Most production processes can be turned off easily during times of low demand; this is not true for the generation of electricity. For a number of technical reasons, a certain number of conventional (thermal) power stations needs to keep producing electricity at all times, despite negative...

Accurate information about electricity generation and consumption is crucial to power system modelling. Several institutions publish such data: for European countries these include the association of system operators ENTSO-E, the EU body Eurostat, and the International Energy Agency; for Germany...

European electricity markets are geographically organized in zones, which often resemble countries. Overload of power lines within zones have to be relieved through other means than the electricity market, e.g. so-called “redispatching” of power plants. Traditionally, this has often been...

Previous studies have noted that, surprisingly, Germany’s dramatic expansion of wind and solar energy coincided with a reduction of short-term balancing reserves. This paper provides further and updated evidence, supporting this “German Balancing Paradox”: since 2011 wind and solar energy...

The integration of wind and solar generators into power systems causes “integration costs” for grids, balancing services, reserve capacity, more flexible operation of thermal plants, and reduced utilization of the capital stock embodied in infrastructure. This paper proposes a valuation...

Levelized costs of electricity (LCOE) are a common metric for comparing power generating technologies. However, there is qualified criticism particularly towards evaluating variable renewables like wind and solar power based on LCOE because it ignores integration costs that occur at the system...

The integration of wind and solar generators into power systems cause “integration costs” for grids, balancing services, reserve capacity, reduced utilization of the capital stock, and more flexible operation of thermal plants. This paper proposes a market-based valuation framework to...

Energy and climate policies are usually seen as measures to internalize externalities. However, as a side effect, these policies redistribute wealth between consumers and producers, and within these groups. While redistribution is seldom the focus of the academic literature in energy economics,...