vulnerability in the energy market, the policy and regulatory frameworks designed to protect and empower vulnerable consumers, the challenges of digitalisation and decarbonisation, and the path to a just transition.

Jul 176 min

The Future of Transmission: Interconnectors, Offshore Grids, and System Planning

In this article, I’ll explore the evolving role of transmission, the policy and regulatory frameworks shaping its future, the technical and commercial challenges ahead, and the innovations that will define the next era of system operation.

Jun 267 min

The Role of Data and Digitalisation in the Energy Transition

In this article, I’ll explore the central role of data and digitalization in the GB energy transition, the policy and regulatory frameworks shaping this evolution, the opportunities and risks, and the path forward.

Jun 196 min

The Evolving Role of Aggregators and New Market Entrants

In this article, I’ll explore the rise of aggregators, the regulatory and commercial frameworks shaping their participation, the challenges and opportunities they face, and their growing impact on the energy transition.

Jun 196 min

Settlement Reform: Market-wide Half-Hourly Settlement (MHHS)

In this article, I’ll explain what MHHS is, why it matters, how it’s being delivered, and what it means for market participants and consumers.

May 295 min

Retail Market Reform: Is the Current Model Fit for Purpose?

In this article, I’ll examine the evolution of the retail market, the challenges it faces, and the options for reform being debated in 2022.

May 225 min

The Future of Gas: Hydrogen, Biomethane, and Decarbonisation

In this article, I’ll explore the future of gas in Great Britain, focusing on the roles of hydrogen, biomethane, and the evolving policy and regulatory landscape. I’ll also examine the technical, economic, and market challenges that must be overcome to deliver a low-carbon gas system.

May 75 min

Wholesale Market Volatility: Hedging, Risk, and Opportunity

The GB energy market has always been exposed to the ebb and flow of global commodity prices, but the volatility seen in 2021–2022 has been unprecedented. Wholesale price spikes have tested the resilience of suppliers, exposed weaknesses in risk management, and forced a re-examination of hedging strategies. Yet, volatility also brings opportunity—for those able to manage risk, innovate, and adapt.

May 15 min

Smart Metering: Progress, Pitfalls, and the Path Forward

Smart meters are a cornerstone of the UK’s energy transition, underpinning everything from demand-side response to market-wide half-hourly settlement. The national rollout, one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects in recent memory, promises to empower consumers, enable flexibility, and support decarbonisation. Yet, the journey has been far from smooth.

Apr 305 min

The Evolving Role of Demand Side Response (DSR)

As the GB electricity system transitions to net zero, flexibility is becoming as valuable as raw capacity. Demand Side Response (DSR)—the ability of consumers to adjust their electricity usage in response to market signals or system needs—is emerging as a critical tool for balancing the grid, integrating renewables, and reducing costs.

Apr 235 min

Capacity Market and Security of Supply: Are We Prepared for Winter?

As the GB electricity system decarbonises and becomes more reliant on variable renewables, ensuring security of supply—especially during winter peaks—remains a top priority for policymakers, the ESO, and market participants.

Apr 155 min

The Rise and Fall of Small Suppliers: Lessons from the Crisis

The privatisation of the GB energy market was intended to foster competition, drive innovation, and deliver better value for consumers. For much of the 2010s, this vision seemed to be coming true: dozens of new, agile suppliers entered the market, challenging the dominance of the “Big Six” and offering consumers more choice than ever before.

Apr 105 min

Decarbonisation and Net Zero: Policy Drivers in 2022

Decarbonisation is no longer a distant ambition—it is the central driver of policy, investment, and innovation. In this article, I’ll explore the key policy levers, regulatory frameworks, and market mechanisms that are accelerating the transition to a low-carbon electricity system in Great Britain.

Apr 25 min

The Role of National Grid ESO: Keeping the System Stable

The National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO) sits at the heart of the GB electricity system, quietly ensuring that power flows reliably to homes and businesses every second of every day. While generators, suppliers, and consumers interact through markets and contracts, it is the ESO that orchestrates the real-time balancing act—anticipating, responding, and intervening to keep the system stable.

Mar 306 min

Balancing and Settlement: How the Electricity Market Keeps the Lights On

Electricity is unique among commodities: it must be produced and consumed in real time, with supply and demand balanced every second. In Great Britain, this delicate equilibrium is maintained through a sophisticated system of balancing and settlement, overseen by National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO) and Elexon.

Mar 277 min

Supplier of Last Resort (SoLR): What Happens When Suppliers Fail?

The wave of supplier failures during the 2021–2022 energy crisis has brought the Supplier of Last Resort (SoLR) process into sharp focus. This mechanism is critical for maintaining consumer confidence and market stability in both the gas and electricity sectors.

