This work is trying to establish and answer three questions about the concept of Intermarium: Which concepts of the Intermarium that were formed in the past, are still relevant in modern geopolitical circumstances? What political conditions force the country to become a potential participant of the Intermarium? What minimal number of countries is sufficient enough for membership in the Intermarium to provide its effective activity in the political arena? The questions are answered through the implementation of a comparative method. The chosen method is applied to the selected states of the specified region on the basis of two selected cases that correspond to analogical situations in the history of these countries and resulted in the birth of the concept of the Intermarium as one of the possibilities for solving the political crisis in the historical period, which is chosen for the case. This work with case studies will allow the researcher to obtain a high level of conceptual validity as well as to evaluate the indicators that fully explain the theoretical concepts. Since certain internal and external factors such as political system, political culture, state power, economic independence, defensive capabilities, cultural and historical mentality, membership in international organizations are...

As the world's largest energy consumer and producer, China is the leading player of the international energy arena. Among other important achievements, China has become the world's largest wind power market as well as largest producer of hydroelectricity and solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity. In recent years China has been at the centre of almost every work stream within the International Energy Agency (IEA), and many other international energy organizations. This thesis aims to understand what role China can and will play in global energy governance by examining how its domestic energy context shapes the country's attitudes toward the multilateral, market and climate change aspects of global energy governance. China's recent re-emergence has resulted in a significant increase in the global demand of commodities and is already having major impacts on the dynamics of global commodity markets. In the case of the global uranium market, we are at the very beginning of a new era in the global energy system. However, we can already observe interesting trends. My research question will be," How China's search for supplies changes and influences its role in the global energy governance? "

<p dir="ltr">With the growing installation of distributed energy resources (DERs) at homes, more residential households are able to reduce the overall energy cost by storing unused energy in the storage battery when there is abundant renewable energy generation, and using the stored energy when there is insufficient renewable energy generation and high demand. It could be even more economical for the household if energy can be traded and shared among neighboring households. Despite the great economic benefit of DERs, they could also make it more challenging to ensure the stability of the grid due to the decentralization of agents' activities.</p><p><br></p><p dir="ltr">This thesis presents two approaches that combine market and control mechanisms to address these challenges. In the first work, we focus on the integration of DERs into local energy markets. We introduce a peer-to-peer (P2P) local energy market and propose a consensus multi-agent reinforcement learning (MARL) framework, which allows agents to develop strategies for trading and decentralized voltage control within the P2P market. It is compared to both the fully decentralized and centralized training & decentralized execution (CTDE) framework. Numerical results reveal that under each framework, the system is able to converge to a dynamic balance with the guarantee of system stability as each agent gradually learns the approximately optimal strategy. Theoretical results also prove the convergence of the consensus MARL algorithm under certain conditions.</p><p dir="ltr">In the second work, we introduce a mean-field game framework for the integration of DERs into wholesale energy markets. This framework helps DER owners automatically learn optimal decision policies in response to market price fluctuations and their own variable renewable energy outputs. We prove the existence of a mean-field equilibrium (MFE) for the wholesale energy market, and we develop a heuristic decentralized mean-field learning algorithm to converge to an MFE, taking into consideration the demand/supply shock and flexible demand. Our numerical experiments point to convergence to an MFE and show that our framework effectively reduces peak load and price fluctuations, especially during exogenous demand or supply shocks.</p>

