Universität zu Köln

Çam, Eren (2021). Essays on the Economics of Energy Systems and Markets. PhD thesis, Universität zu Köln.

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Abstract

This thesis presents four essays on the economics of energy systems and markets. The first essay investigates the effects of multipliers when pricing short-term gas transmission capacities, as is the case in the European Union’s (EU) gas transmission system. Using a stylised theoretical framework, the analysis shows that higher multipliers can result in increased storage utilisation and more uniform usage of transport capacities and can cause regional price spreads to rise. Higher multipliers are also found to result in increased total system costs and lower total welfare. Nevertheless, it is shown that there can exist optimal multiplier levels depending on the relative tariff levels that allow consumer surplus to be maximised via tariff reduction. The second essay builds upon the theoretical findings of the first essay and analyses the internal and external effects of multipliers in the EU in a more realistic setting. Using a numerical simulation model depicting the gas dispatch in the EU, the analysis identifies significant internal effects of multipliers in the regions. Multipliers in a region can also cause external effects in other regions, depending on where the regions are located along the gas transport chain. Because of those external effects, individually optimal (consumer-surplus-maximising) multipliers are found to not lead to a joint optimum. The third essay analyses the development of the market structure in the global crude oil market over the period 2013-2017. The analysis finds that the oligopolistic market structure assumptions are not able to explain the low prices observed during 2015 and 2016, which lie close to simulated perfectly competitive levels. This indicates that the market structure has evolved in a more competitive direction after the 2014 price decline. The OPEC+ production cuts observed in 2017 are also found to not have been effective at reclaiming market power. The fourth essay analyses the optimal (profit-maximising) dispatch of a coal-fired power plant with integrated thermal energy storage (TES). The TES system allows the plant to conduct energy arbitrage on day-ahead and intraday wholesale electricity markets, while also providing it with increased control power on the primary and secondary control power markets. Depicting a coal-fired plant located in Germany for the year 2019, the analysis finds that a TES system with 0.5 hours of storage capacity can increase the total profits of the plant by 2.4%.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD thesis)
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Çam, Eren erencam@msn.com UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-538852
Date:	2021
Language:	English
Faculty:	Faculty of Management, Economy and Social Sciences
Divisions:	Externe Einrichtungen > An-Institute > Associated Institutes of the Faculty of Management, Economics and Social Sciences > Institute for Energy Economics
Subjects:	Economics
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language gas transmission networks UNSPECIFIED entry-exit tariffs UNSPECIFIED multipliers UNSPECIFIED numerical optimisation model UNSPECIFIED thermal energy storage UNSPECIFIED energy arbitrage UNSPECIFIED crude oil market UNSPECIFIED 2014 oil price decline UNSPECIFIED OPEC+ agreement UNSPECIFIED market simulation model UNSPECIFIED
Date of oral exam:	21 October 2021
Referee:	Name Academic Title Bettzüge, Marc Oliver Prof. Dr. Lindenberger, Dietmar PD Dr.
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/53885