Energy and climate policy drive large scale integration of distributed generation and demand side management, with massive consequences for distribution grids. New technologies and actors shape the transformation of electricity networks towards smart systems. We argue that future regulation of...

Smart contracts based on voluntary participation and optionality can be a low transaction cost solution to implement locational signals in distribution networks and thereby avoid network investment. This paper examines the efficiency properties of smart contracts. Based on a three-node example...

The increasing share of distributed generation causes massive network investment. Energy and network pricing can help to reduce the investment need. This paper examines and discusses different models for locational pricing in the distribution network. Locational energy pricing is largely...

For the large-scale integration of electricity from renewable energy sources (RES-E), the German system seems to reach its limits. In 2009, the electricity wholesale market experienced serious negative prices at times of high wind and low demand. The feed-in system in Germany consists of a fixed...

This paper contributes a theoretical analysis of the effects of regulation on the timing of monopoly investment under certainty in a setting with lumpy investment outlays. We distinguish between price-based regulation and cost-based regulation. To motivate investment, we focus on wear and tear...

In an intertemporal model, we analyze the timing of irreversible and lumpy monopoly investment under certainty. There are two reasons for investing, i.e. wear and tear leading to replacement investment and demand growth leading to expansion investment. Both in a single investment setting and in...

This paper contributes a theoretical analysis of the effects of different types of regulation on the timing of monopoly investment in a setting with lumpy investment outlays. Concentrating on the case where investment increases the regulatory asset base, we distinguish between price-based...

This paper provides a formal analysis on the investment coordination problem in a vertically separated electricity supply industry, although the analysis may apply also to other network industries. In an electricity system, the investment decisions of network and power plants need to be...

Most transmission systems in Europe are currently in need of large network expansions, in particular to cope with increasing shares of load remote renewable energy sources. Given that the scope for further cost reductions is largely exhausted, we observe a paradigm shift into the direction of...

Electricity networks currently face massive investment requirements. This paper argues that, given the investment requirements, (international) benchmarking is not an adequate tool for the regulation of transmission system operators (TSO). Errors in the outcomes of benchmarking will likely...