The purpose of this study is to explore what motivates or discourage customers' intentions to join a loyalty program (LP) in the Swedish energy market. To answer the purpose of the thesis, equity theory and theory of planned behavior (TPB) have been applied to the discussion. In addition, two research questions have been developed. RQ1: What potential perceived benefits of loyalty programs motivate customers' intentions to join a loyalty program in the energy market? RQ2: What potential perceived costs and risks of loyalty programs discourage customers' intention to join a loyalty program in the energy market? To conduct the thesis, a qualitative research approach with an abductive focus in the form of semi-structured interviews was used. By applying a thematic analysis, 19 consumers living in different cities in Sweden were interviewed to explore answers related to RQ1 and RQ2. The results for RQ1 showed that monetary savings, recognition benefits and sustainability benefits motivated customers' intentions to join a loyalty program in the energy market, where monetary savings were considered most valuable.  Exploration benefits and recognition benefits motivated some customers' intentions to join and others not. Social benefits did not motivate customers' intentions to join. For RQ2, the results showed that financial costs and social risks discourage customers' intentions to join a loyalty program in the energy market. Time and data privacy and security issues discourage some customers' intentions to join and others not.  This thesis addresses the research gap concerning loyalty programs in the energy sector by focusing on customers' intentions to join such programs, utilizing equity theory and the theory of planned behavior. It provides new insights into how customers' intentions are influenced by various perceived benefits, costs, and risks associated with joining an LP. Furthermore the study provides actionable insights for energy companies seeking to develop effective loyalty programs. This study emphasizes the importance of monetary savings as the primary motivator for customers to join such programs, ensuring that perceived benefits outweigh costs in line with the equity theory. Additionally, it recommends personalizing recognition, diversifying rewards, simplifying the joining process, ensuring transparency, and integrating sustainability initiatives. By adopting these strategies, energy companies can create compelling loyalty programs that encourage customer intentions to join and engage in the program.

Trading optimal wind power in energy and regulation market offers possibil-ities for increasing revenues as well as impacting security of the system in apositive way[33]. The bidding in both energy and regulation markets can bedone through stochastic optimization process of both markets.Stochastic optimization can be possible once the probabilistic forecst is avail-able through ensemble forecast methodology. For stochastic optimization, thepost-processing of the ensembles to generate quantiles that will be used in op-timization can be accomplished by employing different methodology. In thisstudy, we will concentrate on the impact of post-processing of ensembles onthe stochastic optimization.Generation of quantiles needed for stochastic optimization used herein formarket optimization will be the main focus of the investigation. The impactof price ratios between energy and reserve market will be also investigated toanalyse the impact of said ratios on the revenues. Furthermore this analysiswill be performed for both US and Swedish markets.

South Korea established a non-competitive natural gas market in order to have a stable and economical supply of natural gas. The allegation has been raised about the inefficiency of this non-competitive market structure, but reform attempts have failed because of protests. Proponents of this incumbent system argue that gas needs to be supplied by the public sector in a monopolized structure so as to have a stable supply of this essential good, natural gas, and to prevent market failures like exorbitant gas prices and a deficit in supply due to a natural monopoly. They also argue that the unified gas purchase endows purchasing power. However, the gas industry does not exactly meet the categorical characteristics of an essential good or a natural monopoly and the concept of purchasing power is hardly accepted. Moreover, according to agent theory and property theory, the current market and firms are likely to be inefficient; several events are proving this inefficiency to be true. However, people remain unsure about the necessity of gas market reform. Ironically, South Korea has a different policy and market approach to the oil market despite the similarity of these two fuels. The oil market in South Korea constitutes an effective competitive market via a liberalized market, and is supplying the fuel stably and economically, contrary to people’s expectations. This thesis contrasts different approaches in South Korea toward similar hydrocarbon fuels, oil and gas. The competitiveness of the oil market is examined through statistics, Lerner index, analyzing of the profit trend in the market, and price comparison by countries. Results support the validity of South Korean gas market reform if the oil market is effectively competitive through liberalization. / text

