Podcast Archives - Oxford Institute for Energy Studies

In this latest OIES podcast, from the Gas Programme, James Henderson talks to Katja Yafimava about her recent paper on the updated EU regulation covering gas storage. Over the course of 2022 the EU adopted a significant amount of ‘emergency’ legislation to address the consequences of the energy crisis, and a major plank of it was the Gas Storage Regulation which obliged Member States to fill their storage to at least 90 per cent of capacity by 1 November. However, as the crisis has eased the relevance of this rule has been questioned and it has even been accused of distorting the gas market. The regulation expired at the end of 2025, and an EC proposal to extend it to 2027 was met with significant opposition from several Member States and market players due to concerns that the preservation of both final and intermediary targets for filling storage would result in higher gas prices. As a result, both the European Council and the Parliament made significant changes to the proposal. This podcast  provides an overview of the key provisions of the original Storage Regulation, the EC recommendation and a proposal for an extension, the Council and the Parliament positions, as well as the revised Regulation, with a view to determining the revised Regulation’s storage filling obligations and their impact on market functioning during 2025-27 and the role of the revised Regulation in shaping the ongoing revision process of the EU security of supply framework. The post OIES Podcast – EU Gas Storage Regulation – from Crisis to Flexibility appeared first on Oxford Institute for Energy Studies.

In this latest OIES podcast James Henderson talks to Aliaksei Patonia and Henry Rushton about their latest paper entitled “Bankability of Hydrogen Projects: Key Risks, Financing Challenges and Mitigation Solutions.” The discussion ranges from an initial analysis of why hydrogen projects have failed to reach the scale that was anticipated a few years ago to questions around what banks are looking for as they assess the lending opportunities in the sector. While technology does not appear to be the main constraint, it is clear that costs have not fallen far enough yet to avoid the need for policy support, which continues to be a significant risk. In addition, the need for long-term offtake contracts, in the absence of a liquid hydrogen market, is also critical, and the podcast assesses who the natural early buyers of hydrogen are and what is their willingness to sign up for 15 year contracts that are seen as the minimum requirement. Finally, the authors discuss the type of policy initiatives which they regard as the key to the success of the hydrogen industry over the next decade. The post OIES Podcast – Bankability of Hydrogen Projects appeared first on Oxford Institute for Energy Studies.