Electricity markets worldwide have been restructured and deregulated since the early 1990s. Different countries have adopted different market designs to increase efficiency. The more recent transition to a decarbonized energy system has presented the electricity sector with both challenges and opportunities. On the one hand, the sector needs to reduce its carbon footprint, and on the other hand, electrification in itself contributes to decarbonization of other key emitting sectors, such as transport, buildings, and industry. Consequently, the existing structures are now being challenged by new renewable resources, new technologies and new business models.
A key issue is nevertheless the competitive exchange of electricity, along with a regulatory approach to the electricity grid and businesses. An important aspect of market design is to assess the interactions between the operational and commercial aspects of the electricity markets. The objective of the course is to study electricity market design, identifying key elements of market structure, market mechanisms and regulation, and introduce the students to the fundamental aspects of renewable energy sources, from the point of view of both market operators and market participants.
Some of the main topics are:
- Electricity market reforms and challenges (main premises, different approaches, restructuring, decarbonization, digitalization, decentralization).
- Market mechanisms (electricity spot market, ancillary services, congestion management, financial electricity markets, retail markets).
- Regulatory issues of electricity markets (competition policy, regulation of natural monopolies, environmental measures).
- Increasing penetration of intermittent renewable energy sources in power systems.