Regulation,pollution and heterogeneity in Japanese steam power generation companies

In this paper, the random stochastic frontier model is used to estimate the technical efficiency of Japanese steam power generation companies taking into regulation and pollution. The companies are ranked according to their productivity for the period 1976–2003 and homogenous and heterogeneous variables in the cost function are disentangled. Policy implication is derived.     

Productivity growth and biased technological change in hydroelectric dams

This paper analyses productivity growth and the nature of technical change in a sample of Portuguese hydroelectric generating plants over the period 2001 to 2008. In a first step, we employ the Luenberger productivity indicator to estimate and decompose productivity change. A Malmquist productivity index is also used for a comparative purpose. The results paint a picture of mixed productivity performance in the Portuguese energy sector. The first decomposition underlines that, in average, the productivity variation is explained by the technological change. Then, in a second step, we analyse the nature of this technical change by using the recent concept of parallel neutrality (Briec et al., 2006). We observe a global shift in the best practice frontier as well as in the evidence of input bias in technical change.     

电制动技术在乌溪江水电厂的应用

阐述了乌溪江水电厂50 Mw水轮发电机组电气制动技术系统的设计原理、结构、控制回路及设备选型.现场试验运行结果表明,该系统结构简单、稳定可靠,满足了"少人值班、无人值守"及系统调峰要求,是一种较理想的制动方式,可为电气制动停机技术的应用提供借鉴.     

Manufacturing productivity and energy efficiency: a stochastic efficiency frontier analysis

This paper presents a mathematical model to estimate both production frontier and energy demand frontier, and evaluate the energy efficiency in the automotive manufacturing sector using plant‐level production and utility consumption data. By using the stochastic frontier analysis, two models—an output efficiency model (production frontier) and an input efficiency model (energy demand frontier)—are developed to analyze the plant's energy efficiency performance relative to the ‘best practice’ among peers. Both the structure and parameters of two stochastic frontier functions are identified to understand the relationship between production inputs (e.g., utilities and plant‐specific variables) and the overall productivity. A case study of a set of automotive engine manufacturing plants is conducted and shows that electricity has higher efficiency than other forms of utility in those production‐related activities, and the regional and climate factors have significant impacts on energy efficiency. The models provide a way to measure how far from the production frontier as well as how far from the energy demand frontier the plant is. The results also provide useful information about the inefficient energy components in manufacturing facilities. The opportunities of improving plant‐level efficiency in automotive manufacturing plants can be revealed by the results. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

黄龙滩电厂尾水位升高对机组稳定性的影响

为了解黄龙滩电厂尾水位升高后对机组性能的影响,基于现场测试,采用蜗壳差压法对电厂机组进行了三个水头下的机组运行稳定性试验,通过整理试验数据,得到了尾水位升高条件下不同负荷下的振动三维频谱图和实测效率曲线。结合模型效率曲线,通过对试验结果的对比分析,系统了解机组在尾水位升高条件运行时的能量特性和稳定性,指出机组在该条件下运行整体上稳定可靠。     

Examining the cost efficiency of Chinese hydroelectric companies using a finite mixture model

This paper evaluates the operational activities of Chinese hydroelectric power companies over the period 2000–2010 using a finite mixture model that controls for unobserved heterogeneity. In so doing, a stochastic frontier latent class model, which allows for the existence of different technologies, is adopted to estimate cost frontiers. This procedure not only enables us to identify different groups among the hydro-power companies analysed, but also permits the analysis of their cost efficiency. The main result is that three groups are identified in the sample, each equipped with different technologies, suggesting that distinct business strategies need to be adapted to the characteristics of China's hydro-power companies. Some managerial implications are developed.     

Carbon-sensitive meta-productivity growth and technological gap: An empirical analysis of Indian thermal power sector

This paper measures carbon-sensitive efficiency and productivity growth in technologically heterogeneous coal-fired thermal power plants in India for the period of 2000 to 2013. It uses a unique data set of 56 plants, obtained petitioning the Right to Information Act 2005. We apply ‘within-MLE’ fixed effects stochastic frontier model to get consistent estimates of meta-directional output distance function. The thermal power plants are grouped into two categories: central sector and state sector. We find that the state sector plants have higher potential to simultaneously increase electricity generation and reduce carbon emissions than the central sector plants. If all the state and central sectors plants were made to operate on the meta-frontier, reduction of 98 million tonnes of CO₂ could have been achieved. Carbon-sensitive productivity growth in the central sector plants is higher than the plants in state sector, though in both the sectors productivity growth is governed by carbon-sensitive innovation effect. Commercialisation or autonomy in electricity generation also induces carbon-sensitive productivity growth and reduces carbon-sensitive productivity growth gap.     

