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Devine, Mel T.
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Devine, Mel T.
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Devine, Mel T.
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Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
- PublicationThe role of power-to-gas in the future energy system: Market and portfolio effectsElectricity systems based on renewables have an increasing demand for flexibility. This paper considers the potential of power-to-gas to provide flexibility and enhance system integration of renewables. Existing research on power-to-gas typically analyses the system effects of a predetermined power-to-gas unit without endogenising the investment decision. Moreover, insights related to market and portfolio effects of power-to-gas are rare. To this end this work presents a stochastic electricity market model. Market players considered include generating firms with different generation portfolios and different consumer groups. Firms earn revenues from an energy market, a capacity market and a feed-in premium for renewable generation. They maximise their profits by optimising the operation of existing assets and investing in new generation assets and power-to-gas. Firms with renewable generation benefit from investing in power-to-gas. While the technology itself is loss-making, power-to-gas particularly increases demand and hence prices in low-load hours. Therefore, renewable generation becomes more profitable, which justifies the investment. Metrics such as LCOE, which consider each technology in isolation, fail to capture this effect. The increase in the electricity price results in higher costs to consumers and so the overall transfer from consumers to wind generators increases in the presence of power-to-gas.
455Scopus© Citations 34 - PublicationThe impacts of demand response participation in capacity marketsDemand Response is capable of reducing the total amount of generation capacity investment required to ensure electricity system security. We utilise this fact to devise a novel methodology to estimate the contribution of a load-shifting demand response resource to system adequacy. We then simulate an electricity market using mixed complementarity models to determine how the participation of demand response in capacity markets impacts on market outcomes. Demand response primarily affects the equilibrium outcome through the energy market, however demand response also reduces both equilibrium prices and consumer costs through its capacity market contribution. The effect is particularly pronounced when there is a high level of variable renewable generation and initial undercapacity. In the absence of demand response, increased wind generation leads to higher capacity prices as generators seek to offset depressed energy prices. However, we find that demand response's participation in the capacity market can combat these increased capacity prices. These results suggest that demand response participation in capacity markets can mitigate some of the market challenges of renewable integration, particularly that of the “missing money” problem.
621Scopus© Citations 60 - PublicationInvestment vs. Refurbishment: Examining Capacity Payment Mechanisms Using Stochastic Mixed Complementarity Problems(International Association for Energy Economics (IAEE), 2017-04-01)
; Capacity remuneration mechanisms exist in many electricity markets. Capacity mechanism designs do not explicitly consider the effects of refurbishment of existing generation units in order to increase their reliability. This paper presents a stochastic mixed complementarity problem to examine the impact of refurbishment on electricity prices and generation investment. Capacity payments are found to increase reliability when refurbishment is not possible, while capacity payments and reliability options yield similar results when refurbishment is possible. Final costs to consumers are similar under the two mechanisms with the exception of the initial case of overcapacity.313Scopus© Citations 15 - PublicationWho Pays for Renewables? Increasing Renewable Subsidisation due to Increased Datacentre Demand in Ireland(WERI Education Research Development Printing Publication, Ltd., 2019-06-01)
; Demand from datacentres makes up a rapidly growing portion of electricity demand in Ireland. Increased demand in turn gives rise to increased renewable generation, mandated by government targets, and a corresponding increase in subsidisation levels. The current method of apportioning renewable subsidy costs may lead to consumers other than datacentres bearing this excess cost of subsidisation. This letter calculates the expected impact on these consumers.369 - PublicationThe effect of Demand Response and wind generation on electricity investment and operationWe present a novel method of determining the contribution of load-shifting Demand Response (DR) to energy and reserve markets. We model DR in an Mixed Complementarity Problem (MCP) framework with high levels of wind penetration. Investment, exit and operational decisions are optimized simultaneously. We examine the potential for DR to participate in both energy and reserve markets. DR participation in the energy market reduces costs and prices and gives rise to lower equilibrium levels of investment in conventional generation. DR and wind generation are strongly complementary, due to the ability of DR to mitigate against the variability of wind generation, with the highest reduction of consumer costs seen at high levels of wind penetration. The total impact of DR is highly dependent on specific system characteristics.
616Scopus© Citations 15 - PublicationInducing truthful revelation of generator reliabilityLiberalised electricity markets often include a capacity remuneration mechanism to allow generation firms recover their fixed costs. Various de-rating factors and/or penalties have been incorporated into such mechanisms in order to reward the unit based on the contribution they make to system security, which in turn depends on the unit's reliability. However, this reliability is known to the firm but not to the regulator. We adopt a mechanism design approach for capacity payments based on a declaration by the firm of their reliability. The mechanism scales payments and penalties according to this declared reliability such that the firm's profit-maximising strategy is to truthfully reveal its reliability. A stochastic mixed complementarity problem (MCP) is used to model the interactions between the firms, and we apply this methodology to a test system using Irish electricity market data. Truth-telling is induced, increasing the efficiency of capacity payments while eliminating the requirement for the regulator to allocate resources to discovering reliability.
345Scopus© Citations 2