Turkish electricity reform

Turkish electricity reform has progressed slowly due to internal resistance against privatisation, and gained momentum after Electricity Market Law of 2001, prepared in line with EU Energy Acquis and established required institutional and legal framework. Although the eligibility threshold has reached 39% market opening rate, the dominant position of public both as owner and decision-maker is still the major problem in the sector. Currently Turkey is self-sufficient in electricity, but likely to face shortages in 10 years if the growing demand is not met by either speeding the liberalisation process, or joining the South East Europe Electricity Market.     

The impact of coordination on wholesale market participation: The case of the U.S. electricity industry

Coordination costs in a wholesale electricity market are a relevant public policy consideration. The mitigation of coordination costs, all else equal, should increase participation in the marketplace. Since Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Order 888 was issued in 1996, the level of trading activity in bulk electricity markets has increased significantly. In 1999, FERC issued Order 2000 to advance the role of regional transmission organizations (RTOs) in the restructured marketplace for wholesale electricity. RTOs have the potential to reduce the coordination costs, while also having the countervailing effect of causing market participants to incur compliance costs. This paper utilizes the diversity of the United States electricity market and a panel data set representing electric utilities for the period 1990–2009 to study the effects that RTOs have had on wholesale electricity exchange. The paper finds that the presence of a transparent wholesale marketplace for electricity has the effect of increasing participation, but this participation is uneven across types of electric utilities. Greater participation is seen for investor-owned and larger utilities. The results have important implications for policy aimed at wholesale markets and the transmission organizations, as the opportunities afforded by transparency may not be uniformly distributed across all market participants.     

The duck curve in a drying pond: The impact of rooftop PV on the Western Australian electricity market transition

Rooftop solar photovoltaics (PV) are significantly influencing the electricity market and system operability in Western Australia. Qualitative methods are used to determine likely impacts and solutions to associated technical and market challenges in this islanded electricity system. Solutions focus on flattening the load curve and addressing minimum system load issues, including via; tariff reform, new ancillary services, automation, storage and energy productivity; targeted markets to match energy supply to the new demand curve; together with enabling technologies such as; improved inverter functionality and control systems. A parsimonious model demonstrates the impacts of rooftop PV on the local mid-day wholesale energy prices.     

Bulgarian electricity market restructuring

The energy sector in Bulgaria has undergone major restructuring in recent years. It faces the dual challenges of achieving regulatory stability to attract private investors, and creating a functioning competition energy market. As of the EU Accession in 2007, Bulgaria has fully liberalized power and gas markets. The 2003 Energy Law establishes the energy sector legal framework and sets the basis for creation of a transparent and predictable regulatory environment where the key regulatory responsibilities are vested with the State Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (SEWRC).The energy sector experienced significant problems in the first half of 2007 due to lost production capacities and regulatory failures on the electricity market. Excess price regulations on the market of electricity supplies to household, coupled with insufficient liberalization of imports and exports, create unfavorable conditions for power producers and large electricity users. The energy regulator has tried to achieve several incompatible targets as of July 1, 2007 for maintaining low electricity prices for households in response to political pressure, low power generation prices amid rising input costs, and market opening in compliance with EU regulations.     

Evaluating the evidence on electricity reform: Lessons for the South East Europe (SEE) market

This paper discusses the evidence on electricity reform and relates it to the current situation of the South East Europe (SEE) electricity market. We begin by discussing the main elements of the European Union (EU) electricity reform model. Then we go on to discuss emerging good practice in the regulation of national electricity markets in the EU. This is important because it reflects the key role placed on independent regulation of the electricity sector in the EU reform model. Next, we evaluate the empirical evidence on the success of the EU reform model in particular and the success of electricity reforms more generally. This leads on to a discussion of the particular context of SEE electricity reform and what specific issues this raises. We conclude with a discussion of the importance of more general institutional context of SEE electricity reform. The paper suggests that it will be a substantial, but worthwhile, challenge to create a workable supra-national electricity market in the region.     

The EU internal electricity market: Done forever?

