New Working Paper: “Powering the Energy Transition: Progress and Challenges”

We are pleased to announce that EnergyEconLab is today posting the paper “Powering the Energy Transition: Progress and Challenges” by Fabra, N., and Reguant, M. as Working Paper [EEL Working Paper 2026-005].

 

The authors perform a literature review of the market-design and policy challenges shaping the energy transition, examining both the supply and demand sides of the market. They discuss how to promote renewable investment through long-term contracts and better-designed auctions, how power systems can manage intermittency through transmission, storage, and demand response, and why electrification remains slow despite falling clean-energy costs. They also highlight the importance of considering who bears the costs and who benefits from the transition, as social acceptance can determine whether projects move forward. The paper argues that completing the energy transition is no longer primarily a technological challenge, but one of getting market and policy design right on both sides of the market.