Deregulation,vertical unbundling and the performance of China's large coal-fired power plants

In 2003, China's integrated electricity utility – the State Power Corporation (SPC) – was unbundled and dismantled into five generation groups and two grid companies in an effort to increase competition and improve efficiency. In this paper, we study the impact of this deregulation reform on the operational efficiency for a balanced panel of 34 large power plants for the period 1997–2010. We find that on average these power plants have converged to the technological frontier over the sample period. Controlling for substantial heterogeneity in the technical profile, we also find that the unbundling reform has boosted productivity of China's large thermal power plants; however, the presumably differential impacts of the reform on the previously SPC-managed power plants and the independent power producers in our sample are insignificant.     

A probabilistic approach to evaluate the exploitation of the geographic situation of hydroelectric plants

A procedure to evaluate efficiency in the exploitation of the geographic situation of hydroelectric plants is developed here. It is based on the probabilistic composition of criteria. A comparison of 80 plants is carried out, with volume of water flow at the location and transmission rates paid measuring the potential of the geographic situation and installed power and assured energy measuring the employment of such potential. An analysis based on a new index of quality of approximation and a new measure of importance derived from Shapley value is used to select the criteria that enter a second stage of the efficiency evaluation.     

基于降低开停机成本的水电厂"节水增效"模型

以水电站耗水量最小化为目标。将开停机成本计为耗水量。与电能损失换算得到的流量一并考虑并协调处理。提出了水电厂的“节水增效”模型。该模型针对每个时段运行的机组数，应用遗传算法进行优化得到最经济的运行方式。强调开停机和水轮机效率之间的协调。考虑了尾水位、压力钢管水头损失和水轮机效率的变化，能够快速制定出平稳的开停机计划。获得各机组最优的负荷分配结果。对竞价上网环境下水电厂的运行管理有一定的实际意义。     

Have U.S. power plants become less technically efficient? The impact of carbon emission regulation

We estimate directional distance functions to measure the impact of carbon emission regulation, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) in particular, on U.S. power plants' technical efficiency. The model shows that the average technical efficiency scores for coal and natural gas plants are 88.70% and 83.14% respectively, indicating a very technically efficient industry. We find no evidence of technical efficiency changes due to the RGGI regime in the RGGI area. In the same area, relatively less efficient coal plants exited the market and slightly more efficient natural gas plants entered, compared to the incumbent plants. In addition, some evidence of a spillover effect is found. Using a counterfactual analysis, the RGGI regulation leads to a 1.48% decline in the average technical efficiency for coal plants within neighboring states of RGGI during 2009–2013.     

Estimating an economic-efficient frontier for dishwasher consumer choice

Dishwashers are a ubiquitous appliance in households in the USA. They combine capital, energy, and water to provide a relevant household service, namely dishwashing. The economic efficiency of dishwashers has been previously assessed using data envelopment analysis (DEA). The approach addresses the technical efficiency of dishwashers based on possible trade-offs between capital and energy. It further draws from the technical efficiency scores an efficient frontier for dishwashing based on these two input factors. We argue that water could also be a relevant input factor to that frontier, especially from the perspective of consumer choice. We develop a DEA model that includes water as an additional input and test if adding water to the analysis contributes to the efficiency frontier. We find that water does have some effect on the frontier, as the DEA model that includes water as an input factor leads to a richer set of efficient possibilities for dishwashing, where energy and water are traded off. We rely on our method and findings to propose two approaches to inform dishwasher consumer choice. One is extending an energy label to include dishwasher water consumption, as a means to inform consumers on their possible trade-offs between energy and water consumption at different levels of appliance price and quality. The other one is disclosing the DEA efficiency scores we estimate as an indicator of the overall economic efficiency of each dishwasher model.     

Electrolytic hydrogen production in Brazilian electric utilities—a way to increase return on investments

The Brazilian park of electric energy generation is more than 85% made up of hydroelectric power plants, with a utilization factor of about 60%. Taking into consideration that the hydroelectric power plants represent about 60% of the investments of the Brazilian Electric Sector, the electrolytic hydrogen production close to some hydroelectric power plants in the Country may increase the rate of return on investments in the same. The purpose of this article is to make an evaluation of the type, geographic localization and capacity of the hydroelectric power plants which may be used for the production of electrolytic hydrogen during the off-peak hours of the electric system. Preliminary estimates of the cost of production of electrolytic hydrogen close to certain hydroelectric power plants are made; and finally, evaluations are also made of the influence of hydrogen production under those conditions, in the rate of return on investments made by the electric utilities.     

