The effect of sociodemographic diversity of residential customers on the financial risk experienced in the retail electricity market

The sociodemographic diversity of residential customers can affect the level of financial risk that an electricity provider experiences in the retail market. To demonstrate the relationship between sociodemographic diversity and financial risk, electricity consumption data drawn from the United Kingdom Power Networks ‘Low Carbon London’ project was analyzed to explore the relationship between sociodemographic diversity and financial risk experienced by electricity retailers. The results show that when increasing the sociodemographic diversity amongst a group of residential customers the effect on financial risk depends on the electricity consumption patterns of individual customers and the relationship of consumption patterns between residential customers. Increasing sociodemographic diversity amongst residential customers with very distinct energy consumption patterns can decrease the overall financial risk associated with the aggregated revenue received from these customers. However, the results showed that adding customers to a customer base without consideration for their sociodemographic background can cause the overall financial risk associated with the aggregated revenue received to change erratically. Whilst previous studies have considered customer diversity and its influence on peak electricity demand, this research advances the state-of-the-art by showing the importance of customer diversity to the financial quantity risk experienced by electricity retailers. This finding has serious implications for electricity providers seeking to mitigate financial risk in the retail electricity market.     

零售商价格竞争下的最优决策与收益共享契约

研究由一个制造商与两个竞争零售商组成的两级供应链系统的最优决策及契约协调问题,其中每个零售商面临的需求是价格敏感和随机的.当随机需求分布具有递增失败率(IFR)时,竞争的零售商存在唯一最优的定价和订购决策,并给出了最优决策的解析表达式,证明了收益共享契约能使两个竞争零售商加盟的供应链达到协调及契约成立的条件.最后通过理论推导和数值分析给出了需求价格弹性系数对最优决策及协调的影响.     

面向区域售电公司的边缘计算架构设计探讨

万物互联时代背景下，电力系统数据传递量不断增长，为了提高区域售电公司数据处理的准确性和时效性，文章提出了一种基于边缘计算的数据处理架构。首先阐明了边缘计算的定义和节点的设计框架，介绍了目前边缘计算在电力系统中的一些应用场景。其次搭建了面向区域售电公司的边缘计算框架，分别就云平台和边缘节点的模型进行定义和分析，并针对综合框架信息交互的内容进行详细讨论，且设计了整体运行流程。最后建立了区域售电公司边缘计算任务分配模型，通过算例分析了边缘计算节点的信息传输性能和计算性能。结果表明所提架构相较于传统云计算方法具有优越性，为售电公司制定用电套餐的计算分析方式提供了一种新的思路。     

Attitudes of meat retailers to animal welfare in Spain

This study analyzes retailer attitude towards animal welfare in Spain, and how this attitude has changed over recent years (2006–2011). Retailers were concerned about animal welfare issues but a declining trend is observed recently, probably due to the financial crisis. The concern about animal welfare was affected by sex, with women retailers expressing a more positive attitude towards animal welfare issues than men. Retailers, based on their experience, perceive a low level of willingness to pay more for welfare friendly products (WFP) on behalf of their customers. This fact is reflected in the sales of the WFP, which declined from 2006 to 2011. The main reason for consumers to buy WFP, according to retailer perception, is organoleptic quality, with improved welfare being second. The results obtained provide a pessimistic picture in relation to the current market positioning of WFP, which is probably a consequence of market contraction.     

考虑虚拟电厂调度方式的售电公司多时间尺度滚动优化

为了增加售电公司参与电力市场的灵活性和经济性,提高售电公司对分散式资源的利用效率,基于虚拟电厂的聚合管理方式,提出了一种售电公司多时间尺度滚动优化模型。日前阶段以售电公司收益最高为优化目标,融合多场景分析方法,制定售电公司购售电策略及各虚拟电厂日前调度计划。日内阶段考虑更高精度的分布式光伏和负荷预测,以虚拟电厂调度成本最低为目标构建日内优化调度模型。实时阶段以机会约束形式考虑虚拟电厂容量备用,修正虚拟电厂部分单元的出力,并将不确定性单元出力情况向日内阶段反馈校正。算例仿真验证了售电公司采用所提多时间尺度优化模型能够改善运营策略,合理分配资源,实现自身经济效益最大化。     

