On 13 December, in an enthusiastic press release, the European Commission welcomed the political agreement reached on the same day between the European Parliament and the European Council on the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), better known by its Irish acronym CBAM, whose principle is to tax the carbon content of imports. According to the […]
Following the public consultation held from 23/01/2023 to 13/02/2023, and during which Member States positioned themselves between two clearly defined sides, with radically opposed views (see our Newsletter from March: Electricity market reform (Part 2) : liberals strike back), on March 14th 2023, the European Commission published its initial proposal for the reform of the
Commission’s proposal on the electricity market reform (Part 3): liberals score a point Read More »
There are definitely two opposing sides in the European debate on the electricity market reform… Before going into the details of the European political-war context, it is worth reviewing the exceptional energy situation of the last twelve months. The year 2022 is marked by a triple crisis: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – which led to
Electricity market reform (Part 2) : liberals strike back Read More »
In 2021, the return to a post-pandemic normality began to push up electricity bills in Europe. Already during the summer of 2021, Spain began its own battle for the EU to review the current market design, rejected by Brussels on the grounds that it would generate distortions in the markets. Spain argued that the marginalist
Electricity market reform: Spain’s proposal Read More »
With the recent adoption of the Regulation “concerning emergency measures to tackle high energy prices” (2022/1854 of 6 October 2022), the European Commission is putting in place a series of mechanisms to mitigate the impact of the current energy crisis. This regulation calls for coordinated measures to reduce consumption while, at the same time, allowing
Margin Cap: the new paradigm Read More »
Just a few days into winter, EDF has only 39GW available out of a total of 61.4GW of its nuclear fleet. These figures are the consequence of a series of events that have taken place since the outbreak of COVID-19, hitting the French nuclear fleet and reducing its production, which in the past had steadily
Nuclear energy in France: a challenge ahead Read More »
8 months after the start of Ukraine’s invasion by Russia, Ukrainians are resisting, and fighting back. Heavy western sanctions have been imposed on Russia and, as a result, Russian oil and gas supplies to Europe have fallen sharply. Energy “sobriety” has become the rule. Out of necessity because of extremely high prices for the unprotected
Ukrainian crisis: how ready is Europe ahead of next winter? A focus on gas Read More »
Gas cap mechanism in the Iberian Peninsula On 15 June, the Iberian singularity mechanism came into effect allowing Spain and Portugal to contain price rises in their electricity markets by applying a cap on the price of gas used for thermal power generation. Until December 2022, this gas price cap will be 40 €/MWh and
Analysis of the Iberian singularity (last 3 months) versus other regulatory mechanisms Read More »
On 17 August 2022, the first law of the new legislature, i.e., of Emmanuel Macron’s second term in office, “LOI n°2022-1158 du 16 août 2022 portant mesures d’urgence pour la protection du pouvoir d’achat” (Law n°2022-1158 of 16 August 2022 on emergency measures to protect purchasing power) was published in the French Official Journal. While
Purchasing power and energy Read More »
Last June 15th, the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) suspended the spot market for wholesale electricity as a result of an ever worsening power crisis. This was the first time in its history that AEMO took the drastic decision to suspend the whole National Electricity Market (NEM) as it had become impossible to opearte the
Australia’s power spot market suspension: a warning for Europe? Read More »
Each month, one of our experts publishes an article describing his view on a specific topic of the constant changes taking place in the energy market, with special focus on the French market.
“Decarbonization of the Energy and Transport sectors is arguably today’s main economic driver for the industry.”
His career started in civil engineering as a Project Manager in France, Martinique and Australia. Afterwards, he became the General Manager of a subsidiary in Venezuela. In 1992, he established Dalkia in Germany (district heating, cogeneration, and partnerships) and represented Véolia in Thailand. In 2000, he opened the commercial office of Endesa in France to take advantage of the liberalized retail market. From 2006, as a development Manager at Endesa France, he led Endesa’s plan for Combined Cycle generation in France and developed the wind and PV portfolio of Snet at the same time. Philippe Boulanger worked for 3 years at E.ON’s headquarters coordinating the company´s activities in France. He was strongly involved in the French hydro concession renewal project. As a Senior Vice President – Project Director at Solvay Energy Services from April 2012 to February 2014 he was in charge of the H2/Power to gas and European direct market access deployment projects. Philippe has been an HES expert since 2014.
Philippe Boulanger holds engineering degrees both from the Ecole Polytechnique and the Ecole Nationale des Ponts & Chaussées (France) and has a combined experience of more than 25 years in energy and infrastructure. In addition to English, Mr. Boulanger is fluent in French, German & Spanish.
“The world is changing. New investors pay particular attention to the energy sector while historical actors adapt their position to the market.”
Antonio started his career in the electricity sector in 1991 working as a member of the General Manager’s team at Sevillana de Electricidad (Spain). In 1997, he was appointed head of commercial regulation at Endesa Distribución. In 2000, he joined the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) department of Endesa Europe. He was appointed Managing Director of Endesa Power Trading Ltd (UK) in 2003. A year later, he became responsible for energy management at SNET (France). In 2008, he was appointed Managing Director of SNET (France). In 2009, he became Director of Corporate Development at E.ON France. In 2011, he founded Haya Energy Solutions (HES), a consulting firm focused on optimising the energy management of consumers, producers and retailers of gas and electricity. From 2015 to 2018, Antonio combined the consulting activity at HES with the general management of 2 production facilities in France (2 CCGTs x 410MW), owned by KKR. At the end of 2018, he joined Asterion Industrial Partners, an infrastructure investment fund, as an operating partner. Antonio currently devotes most of his efforts to the Asterion Portfolio, while advising through HES companies in the energy sector in France, Italy, Germany, UK and Spain.
Antonio graduated from the Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros of Seville (Spain) and holds an MBA degree from Deusto University (Spain).