Taking a quarter-century to build Europe's internal market for electricity may seem an incredibly long journey. The aim of achieving a Europe-wide market might be reached, but it has involved – and continues to involve – a process subject to many adverse dynamics. The EU internal market may derail greatly in the coming years from the effects of a massive push for renewables, as well as a growing decentralization of the production-consumption loop. Moreover, a serious concern is the risk of a definitive fragmentation of the European electricity market due to uncoordinated national policy initiatives with respect to, for example, renewable support and capacity payments.     

The electricity balancing market: Exploring the design challenge

In the unbundled national electricity markets in Europe, the balancing market is the institutional arrangement that deals with the balancing of electricity demand and supply. This paper presents a framework for policy makers that identifies the relevant design variables and performance criteria that play a role in the design and analysis of European balancing markets. We outline the full extent of the design challenge through a discussion of trade-offs among performance criteria, uncertain effects of design variables, and the many inter-linkages between the balancing market and the electricity market at large. Policy makers can address the balancing market design challenge by adopting a structured approach in which design variables, performance criteria, market conditions, system developments, and resultant market incentives are explicitly considered.     

The EU internal electricity market: Done forever?

Taking a quarter-century to build Europe's internal market for electricity may seem an incredibly long journey. The aim of achieving a European-wide market might be reached, but we went through – and should continue to go through – a process subject to many adverse dynamics. The EU internal market may derail greatly in the coming years from the effects of a massive push for renewables, as well as a growing decentralization of the production–consumption loop. Moreover, a serious concern is the risk of a definitive fragmentation of the European electricity market due to uncoordinated national moves with respect to renewable support and capacity mechanisms.     

The impact of European integration on labour market institutions

Explanations for ‘social exclusion’ are often derived from an apparently new set of employment circumstances that have developed since the beginning of the 1980s. Economic restructuring is said to have driven restructuring in the labour market which has led, in some accounts, to the growth of the underclass and, in others, to the marginalization of particular social groups. This paper criticizes such analyses by questioning the spirit of ‘novelty’ that has imbued social theory in recent years, and insists on a balanced assessment of change and continuity in recent social development. The idea of labour market restructuring is interrogated and the alleged collapse of traditional employment systems is challenged. Much of the paper is focused on the pressures for adjustment within the public sector labour market in Europe that have arisen in the cold fiscal climate of the mid‐1990s. It is concluded that national systems of labour market regulation are deeply ‘embedded’ institutions and are remarkably resistant to change. In these circumstances fiscal pressures are often resolved in a welfare reform programme of a more broadly encompassing nature than is implied in the contemporary discourse of social exclusion.     

Revisiting electricity reform: The case for a sustainable development approach

Debates over reform and restructuring of the electricity sector worldwide are typically focused on technical and economic concerns. This paper argues for a wider perspective on electricity reforms, one that explicitly examines social and environmental outcomes. The paper shows how electricity reform in the developing world has been driven primarily by financial concerns. It then examines changes in the electricity sector in the context of larger globalization debates. This framing of the issue sets the stage for a discussion of the social and environmental considerations in electricity reform.     

Market power in the Nordic electricity market

This paper investigates the potential for market power in the Nordic electricity power market. Numerical simulations have been conducted using ECON's model for the electricity market. A special case of a supply curve equilibrium model is used to describe strategies of the large producers. The conclusion is that the largest producer, Vattenfall, has incentives to withdraw some nuclear capacity from the market in order to raise spot market prices. However, Vattenfall's incentives are to some extent limited by the excess capacity of the smaller producers. The model also indicates that it may be profitable for Vattenfall to operate its nuclear plants at full capacity if market prices increase due to exogenous factors, e.g. consumption growth. The simulations do not indicate that hydro production will be withheld, because of the low marginal operating costs in these plants.     

The impact of renewable energy on household electricity prices in liberalized electricity markets: A cross-national panel data analysis

The main research questions addressed in this paper are: first, have electricity market reforms achieved lower household electricity prices and, second, has the introduction of renewable energy increased household electricity prices in deregulated markets Answers to the questions were derived using static and dynamic panel data analysis from 1991 to 2014 employing explanatory variables such as the extent of electricity market reform and the share of generation from renewable energy resources. The dynamic model suggests that a lower household electricity price is associated with the degree of electricity market reform, while the share of renewable energy in electricity generation is not statistically significant.     