计及电量互保策略的售电公司两阶段日前决策方法

售电公司在购电量不足或负荷预测精度较差时,会面临严格的电量偏差考核,并可能产生较大亏损。为此,文中在日前交易前,基于场景分析法,以计入可中断负荷成本和售电公司间电量互保策略影响的售电公司购电费用期望为目标,建立了日前竞价策略模型;然后在市场出清后,根据市场出清价格,以售电公司间电量互保策略作为减少电量偏差的策略,优化可中断负荷量及电量互保下的转移电量,进一步减少电量偏差。在电量结算阶段,分别使用夏普利(Shapley)值和最小费用剩余资金(MCRS)法对售电公司集合总费用进行分配。通过算例仿真分析了不同场景下可中断负荷和电量互保策略下单位电量转移价格对电量偏差时售电公司集合费用的影响,并验证了2种费用分配方法的适用情况。     

传统零售商渠道选择策略微分博弈模型

为了探究电子商务环境下,强势传统零售商应对电商冲击时的渠道结构选择问题,建立一个强势传统零售商与一个纯网络零售商的微分博弈模型. 考虑产品需求受零售商商誉和定价的共同影响,分别针对强势传统零售商增设与不增设线上渠道这2种渠道结构选择情形构建模型,求解得出2种情形下传统零售商的最优定价和服务策略,并结合数学证明和数值实验对2种情形下的销量和利润进行比较. 结果表明,强势传统零售商是否应当开设线上渠道与当前电子渠道市场的发展状况有关,当电子渠道市场份额扩大到一定程度时,与不增设线上渠道相比,增设线上渠道可以实现零售商本身总体销量和利润的提升,同时可以给顾客带来更好的服务体验,但零售价格更高.     

促进风电消纳的供需互动合约机制与多市场购电策略

中国售电侧市场的逐步开放为风电大规模消纳的市场化解决提供了新的可能途径。研究了以促进风电消纳为目标的风电商—售电商供需互动市场机制构建框架。在长期电能市场、现货电能市场、备用市场等市场化交易体系的支撑下,考虑售电公司的需求侧响应能力,建立了以综合购电成本最小为目标的风电—售电多市场购电的随机规划模型。通过对模型结构的分析,给出了在给定价格序列下单时段子问题的解析最优解以及基于情景树的价格序列生成方法,实现了期望意义下购电决策问题的快速求解。最后通过算例分析,讨论了在多市场购电决策层面,供需互动机制促进风电消纳的关键因素。     

主成分分析法在工商合作影响因素研究中的应用

通过收集不同业态的零售企业与其供应商的有关合作成果的数据,应用主成分分析法对影响工商合作关系的因素进行分析,指出有多个方面的主要因素影响生产商与零售商的合作,但各方面影响因素由于业态和经营方式的不同存在影响程度的差别.无论何种业态、何种经营方式,工商合作关系的质量与合作效益具有正相关关系.     

Coordination of cooperative advertising models in a one-manufacturer two-retailer supply chain system

This paper considers cooperative advertising issues of a monopolistic manufacturer with competing duopolistic retailers. Four possible game structures (or power configurations), i.e., Stackelberg–Cournot, Stackelberg–Collusion, Nash–Cournot and Nash–Collusion, are discussed. Under each of four game structures, we develop a decision model for the three partners to design the optimal cooperative advertising policies. Through a comparison among the four models, we reveal how cooperative advertising policies and profits of all participants are affected by various competitive behaviors, and then determine whether the partners have any incentives to transit to a different structure. Also presented in the paper are a centralized decision model and a proposed cost-sharing contract, which is able to achieve perfect coordination of the considered channel, where the utility of risk preference is used to determine the fraction of local advertising costs shared by the manufacturer.