E-Learning Course on Introduction to Electricity Markets
May 13 - June 27, 2008
Tuition Fee:
ERRA Members: complimentary
Non Members: € 350
Brief Description of the Course:
The liberalisation of the electricity sector has been a very important development worldwide in the past two decades, and is still an ongoing process in many transition countries. This course aims to provide a thorough introduction to the most important economic issues surrounding the creation and successful operation of electricity markets. Topics discussed during the first half of the week include an explanation of relevant economic concepts, the characterisation of competitive and oligopolistic markets, the dangers of market power abuse and the effect of the presence of essential facilities on market operation. Within this general market framework, the second half of the course will cover the special issues regarding the demand and supply of electricity, the design of various market structures and the role of the electricity network in a competitive environment.
Your class consists of participantswho are involved in the energy sector, providing you with a tremendous opportunity to gain new insights, meet new friends, and develop professional relationships.
The course focuses on the following issues:
- Economics of competitive markets
- Demand for and supply of electricity: major characteristics
- Wholesale markets for electricity: design and operation
- Supply characteristics of electricity networks and network issues in electricity markets
- Economics of market power and antitrust in electricity markets
Course Requirements:
We estimate that assignments will take 10-15 hours per week. Students are advised to check the website daily, it will be required to read the textbook and solve exercises. Thus, we would appreciate if the participant could make commitment for this additional workload.
The participant shall have direct access to the internet with a minimum speed of 128/256Kb and his/her computer must have PDF functionality, Internet Explorer 6.0 and a personal email address.
The participant shall have at least medium-level written command of English or Russian so that he/she could engage in online group discussions and debates with fellow participants and engage in direct communication with the course instructors.
After the completion of the course participants will get E-certificates.
Course Programme:
Course consists of an extensive textbook, exercises and test questions.
The course is organized into several modules.
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Module 1 provides an elementary, non-technical introduction into the methods and tools of economic analysis, the role of incentives in influencing the behavior of economic actors, and the theory of efficiently working competitive markets.
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Module 2 describes the two main forces of a market for electricity: supply and demand. Technical and economic features of power generation are discussed both from a short and a long term perspective. We also study the characteristics of electricity demand with special emphasis on its price responsiveness.
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Module 3 deals with the design and operation of wholesale markets. We introduce the main market models and discuss their strengths and weaknesses. The role of the system operator is explained in detail.
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Module 4 introduces the network issues arising from the nature of electricity transmission. We discuss technical features, governance models, third-party access and methods of congestion management and capacity allocation.
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Module 5 provides an introduction to the consequences and detection of market power abuse in electricity markets.
The course was be available at the following website:
http://erra.eduweb.hu/
