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Energy policies in many countries push for an increase in the generation of wind and solar power. Along these developments, the balance between supply and demand becomes more challenging as the generation of wind and solar power is volatile, and flexibility of supply and demand becomes valuable. As a consequence, companies in the electric power sector develop new business models that create flexibility through activities of timing supply and demand. Based on an extensive qualitative analysis of interviews and industry research in the energy industry, the paper at hand explores the role of timing-based business models in the power sector and sheds light on the mechanisms of flexibility creation through timing. In particular we distill four ideal-type business models of flexibility creation with timing and reveal how they can be classified along two dimensions, namely costs of multiplicity and intervention costs. We put forward that these business models offer ‘coupled services’, combining resource-centered and service-centered perspectives. This complementary character has important implications for energy policy.

Abstract The study presents recent developments in the Turkish power market and introduces an Analytic Hierarchy Process model to evaluate and compare the relative overall attractiveness of power plant options for Turkey. The developed model incorporates technical characteristics, resource availability, socio-economic, environmental, cost, political, legal and organisational aspects, for evaluating and prioritising power plant types (biomass, coal, geothermal, hydro, natural gas, nuclear, petroleum, solar and wind). The study incorporates perspectives of different experts that represent various stakeholders of the Turkish power sector. The study reveals that supply reliability, investment costs and contribution to national economy are perceived as most important factors, whereas waste disposal and decommissioning costs are perceived as least important factors. Considering the overall weights, the most attractive power plant types for the Turkish power market are coal, hydro and natural gas power plants. The study indicates that Turkey should drastically decrease the installed capacity share of traditionally dominant power plants (to 58% from 89% in 2016) and fossil fuel power plants (to 40% from 56% in 2016), and increase the share of renewable power plants (to 52% from 44% in 2016), indigenous resource based power plants (to 67% from 56% in 2016) and nuclear power plants.

Electric vehicles represent an innovation with the potential to lower greenhouse gas emissions and help mitigate the causes of climate change. However, externalities including the appropriability of knowledge and pollution abatement result in societal/economic benefits that are not incorporated in electric vehicle prices. In order to address resulting market failures, governments have employed a number of policies. We seek to determine the relationship of one such policy instrument (consumer financial incentives) to electric vehicle adoption. Based on existing literature, we identified several additional socio-economic factors that are expected to be influential in determining electric vehicle adoption rates. Using multiple linear regression analysis, we examined the relationship between those variables and 30 national electric vehicle market shares for the year 2012. The model found financial incentives, charging infrastructure, and local presence of production facilities to be significant and positively correlated to a country's electric vehicle market share. Results suggest that of those factors, charging infrastructure was most strongly related to electric vehicle adoption. However, descriptive analysis suggests that neither financial incentives nor charging infrastructure ensure high electric vehicle adoption rates.

Abstract Within the next years, consumer households will be increasingly equipped with smart metering and intelligent appliances. These technologies are the basis for households to better monitor electricity consumption and to actively control loads in private homes. Demand side management (DSM) can be adopted to private households. We present a simulation model that generates household load profiles under flat tariffs and simulates changes in these profiles when households are equipped with smart appliances and face time-based electricity prices. We investigate the impact of smart appliances and variable prices on electricity bills of a household. We show that for households the savings from equipping them with smart appliances are moderate compared to the required investment. This finding is quite robust with respect to variation of tariff price spreads and to different types of appliance utilization patterns. Finally, our results indicate that electric utilities may face new demand peaks when day-ahead hourly prices are applied. However, a considerable amount of residential load is available for shifting, which is interesting for the utilities to balance demand and supply.

This paper investigates whether the pricing of forward contracts in the Nord Pool market is efficient. Monthly forward contracts were introduced in the Nord Pool market in 2003. Likewise, quarterly contracts that will replace seasonal contracts were introduced in 2004. For a transition period these contracts together with the pre-existing seasonal and yearly contracts constitute the forward market. In an efficient forward market the price of a seasonal forward contract should equal the time-weighted average of the underlying monthly forward contracts. In this paper we use historic forward price information to evaluate whether this relationship holds true and find that there are inefficiencies in the pricing.

