Growth in energy demand together with the expansion of variable renewables has significant implications for the future electricity system. The increased volatility from growing intermittent production requires new sources of flexibility at a much greater scale to help maintain system balance. In...

We estimate the welfare implications of a cost-reflective 'Coasian' reform of electricity network tariffs using an Irish case study. We find that current Distribution Use of System (DUoS) tariffs deviate considerably from a cost-reflective structure. At the individual level, tariff reform leads...

The costs associated with electricity generation include costs that are independent of their marginal output, including the cost of starting their units, and constraints such as minimum generation levels. Modelling these costs and constraints requires integer formulation of the units, and so...

The Irish Single Electricity Market is establishing how to comply with the European Union Target Model. One option is to move away from the regulated environment used in the current design and allow generating firms to bid freely in the market. This study shows that in 2011, allowing firms to...

This paper estimates the value of short term lost load in the all island electricity market which includes the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The value of lost load, also known as the value of security of electricity supply, is inferred using a production function approach. Detailed...

In this paper we analyse the 2008 electricity price in the Irish All-Island Market. We test whether this price is 'efficient' by comparing it to the electricity price in Great Britain. This analysis suggests that around €16 per MWh of the difference in wholesale prices between Ireland and...

This paper examines the redesign of the Irish Single Electricity Market in order to comply with the European Target Model for electricity. In particular, this work focuses on the challenges raised by the high concentration in the generation sector which exists in the Irish electricity market. We...

We use Monte Carlo analysis to examine the potential of increased renewable generation to provide a hedge against variability in energy prices and costs. Fuel costs, electricity demand and wind generation are allowed to vary and a unit commitment and economic dispatch algorithm is employed to...

This paper compares retail and wholesale electricity prices in SEM, the market of the island of Ireland, and BETTA in Great Britain. Wholesale costs are much lower in BETTA. We show that this is mostly because the wholesale price in BETTA is set too low to cover generation costs, although it is...