基于GSA的水轮机调速系统非线性PID控制参数优化方法研究

水轮机调速系统是水电机组的核心控制系统,调速器控制参数优化与机组的安全稳定高效运行直接相关。针对现有研究的不足,建立了非线性调速系统模型,采用综合特性曲线描述水轮机模型,采用弹性水击模型描述压力引水系统特性;在此基础上,结合引力搜索算法(GSA)的优点,提出了基于GSA的非线性PID控制参数优化方法,并以我国某实际水电机组数据建立仿真模型,比较了不同优化方法和不同PID控制规律的组合控制效果。结果表明,基于GSA的水轮机调速系统非线性PID控制参数优化方法,能有效提高孤网运行条件下机组的动态品质。     

POA-DPSA混合算法在短期优化调度中的应用

根据逐步优化算法和逐次逼近优化算法的思想，提出了POA-DPSA混合算法，建立了清江梯级水电站短期发电效益最大模型，并利用逐步优化逐次逼近混合算法进行模型求解，在给定总用水量和各时段电价，满足各种约束条件下使总的发电效益最大，取得了较好的优化效果。     

梯级水电站优化开发次序模型研究

建立了水电开发次序赋权有向图模型,将水电站优化排序这一复杂的系统分解成：梯级水电站优化补偿调节、电力电量平衡检验、电力系统折算总费用等子系统,由此再综合成总体优化模型,并提出了计算流程．     

Does environmental heterogeneity affect the productive efficiency of grid utilities in China?

China's electric power industry has experienced a reform whereby the generation sector is being opened up to competition but the transmission and distribution sectors are still under regulation. Efficiency and benchmarking analyses are widely used for improving the performance of regulated segments. The impact of observable environmental factors, together with unobservable characteristics, on efficiency has gained increasing attention in recent years. This study uses alternative stochastic frontier models combined with input distance functions to measure the productive efficiency of 29 grid firms of China over the period of 1993–2014 and investigates whether the observed environmental and unobserved heterogeneity factors affect the productive efficiency. The results indicate that adverse environmental conditions may bring negative influence to the production of grid utilities while the number of customers and the network length have positive impacts on the utilities' efficiency; Besides, the efficiency is sensitive to the model specification, which illustrates the presence of observed and unobserved heterogeneity; Moreover, there is no significant efficiency improvement in the grid utilities after the unbundling reform of 2002; Finally, the regional grids differ significantly in efficiency, and there is room for improvement, which could be achieved by incentive regulation taking due account of environmental heterogeneity.     

面向用户的水电机组维护域知识数字化描述

系统分析了水电机组维护域知识的构成和获取方法,从用户及诊断决策系统的角度分析了设备知识数字化描述的必要性;提出了面向用户的知识多元数字化描述与集成方法,该方法将传统方法无法直接编码的设备层次、结构、故障、维护等知识编码化、可视化,并以设备层次知识为线索进行集成,提高了知识的可理解性、扩大了知识的共享范围,为建立水电机组故障诊断与维护决策系统奠定基础。     

Heterogeneous technologies,strategic groups and environmental efficiency technology gaps for European countries

This paper measures technology (TG) and environmental efficiency technology gaps (EETGs) in 25 European countries over two distinct periods 2002 and 2008 examining the possible effect of adopted environmental regulations and the Kyoto protocol commitments on environmental efficiency technology gaps. However, the introduction of the metafrontier in our analysis puts into our discussion the role of heterogeneous technologies and its effect on the above-mentioned measures. Employing a directional distance function, we investigate whether there is an actual difference, in terms of environmental efficiency and efficiency performance, among European countries considering the technological frontiers under which they operate. The construction of individual frontiers has been realized employing a large number of variables that are highly correlated with countries' learning and absorbing capacity, new technological knowledge and using economic theory and classical frontier discrimination like developed vs. developing, North vs. South and participation in the Eurozone or not. The overall results indicate a crucial role of heterogeneous technologies for technology gaps in both periods. Moreover, a significant decrease for both measures, although in different percent, has been recorded emphasizing the key role of knowledge spillovers.     

Estimating and decomposing productivity growth of the electricity generation industry in Malaysia: A stochastic frontier analysis

This study examines the total factor productivity (TFP) growth of the Malaysian electricity generation industry over the 1998 to 2005 period. The stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) approach is used to measure TFP change and decompose TFP growth into efficiency change and technical progress. We find that it achieved average annual TFP growth of 2.34%, with technical change contributing the most to the TFP growth over the eight year period. We hence hypothesise that the new power plants with their newer capital-embodied technologies commencing during the sample period are likely to be the main reason for this strong technical change. In addition, it is also noted that this estimate for the Malaysian electricity generation industry is larger than the estimate obtained for the electricity sector as a whole, where we obtain 1.34% per year for a comparable period.