The Chinese province of Shandong, and more particularly its cities Dezhou, Jinan and Rizhao, have established an international reputation of being hotbeds for solar water heating (SWH) technology development and dissemination. The article aims to unveil the evolution of this innovative environment by applying the Functions of Innovation Systems (FIS) approach to the Chinese province of Shandong. It examines the actors, institutions and policy instruments that shape Shandong's innovation system for SWH, the dominant drivers and barriers during the evolution of the TIS and also assesses the applicability of the IS approach to China. It appears that the presence of influential interest organizations and proactive support from local governments have acted as strong drivers for the emergence of Shandong's innovation system for SWHs. On the other hand, the lack of adequate personnel and an overreliance on government policies act as main barriers. With regard to the Chinese specificities potentially detracting from the relevance of applying IS theory to China, we did not find that the central government acted as an initiator of innovation nor that state-owned enterprises had dominant positions in the market. In this innovative industry the impetus for development came from the bottom up and from private corporations.

Abstract The magnitude of the recent dramatic fall in oil prices has once again (like the rises of 1973 and 1979) taken most energy analysts and oil industry participants by suprise, creating even greater uncertainty about future developments in the oil market. In this paper, we suggest that a return to first principles is appropriate at this time in order to help clarify the outlook. Two simple Hotelling-type models of the oil market are described - one of the perfectly competitive market, the other of a purely monopolistic market. These two models are used to derive lower and upper bounds on oil prices. A reinterpretation of the history of the oil market over the last 25 years is suggested, with some implications for the future course of oil prices.

Abstract This study examines an experiment in energy self-sufficiency in Seoul, Republic of Korea, through a particular energy policy called the One Less Nuclear Power Plant (OLNPP) policy. We define an urban energy experiment as a purposive intervention for energy transition from an energy system based on nuclear and fossil fuels to one based on renewable energy and energy demand management. We suggest three findings. First, we find that the themes of our theoretical framework policy backgrounds, governance and policy contents have played important roles for Seoul’s energy experiments aimed at urban energy autonomy. In particular, political leadership based on the mayor’s previous experiences contributed significantly to the formation and implementation of this policy. Second, the OLNPP policy adds a social or moral dimension to urban energy policies. The norm change from an environmental and economic focus to a focus on the combination of social, environmental, and economic considerations is a unique contribution of the OLNPP policy to urban experiments in energy transition. Third, we find that experiments through purposive interventions serve as a means for facilitating urban energy governance where the actors involved can communicate and enhance their new ideas and practices.

Geothermal is vital for sustainably meeting Indonesia's energy demand, given its estimated massive reserves potential equivalent to 24 GW of electricity. The Indonesian government has set geothermal contributions to the national energy mix at 7,241.5 MW by 2025 and 17,546 MW by 2050, despite harnessing such vast potential needing significant investment. To that goal, the government established a feed-in tariff (FIT) mechanism to encourage private sector investment in geothermal development. However, FIT has undergone significant alterations in a short period. Moreover, various complicating factors—bureaucracy, social, and technical—exist alongside FIT implementation. Therefore, the extent that FIT can effectively enhance geothermal development in Indonesia should be challenged with further investigation. This study explores the efficacy of FIT policies for geothermal electricity by comparing the performance of several FIT schemes in terms of their impact on the government's target achievement. This study combines the policy analysis framework with system dynamics modeling to understand the dynamic interaction of FIT policy and other important components in geothermal development. The findings show that modest bureaucracy and public support are required. Furthermore, to enhance geothermal development more effectively, FIT should be at least 11 cents US$/kWh and accompanied by technical breakthroughs and government-funded exploration activities. ; Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public. ; Policy Analysis