After a period of hibernation, the development of pumpedâ€hydro storage plants in Germany regains momentum. Motivated by an ever increasing share of intermittent renewable generation, a variety of energy players considers new projects, which could increase the available capacity by up to 60%...

Power systems with high shares of wind and solar power have to balance their intermittent nature. Pumpedâ€hydro storage plants can provide the required flexibility, while thermal backup plants offer an alternative. This paper proposes a model based on peakâ€loadâ€pricing theory to...

Ein moeglichst kostenguenstiges und oekologisches Heizsystem zu waehlen, ist für Gebaeudebesitzer von groeßter Wichtigkeit. Bisher gaengige Antworten sind jedoch spaetestens seit diesem Jahr nicht mehr uneingeschraenkt gueltig. Zum einen waren die Preise für Erdgas und Heizoel zuletzt starken...

Ueber das Fuer und Wider einer Foerderung Erneuerbarer Energien mittels spezifischer Foerderinstrumente wie dem EEG sowie ueber die bestmoegliche Ausgestaltung dieser Instrumente sind in den letzten Jahren viele sowohl praxisorientierte als auch wissenschaftliche Debatten gefuehrt worden. Dabei...

Small decentralized power generation units (DG) are politically promoted because of their potential to reduce GHG-emissions and the existing dependency on fossil fuels. A long term goal of this promotion should be the creation of a level playing field for DG and conventional power generation....

In Germany and other Central and Northern European countries, energy demand for space heating dominates the energy demand of households. In line with European and national energy efficiency and emission reduction objectives, policy makers have identified the residential building sector...

Optimal capacity allocation for investments in electricity generation assets can be deterministically derived by comparing technology specific long-term and short-term marginal costs. In an uncertain market environment, Mean-Variance Portfolio (MVP) theory provides a consistent framework to...

Investments in power generation assets are risky due to high construction costs and long asset lifetimes. Technology diversification in generation portfolios represents one option to reduce long-term investment risks for risk-averse decision makers. In this article, we analyze the impact of...

In this article we discuss welfare-optimal capacity allocation of different electricity generation technologies available for serving system demand. While the classical peak load pricing theory derives the efficient portfolio structure from a deterministic marginal production cost curve ("merit...