Mar 124 min

The 2021–2022 Energy Crisis: Causes and Consequences

The 2021–2022 energy crisis has been the most disruptive event in the GB utilities sector since market liberalisation. Both gas and electricity markets have been rocked by unprecedented price volatility, supplier failures, and regulatory intervention. In this article, I’ll explore the root causes of the crisis, its impact on both gas and electricity, and the consequences for consumers, suppliers, and the wider market.

Feb 274 min

Understanding the Price Cap: What It Means for Consumers and Suppliers

The energy price cap has become a headline issue in the GB utilities sector, especially as we move through the turbulence of 2021–22. But what exactly is the price cap, how does it work for both gas and electricity, and what are its implications for consumers and suppliers?

Feb 264 min

How Did We Get Here? A Brief History of UK Utilities

To understand the current turbulence in the GB energy market, it’s essential to look back at how we got here. The story of UK utilities is one of radical transformation: from state-run monopolies to a liberalised, competitive market, and now to a sector grappling with decarbonisation and unprecedented volatility.

Jan 305 min

Welcome to the GB Energy Market: A Primer for 2022

Introduction Welcome to the first post in my new series exploring the Great Britain (GB) utilities and energy market. My aim is to demystify the complex world of energy supply, regulation, and settlement, and to chart the dramatic changes we’re seeing in the sector as we move through 2022 and beyond.

Jan 94 min

P272 & Its Ripple Effect: How Mandatory Half-Hourly Settlement Transformed GB Energy Market Infrastructure

BSC Modification P272, implemented on 1 April 2017 after six years of development, mandated half-hourly (HH) settlement for Profile Classes 5-8, fundamentally transforming GB electricity market operations.

Apr 118 min

Energy Markets

Energy AI Spreadsheet - The Operator's Decision Matrix

DeFi Meets Grid - The First On-Chain Energy Deal Explained

Europe Battery Arbitrage League Table - Q1 2026 Rankings

Hyperscaler PPA Teardown - Inside Microsoft's Energy Strategy

How to Build a $100M Battery Portfolio with Only 5 Counterparties

GB Energy Storage: Revenue Optimization Amid Regulatory and Market Shifts — 2-7 Jan 2026

Tokenized Real-World Assets and Institutional Blockchain Adoption: What Changed This Week — 1-6 Jan 2026

Stablecoins Transforming Payments and Infrastructure: What Changed This Week — 8-12 Jan 2026

Energy + AI: From Spreadsheet to Real-Time Optimization

DeFi Meets the Grid: Anatomy of an On-Chain Energy Deal

Europe Battery Arbitrage League Table: Who's Actually Making Money

The Hyperscaler PPA Teardown: What Microsoft & Amazon Actually Signed in 2025

How to Build a $100M Battery Portfolio with Only 5 Counterparties

RWA Tokenization and Institutional Blockchain Infrastructure: What Changed This Week — 26-31 Dec 2025

DTCC Tokenization Pilot and RWA Infrastructure: What Changed This Week — 26-31 Dec 2025

Battery Revenue Stacking and Market Dynamics: What Changed This Week — 25-30 Dec 2025

Battery Storage Expansion and Revenue Optimisation in GB: What Changed This Week — 17-23 Dec 2025

Building Great Energy Software: Why Industry Expertise Unlocks True Value

The Context Imperative: Why Domain Expertise Drives Software Success

Market-Wide Half-Hourly Settlement: The Foundation for Britain&#8217;s Energy Future

Looking Ahead: The GB Energy Market in 2024 and Beyond

The Evolving Role of Ofgem and Market Regulation

Consumer Vulnerability and Fairness in the Energy Transition

The Future of Transmission: Interconnectors, Offshore Grids, and System Planning

The Role of Data and Digitalisation in the Energy Transition

The Evolving Role of Aggregators and New Market Entrants

Settlement Reform: Market-wide Half-Hourly Settlement (MHHS)

Retail Market Reform: Is the Current Model Fit for Purpose?

The Future of Gas: Hydrogen, Biomethane, and Decarbonisation

Wholesale Market Volatility: Hedging, Risk, and Opportunity

Smart Metering: Progress, Pitfalls, and the Path Forward

The Evolving Role of Demand Side Response (DSR)

Capacity Market and Security of Supply: Are We Prepared for Winter?

The Rise and Fall of Small Suppliers: Lessons from the Crisis

Decarbonisation and Net Zero: Policy Drivers in 2022

The Role of National Grid ESO: Keeping the System Stable

Balancing and Settlement: How the Electricity Market Keeps the Lights On

Supplier of Last Resort (SoLR): What Happens When Suppliers Fail?

The 2021–2022 Energy Crisis: Causes and Consequences

Understanding the Price Cap: What It Means for Consumers and Suppliers

How Did We Get Here? A Brief History of UK Utilities

Welcome to the GB Energy Market: A Primer for 2022

P272 & Its Ripple Effect: How Mandatory Half-Hourly Settlement Transformed GB Energy Market Infrastructure

Market-Wide Half-Hourly Settlement: The Foundation for Britain’s Energy Future