There is a broad agreement that renewable energy sources (RES) will play an important role to abate CO₂ emissions but there is a contentious debate about the economic sense to promote RES via subsidies. Many static analyses conclude that subsidizing RES ties up capital which could have been...

This paper analyzes the impact of the EU ETS on CO₂ reduction in the German electricity sector. We find an ETS-induced emission abatement which is not exceeding 6% of total emissions with a maximum already in 2010. Thereafter the ETS has not induced additional reductions. This outcome is...

The EU emissions trading system (ETS) and the promotion of renewable energy are overlapping regulations. Although the resulting early development of renewables is associated with several advantages such an overlap may violate the path of optimal abatement. Subsidies may cause a too high share of...

Despite negative experiences with auctioning off subsidies for renewable energy in some countries, tenders are increasingly used today. We develop a reverse auction which accounts for particularities of intermittent renewable energy sources. Determining the quantity, demanded by the regulator,...

A capacity mechanism next to the energy-only market provides necessary investment incentives that spot markets lack. The adequate capacity mix can only be achieved by accounting for the current transition phase to electricity generation with a growing share of renewables. We show that an...