The midway assessment is carried out in accordance with the Guidelines for midway assessments for the doctoral program at the Faculty of Law, University of Oslo. The evaluation consists of an open seminar part (approx. 90 min.) and a closed meeting (approx. 30 min.).
Assessor: Kaisa Huhta, Associate Professor of European law at the University of Eastern Finland
Supervisor: Catherine Banet, professor at Scandinavian Institute of Maritime Law, University of Oslo
Leader of the assessment: Finn Arnesen, professor at the Scandinavian Institute of Maritime Law, University of Oslo
About the PhD researcher
Ingvild Ånestad is a PhD researcher at the University of Oslo, Scandinavian Institute of Maritime Law, Department of Energy and Resources Law. The project is part of FME NorthWind (Norwegian Research Centre on Wind Energy) co-financed by the Research Council of Norway. More information is available here.
About the project
Title of the thesis: EU`s energy market design under pressure, with a focus on electricity projects involving Norway.
EUs internal electricity market is built on the notion that if structural imbalances are cleared out of the way, such as the division of monopoly activities and commercial activities, the price signals will ensure that the market participants act in accordance with the aims of the market. If the market is functioning in accordance with these principles, there will be limited need for the intervention by the EU or the Member States in the market. However, although EU`s market design therefore can be viewed as a set of agreed terms that shall be followed, several examples shows that this is not always the case in practice. The reasons behind the intervention in the market are numerous. EU`s market design can be put under pressure following a crisis, such as the electricity price crisis in 2022, the need to ensure security of supply on an EU level following Russia`s invasion of the Ukraine or pressure following the need for a speedier deployment of renewables to fulfill EU`s Green Deal. The intervening in the market design could take several forms, such as a stretching of the rules that regulate unbundling, or as a corrective tool if the market design does not ensure security of supply.
With this as a background, the thesis examines the regulatory framework for the development of the electricity grid and the role of the Transmission System Operators (TSO). For EU Member States planning to collaborate in energy projects with Norway, the uncertainty created by EU`s willingness to stretch the electricity market design can be further emphasized by Norway`s position as a non-EU Member State. The EEA Agreement has been a pragmatic and dynamic tool in ensuring the EEA EFTA States access to EU`s internal energy market. However, legal pragmatism does not give legal certainty, and the articles discuss some of the challenges that could arise in energy projects.
The articles span over different topics such as the financial electricity market, free trade agreements and the more technical aspects such as connection rights and access right. The overarching research questions are the following:
Is the electricity market design stretched in times of crisis and/or when delivering on the Green Deal? How are corrective tools used when market failure is detected? Is the EU going too far in intervening with the market design and/or the principle of conferral and subsidiarity? What is the role of the TSOs in a changing electricity market design? Norway`s special situation- how will projects involving Norway be different?