Sem Oxenaar
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soxenaar.bsky.social
Sem Oxenaar
@soxenaar.bsky.social
Excited about heat and building decarbonisation, working @regassistproj - heating & cooling / industrial electrification / district heating / heat planning
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The future energy bill is an electricity bill.

This is why we must 'Make Electricity Cheaper' for households, businesses and industry.

In our 3rd paper at RAP on this topic, Tom Butler & I look at reducing tax & levies added to electricity prices for industry.

tinyurl.com/4z4v5ssd
Making electricity cheaper: Modernising taxes and levies to incentivise electrification of industrial heat
RAP experts Sem Oxenaar and Tom Butler look at the state of electricity and gas prices for industry and the impact of reducing taxes and levies.
www.raponline.org
Reposted by Sem Oxenaar
Europe can’t reach its clean energy goals without scaling demand flexibility. ⚡

Our new report with @ember-energy.org explains how empowering consumers to shift electricity use can cut bills, ease grid stress, and boost renewables.

Read: bit.ly/4oAa8hS
#EnergyTransition #Flexibility
How to scale demand flexibility in Europe | Ember
Boosting demand side flexibility can lower consumer bills and provide grid stability. Ember and RAP identify the top policy actions to scale demand flexibility.
bit.ly
November 5, 2025 at 9:32 AM
The future energy bill is an electricity bill.

This is why we must 'Make Electricity Cheaper' for households, businesses and industry.

In our 3rd paper at RAP on this topic, Tom Butler & I look at reducing tax & levies added to electricity prices for industry.

tinyurl.com/4z4v5ssd
Making electricity cheaper: Modernising taxes and levies to incentivise electrification of industrial heat
RAP experts Sem Oxenaar and Tom Butler look at the state of electricity and gas prices for industry and the impact of reducing taxes and levies.
www.raponline.org
October 30, 2025 at 8:56 AM
As always, great thread on the latest developments in solar PV @solarchase.bsky.social
Time for 2025 updates to my annual “opinions about solar” thread. If you like these, you might like the second edition of my book, Solar Power Finance Without The Jargon. A 30% discount code WSQ0437 is valid on publisher website until end of November 2025.

www.worldscientific.com/worldscibook...
Solar Power Finance Without the Jargon
www.worldscientific.com
October 21, 2025 at 7:43 PM
Reposted by Sem Oxenaar
Time for 2025 updates to my annual “opinions about solar” thread. If you like these, you might like the second edition of my book, Solar Power Finance Without The Jargon. A 30% discount code WSQ0437 is valid on publisher website until end of November 2025.

www.worldscientific.com/worldscibook...
Solar Power Finance Without the Jargon
www.worldscientific.com
October 20, 2025 at 7:43 AM
Reposted by Sem Oxenaar
RAP CEO @katherinehdixon.bsky.social joins the @financialtimes.com Energy Transition Summit to discuss how effective regulation can accelerate a clean, reliable, and affordable energy future.
Learn more about the event ⬇️
energytransitions.live.ft.com/home
#CleanEnergy #EnergyPolicy #FTEnergy
October 16, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Reposted by Sem Oxenaar
You don’t get to brief all 27 EU energy ministers every day (or at least I don't).

In a rare step for the Council of Energy Ministers, I was asked to deliver an expert intervention on industrial electrification at the Energy Council on 20 Oct.

Livestream: video.consilium.europa.eu/event/en/28169
October 16, 2025 at 1:47 PM
Reposted by Sem Oxenaar
Why is the share of EVs among delivery vehicles and light trucks in the Netherlands skyrocketing? Cities.

theicct.org/zez-netherla...
October 10, 2025 at 3:41 PM
Will Russia start importing refined fuels soon? Another clear reason why China is pushing electrification so hard: independence and resilience. www.reuters.com/business/ene...
Russia declares partial diesel export ban until year-end, extends gasoline ban
Russia has imposed a partial ban on diesel exports and extended an existing gasoline export ban until the end of the year, the government said on Tuesday.
www.reuters.com
October 1, 2025 at 6:36 AM
Reposted by Sem Oxenaar
NEW RESEARCH: The future energy bill is an electricity bill.
We must Make Electricity Cheaper for households, businesses and industry.

How? …This feels like the defining question of the moment.

I’m happy to share @regassistproj.bsky.social 8 priority actions.
www.raponline.org/knowledge-ce...
Making electricity cheaper: RAP's eight priority actions
RAP identifies 8 priority actions to make electricity cheaper for European industry, businesses & households in the short, medium & long-term.
www.raponline.org
September 29, 2025 at 7:20 AM
Grid investment needs are ramping up. NL government is selling part of TSO TenneT to raise more capital for expansion & strengthening.

46% will be taken over by a Dutch pension fund, and the Norwegian & Singaporean sovereign wealth funds.

www.reuters.com/business/ene...
Dutch government sells nearly half of TenneT Germany for $11.3 billion
The Dutch government is selling 46% of power grid operator TenneT's German unit to an investor consortium for up to 9.5 billion euros ($11.3 billion), it said, kicking off the separation from a business it has long been trying to divest.
www.reuters.com
September 30, 2025 at 7:35 AM
Reposted by Sem Oxenaar
"the TSOs’ study undervalues the efficiency gains of alternative reconfigurations that split the bidding zone of 🇩🇪-🇱🇺 and that link them up with a bidding zone reconfiguration in 🇳🇱. ACER estimates the benefits [..] in the order of 450-540 million EUR per year, 70% higher than TSOs’ assessment."
💡ACER Opinion: #European #TSOs#BiddingZoneReview study broadly aligns with #EU legal and regulatory framework but significantly underestimates the benefits of re-shaping Europe’s #electricity #BiddingZones.

