Since 2007, the European cement and steel sectors have been characterized by substantial surplus production capacity. Hence re-investment in primary production of many materials remains limited and endangers the longer-term economic viability of many plants. Opportunities for innovation and...

Short-term auctions for access to entry terminals of the British gas-network appear to successfully allocate scarce resources and capture scarcity rent. Now long-term auctions are being introduced to guide future capacity expansion decisions. In our model the fraction of rights issued in the...

We first discuss different rules for pricing and provision of balancing across EU member states and their implications. Some member states face significant transmission constraints inside their pricing zone(s). In principle, this can be avoided with smaller pricing zones and in some instances...

Der Anteil der Solarenergie an der Stromversorgung in Deutschland hat sich rasant entwickelt, von weniger als einem Prozent in 2008 auf 5,7% in 2014 (AG Energiebilanzen, 2015). Die große Kostendegression in dem Zeitraum zog starke Vergütungssatzsenkungen nach sich (Fraunhofer Institut für...

A fundamental question regarding the design of electricity markets is whether adding auctions to the continuous intraday trading is improving the performance of the market. To approach this question, we assess the experience with the implementation of the 3 pm local auction for quarters in...

This paper analyses the economics of long-term gas contracts under changing institutional conditions, mainly gas sector liberalisation. The paper is motivated by the increasingly tense debate in continental Europe, UK and the US on the security of long-term gas supply. We discuss the main issues...

Successful cap and trade programs for SO2 and NOx in the US allocate allowances to large emitters based on a historic base line for a period of up to thirty years. National Allocation Plans in Europe allocate CO2 allowances in an iterative approach first for a three then for a five-year period....