The Brazilian electricity market architecture: An analysis of instruments and misalignments

Brazil's current electricity market design heavily relies on auctions, long-term contracts, and central coordination mechanisms. Combining these instruments has proved to be effective in ensuring resource adequacy, a key policy objective. However, the implications of the dominance of the centrally coordinated auctions for long-term contracts are worth examining. This paper argues that the current market architecture may not represent the optimum long-term solution for a sustainable market as it ignores consumer preferences to drive investment decisions, transfers risks to consumers, has made the short-term market less relevant, and suffers from regulatory and design complexities.     

Electricity market reform in Argentina: assessing the impact for the poor in Buenos Aires

Following an economic crisis in the late 1980s, Argentina became one of the first developing countries to fully implement policies of the ‘Washington Consensus’, including the liberalisation and privatisation of public utilities. However, the reform and economic growth that followed in the 1990s was eventually undermined by long-term recession and an economic collapse in late 2001, marked by national debt default and currency devaluation in early 2002. In the context of urban poverty and poverty reduction, this paper examines electricity market reform in Argentina, analysing the strengths, weaknesses and distributional impacts. The article raises some of the concerns local actors have of reform, including disproportionate costs to low-income consumers, and the legitimacy of the process itself as a possible barrier to the delivery of more equitable social benefits.     

Using forward markets to improve electricity market design

Since their advent in 2001, virtual power plant (VPP) auctions have been implemented widely. In this paper, we describe the simultaneous ascending-clock auction format that has been used for virtually all VPP auctions to date, elaborating on other design choices that most VPP auctions have had in common as well as discussing a few aspects that have varied significantly among VPP auctions. We then evaluate the various objectives of regulators in requiring VPP auctions, concluding that the auctions have been effective devices for facilitating new entry into electricity markets and for developing wholesale power markets.     

The dynamic impact of carbon reduction and renewable support policies on the electricity sector

Carbon reduction and renewable energy policies are implemented in Europe to improve the sustainability of the electricity sector while achieving security of supply. We investigate the interactions between these policies using a dynamic investment model. Our analysis indicates that both policies are necessary to achieve a sustainable power sector. However, renewable energy generation significantly affects carbon markets and could lead to very low prices. These would attract investments in carbon intensive technologies, locking the sector into future higher emissions. To contrast this effect, policy makers may introduce a floor price in the carbon market or adjust the emissions quota periodically.     

Wholesale electricity market economics of solar generation in Israel

We use a two-stage model to determine the equilibrium capacities, generation levels, and prices of a wholesale electricity market in which independent power producers (IPPs) use natural gas-fired (NG) and photovoltaic (PV) technologies. PV's effective capacity is high during midday but low in other daytime hours. Applied to Israel's stylized electricity market in 2030, our model finds NG and PV are necessary to meet Israel's electricity demands; NG mitigates daytime price spikes and enhances consumer welfare; NG IPPs are profitable; and PV IPPs may be unprofitable, potentially requiring government support to aid Israel's achievement of a clean and sustainable future.     

Consumer preferences and electricity pricing reform in Western Australia

Australia's electricity prices are high, driven by rising peak demand that is forcing significant levels of infrastructure investment. Compounding these factors is the lack of transparent price signals for consumers, with uniform pricing structures providing no incentive to change consumption behaviours.This research surveyed residential electricity consumers in Western Australia about their perceptions of solar, consumption behaviour, and electricity pricing structures.The results suggest that customers in Western Australia may be willing to change behaviour, reduce electricity usage, and be rewarded for use of renewable technologies, highlighting an opportunity for policies such as retail tariff reform to be further explored.     

卡特彼勒GX挖掘机对市场的冲击力和深远影响力

1 问题的提出 2020年末,卡特彼勒在中国市场隆重推出了GX系列挖掘机,引起工程机械行业尤其是挖掘机行业的巨大反响.无论是对若干技术参数的比较,还是对其出乎意料的低价,行业上下众说纷纭.在挖掘机行业以国产品牌为主导的大环境下,议论可以理解.以笔者之见,不论是褒是贬,需要透过表面现象深度观察和分析.也就是说,卡特彼勒G...