👉 www.acer.europa.eu/news/electri...
September 18, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Reposted by Sem Oxenaar
I'm delighted to share two new translations of version 2 of our global heat pump policy toolkit, one in French and one in Polish (these sit alongside the English and Korean versions). This is a key international resource for growing clean heating. www.raponline.org/toolkit/heat...
September 18, 2025 at 8:58 AM
Milestone: in June 2025 solar became the biggest source of electricity in Europe for the first time! 19.9%, 53.9TWh according to IEA.
September 17, 2025 at 1:10 PM
Reposted by Sem Oxenaar
I'm delighted to introduce Tom Butler to our @regassistproj.bsky.social team.

Tom dedicates his career to decarbonising the big stuff - industrial clusters. In RAP he'll also focus on grid access & the economics of industrial ⚡. Tom joins me in London. Do say hi.
www.raponline.org/experts/tom-...
Tom Butler
Tom Butler is a junior associate for the Regulatory Assistance Project in Europe.
www.raponline.org
September 17, 2025 at 8:59 AM
Reposted by Sem Oxenaar
Decarbonising industry - after 2 days strategising with partners I have some take aways:
1. #Electrification is THE no regrets option* to decarb European industry. ⚡is useful in all sectors. It may not offer full solution for some heavy industry, it does for most process heat. tinyurl.com/3c7h24bs
September 10, 2025 at 12:21 PM
Reposted by Sem Oxenaar
If it were not so sad, it would be entertaining: Brussels and Berlin blame today’s car sector crisis on regulation that only bites in 2035—while Germany has already lost half its net car exports.

Missing a forest of nine million by staring at a tree.
Woah. China now exporting cars at a staggering clip of 9 million vehicles annually.

For comparison: Germany’s pre-Diesel scandal peak was 4.5m.
And Germany was always far less one-sided: it imports 2x+ as many cars as China (in absolutes).

What happened to the idea this would self-extinguish?

1/
September 9, 2025 at 1:18 PM
Reposted by Sem Oxenaar
one morning, when gregor samsa woke from troubled dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a very hungry caterpillar
September 1, 2025 at 3:41 PM
Reposted by Sem Oxenaar
Die Netze werden ausgebaut, die Entgelte steigen – die Entwicklung beeinflussen, kann auch die Verteilung der #Netzkosten. Diese will die Bundesnetzagentur mit #AgNes angehen. Das erste Diskussionspapier ist ein Anfang, findet @andreasjahn.bsky.social 👉 t1p.de/mm9oy @regassistproj.bsky.social
September 3, 2025 at 8:55 AM
Reposted by Sem Oxenaar
Great work by Maarten Staats to make all available grid hosting capacity maps in Europe accessible via one website. What started with the simple question: why doesn't this exist yet is now here via the bookmarkable URL gridcapacitymaps.eu
European Grid Capacity Maps
Interactive Open Access tool showcasing European electricity grid capacity resources with supply maps, demand maps, and simplified view for energy transition professionals.
www.gridcapacitymaps.eu
September 2, 2025 at 7:24 AM
Reposted by Sem Oxenaar
A new take on district heating and flexibility: can dynamic pricing help reduce overall heating costs? The short answer is yes, and automatic controllers would reinforce this effect. Peak heat demand, sometimes also from fossil sources, can thus be reduced.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
August 25, 2025 at 12:56 PM
Reposted by Sem Oxenaar
🚨 NEW FROM RAP AT CEM16 MEETINGS 🚨

Energy regulators are hidden catalysts of the clean energy transition. Governments can change that.

By setting clear climate targets and giving regulators an explicit mandate for decarbonisation policymakers can accelerate progress.

Read how: bit.ly/47Gnaor
Pathways for empowering regulators to advance decarbonisation  Pathways for empowering regulators to advance decarbonisation
Countries around the world have committed to decarbonisation targets, as they collectively strive to limit global warming to 1.5°C. Rising to this complex RAP explores how governments can empower regu...
bit.ly
August 25, 2025 at 1:27 PM
Reposted by Sem Oxenaar
1/14 China's July export data reveals tensions in its economic strategy. While "New Three" sectors posted strong growth, the sustainability is questionable amid global overcapacity concerns and trade restrictions.

www.caixinglobal.com/2025-08-19/c...
August 19, 2025 at 12:13 PM
Reposted by Sem Oxenaar
Back in 2015, various meteorological modelling exercises for 2050 produced extreme heat #climate scenarios like the below.

Except this isn’t a model, it’s today’s temperature chart for southern France & the Iberian Peninsula.
August 17, 2025 at 7:01 PM
From laggard to leader 🥳, the Netherlands hit 25% share of solar PV in electricity generation in 2024. Expecting Spain to overtake next year, as NL is reaching limits of solar absorption on the grid.
I do bloody love this chart. Who'd have thought, 20 years ago, that solar would be ~10% of world electricity generation by 2024 - and over 20% in some countries, rising rapidly in others?

Definitely not me. When I started this job I hoped to be part of a solution for maybe 1% of global electricity.
August 6, 2025 at 12:21 PM
Reposted by Sem Oxenaar
This is amongst the most impactful two minutes of broadcasting I’ve ever seen.

By Emma Murphy, International Editor, ITV News. #Gaza
August 4, 2025 at 9:52 PM