Third Mannheim Energy Conference on Sustainable Energy Markets

On May 5 and 6, 2014, ZEW hosted the third Mannheim Energy Conference. The event was organised in collaboration with the Mannheim Centre for Competition and Innovation (MaCCI). Some 90 international participants attended the conference.

The theoretical and empirical contributions to the conference addressed a broad selection of topics, ranging from competition and regulation in electricity and natural gas markets, to emission policies, energy demand and energy efficiency, to investment opportunities in the energy sector. The two-day conference was a platform for exchange and debate between researchers and experts from the areas of politics, business and organisations. The international conference was hosted by ZEW and the Leibniz ScienceCampus "Mannheim Centre for Competition and Innovation" (MaCCI). MaCCI is a joint interdisciplinary project of ZEW and the University of Mannheim.

Keynote speakers

The plenary lectures featured presentations by three leading researchers: The conference was opened by renowned energy expert Steven Soft. He has published books and articles in academic journals on energy issues and participated in the development and surveillance of the PJM market in the US. In his lecture, he suggested a new approach to international climate negotiations by setting global carbon emission prices. Richard Green, a renowned energy economist from Imperial College London, then presented recent developments, research findings and prospects regarding the sustainability of the British electricity market. José M. Labeaga (National Distance Education University) provided an overview of developments in energy demand and energy efficiency.

The chairman of the Austrian energy regulator "Energie Control Austria", Martin Graf, gave a lecture on the implications of the European internal energy market for Austria’s regulatory policy. He drew attention to the main fields of action concerning the future regulatory policy on the Austrian electricity market.

The conference featured numerous workshops and lectures focusing on developments in energy markets and a panel discussion hosted by Andreas Löschel (ZEW). Under the title "Financing the Energy Transition", Jörg Böttcher (HSH Nordbank AG), Marcus Jentsch (MVV Energie AG) and Christoph Weber (University of Duisburg-Essen) discussed the financial challenges of the energy transition from various perspectives.