Polityka Energetyczna - Energy Policy Journal

The rapid surge of global oil prices, on account of the pent-up demand after COVID-19 and the Russian-Ukraine war, has significantly contributed to the cost-push inflation as well as twin deficits, predominantly in developing economies. Motivated by the intention to curb the inflation, governments of several oil-dependent economies have rolled out fiscal measures to provide immediate relief to households through subsidizing the fuel component of the consumption basket. This paper provides a case study of Pakistan, wherein the effectiveness of untargeted gasoline and diesel subsidies has been gauged against alternative direct disbursement mechanisms. The analysis reveals that under the price-control based indirect subsidy disbursement mechanism, only 11% of the total domestic subsidies were directed to the poorest 40% of the households, whereas approximately 55% of the total subsidies were allocated to the 20% of the most liquid household segment. The case study analyzes the performance of alternative direct subsidy disbursement mechanisms which transpires into the potential fiscal savings of PKR 74.63 billion, while providing coverage to 40% of the lowest household segment. The study also evaluates the implication of the pass-through of the true prices on the national consumption of gasoline and diesel in the short-term, which reveals the sharp reduction of petroleum consumption in the total bill from 37% to 23%, thereby providing substantial relief to the current account balance. The finding provides key insights for economies to institutionalize the necessary social protection system and progressively transit to the direct subsidy disbursement mechanism while striving to contain the cost-push-based inflation triggered through the rapid movement of global oil prices.

The electric power sector is analyzed from the standpoint of well-being and a number of political priorities are considered that go beyond the traditional tasks of the so-called “energy trilemma”, namely reliable, affordable and carbon-free energy. This shows the importance of solving the problem at different levels as it can help the Government of Kazakhstan more reliably achieve synergy between actions to combat climate change and other priorities and, consequently, achieve double harmonization. The purpose of the study is to consider the cost and pricing surveys in the conditions of the functioning of the electricity market of Kazakhstan. Electricity is of key importance for human well-being. Electricity is highly necessary for many basic services, infrastructure and economic activities. Despite the increase in energy efficiency, the global electricity demand increased by 115% between 1990 and 2020, which is significantly higher than the population growth rate over the same period. This trend will undoubtedly continue conditioned upon economic growth, increased access and the electrification of end users. The assessment of electricity generation technologies from the point of view of well-being requires the use of the full cost method, which includes all applicable external costs, risks and benefits to determine the low-carbon energy balance, which in the Republic of Kazakhstan, is compatible with sustainable development. This assessment clearly needs to go beyond the plant level to consider the network infrastructure and demand to get a holistic view of the social costs of electricity. The practical significance lies in the analysis of cost and pricing in the conditions of the functioning of the electricity market of Kazakhstan.

Increasing energy security in the face of rising energy demand and declining funding for fossil fuels has necessitated the diversification of energy supply and the shift to renewable energy. Sustainable management of energy supply is aimed at achieving a low-carbon intensity of production, especially in energy-intensive industries, including the mechanical-engineering industry. The article examines the possibility of shifting the current mechanical-engineering enterprise system and the technical, environmental and economic indicators of production to the new concept of the green economy, which will be an alternative to the further sustainable development of the industry. This article analyzes key approaches to energy conservation. An analytical model has been developed for calculating the energy risk of the mechanical-engineering enterprise and has built a context diagram of mechanical-engineering production, taking into account the environmental impact and the possibility of energy modernization, which allows the setting of strategic goals to ensure the sustainability of energy supply in the mechanical-engineering industry and develop the main principles of efficient enterprise activities in the context of increased risk. It has been proven that one of the criteria for increasing the profitability indicator is the adaptability of enterprises to external conditions and increasing alternative options for obtaining energy from our own autonomous sources.

This paper presents the results of modeling and analysis of hybrid generation system (HSW). The system contains municipal waste gasification installation, photovoltaic (PV) system and wind farm. The system cooperates with the power system to provide electrical energy to the communal consumer. The consumer is characterized by a maximum power demand equal to 10 MW and an annual energy demand of 42.351 GWh. Generation with renewable sources was modelled using meteorological data. Moreover, in order to cover the demand with the level of generation, gas storage was used. Next, the three-stage gasification model is presented. It was validated, using the literature data, and its efficiency and gas composition have been calculated and are presented. Furthermore, energetic and economic analysis have been conducted. Installed power usage factor and efficiency of energy sources were calculated. Gross and net energy generation of hybrid generation systems have been computed and are presented. In this analysis, energy consumption by gas compressing was included. The analyzed HSW covered 54.5% of the demand. Most of this (30.2%) was covered by the gasification system. However, the system was characterized by a low net efficiency equal to 16.7%. Diagrams of power generation in each source and storage fill chart are presented. In the economic part of the analysis, results of calculations of net present value and payback period are published in order to examine the profitability of the system.
The cost of electricity was 490–1050 PLN/MWh. The results show that municipal waste gasification can be used as a part of HSW to adjust the generation with the demand. Moreover, it can be economically advantageous. However, it is characterized by high CO ₂ emission and low efficiency of the waste processing system.

The poor energy situation in most African countries manifests itself in very low access to energy and high energy poverty. To address these problems, and drive towards achieving universal energy access, African nations have, in recent time, directed attention to governance issues in energy resource development through building relevant institutions, strengthening legal frameworks, designing policies, ensuring cooperation, and harnessing investments. The concern for a governance approach to energy development is partly due to the submission that the core reason for poor energy delivery is ineffective energy governance. This study is based on Southern Africa and intends to examine the current energy access situation and explore the existing energy governance initiatives. The study used three measures of energy access (national, rural and urban) and energy consumption in order to examine the existing energy situation. The governance actions were examined by looking at national energy policies, energy partnerships (private sector, development partners), and sub-regional power pools. The study observes that the generally poor energy situation in Africa is evident in the Southern African countries. Governance actions are found to be multisource and multilevel. While these actions confirm the seriousness of the stakeholders in addressing the poor energy situation; results have been minimal. Thus, there is a need for more vigorous efforts in implementing the energy policies, engaging the private sector and creating productive cooperation among energy delivery stakeholders.

This article presents an investigation of solar power plants’ economic efficiency in the case of energy prosumers. The economic effect of the development of solar energy, the environmental effect of the transition to green energy and the social effect due to lower electricity costs and investment growth from the use of photovoltaic installations (PVI) have been proven. The level of annual savings in PVI due to changes in production and own consumption of electricity are determined. Through use of factor analysis, the grouping method, the method of generalizing indicators, quantitative data collection for solar PV systems and the matrix method, the two main hypotheses were proven: (i) solar energy production should be stimulated by a sound state tariff policy; (ii) prosumers as players of the electricity market should be considered in the tariff policy. It is revealed that at current interest rates, PVI operational activity is subject to more complex factors, and the main one becomes economic, namely considering the economy of consumers, the level of taxation or grants of PVI activities, as well as productivity and the real state of technical condition of devices. The provided research develops the theoretical and empirical basis for the state policy of solar electricity usage with consideration to the peculiarities of its production and consumption. The process of production and consumption of electricity in PVI is not characterized by uniformity, which is derived from a number of factors, primarily from natural and climatic conditions. It also depends on the technical characteristics of the devices.