[pt] Os preços de energia elétrica, insumo básico para todo o Modelo Setorial, constituem uma das maiores incertezas do setor. Estas incertezas abrangem todos os elementos formadores de preços: a oferta, a demanda e as regras de mercado, tornando muitas vezes difícil ao agente a avaliação concreta e precisa do processo da formação de preços e do impacto que a variação de um dos elementos do processo produz no resultado final. O objetivo deste trabalho é apresentar a estrutura de formação de preços no mercado energético brasileiro de forma sistematizada, avaliando a composição das variáveis que afetam esta estrutura: a demanda por consumo, a expansão do sistema e as disponibilidades energéticas. O mercado é modelado em todos os seus detalhes físicos, e o cálculo é realizado a partir de todo o arcabouço regulatório, incluindo a reprodução do modelo de operação ótima responsável pelos preços de energia. Descreve-se inicialmente um modelo de previsão de demanda por subsistema, utilizando-se técnicas de Teoria de Análise Funcional. Focaliza-se em seguida o suprimento futuro de energia no país a partir da expansão da oferta. Finalmente, utiliza-se uma simulação da operação ótima do sistema a partir da reprodução dos resultados do modelo utilizado no setor - o Newave - a partir de uma implementação própria desenvolvida especialmente no escopo deste trabalho. De posse dos possíveis cenários futuros, pode-se mensurar o impacto que a variação de cada elemento formador (demanda, expansão e afluências) tem sobre os custos de energia. É possível observar que as incertezas nestas variáveis podem gerar grandes impactos nos custos marginais e, conseqüentemente, nos custos futuros de energia elétrica. / [en] Energy Prices, essential input for the Sectorial Model, consist on the biggest uncertainties of the Electric Sector. These uncertainties enclose all price elements: the supply, the demand and the market rules, making sometimes difficult for the agents to evaluate the price process and the impact that the variation of each process element can produce on the result. The objective is to present Brazilian price process in a structuralized way, evaluating the variables composition that affects this structure: the demand, the electric system expansion and the energy supply availability. The market is modeled in all its physical details, and the calculation is done into the regulatory environment, including a reproduction of the optimal operation model responsible for energy prices. First, a demand forecast model is described, based on Functional Analysis Theory. Then, the focus is on the energy future supply, analyzing the supply expansion in Brazil. Finally, an optimal operation system is simulated, reproducing the sector model (Newave) results from an implementation developed in this work. From these possible future settings, each element (demand, expansion and energy supply availability) variation impact on energy prices can be measured. The simulations show that uncertainties about these variables can have big impacts on marginal costs and, consequently, on the energy future prices.

A disponibilidade de energia a preços competitivos é fundamental para a competitividade dos produtos da indústria nacional, que está imersa num ambiente concorrencial interno e externo. Essa indústria tem inserção maciça no cotidiano de toda sociedade, contribuindo decisivamente para o bom andamento da economia brasileira. O Modelo Setorial permite a um grande consumidor optar pela contratação de energia de forma regulada ou livre, pelo que a análise da melhor estratégia de contratação torna-se fundamental. No presente trabalho, é realizado o mapeamento da composição dos preços praticados no Ambiente de Contratação Livre (ACL) e Ambiente de Contratação Regulado (ACR). As regras são definidas através da análise da legislação setorial e do comportamento observado dos agentes de mercado. Após essa etapa, são realizadas simulações, partindo de premissas macroeconômicas e setoriais, que fornecem projeções de preços para ambos os ambientes e, por fim, realizadas comparações entre as diversas estratégias de contratação. / The availability of electrical energy at competitive prices is of fundamental importance for the competitiveness of products in each industry field, considering the strong competition in internal and external markets. The industry production plays an important role in society everyday life, contributing decisively to the smooth running of the Brazilian economy. Taking into account this perspective, the Brazilian electrical sector institutional model allows a big consumer to have the option to satisfy his energy needs in the regulated or free market. Therefore, the analysis of the best contracting strategy becomes crucial. In this work, the energy pricing in Regulated Contracting Market (ACR) and in the Free Contracting Market (ACL) is deeply analyzed. The rules are defined through the analysis of the electrical sector legislation and the observed behavior of market players. After this stage, simulations are performed considering sector and macroeconomic assumptions, which provide spot prices forecast and long term energy prices forecast for both environments and, finally, comparisons between the different contracting strategies are established.

A disponibilidade de energia a preços competitivos é fundamental para a competitividade dos produtos da indústria nacional, que está imersa num ambiente concorrencial interno e externo. Essa indústria tem inserção maciça no cotidiano de toda sociedade, contribuindo decisivamente para o bom andamento da economia brasileira. O Modelo Setorial permite a um grande consumidor optar pela contratação de energia de forma regulada ou livre, pelo que a análise da melhor estratégia de contratação torna-se fundamental. No presente trabalho, é realizado o mapeamento da composição dos preços praticados no Ambiente de Contratação Livre (ACL) e Ambiente de Contratação Regulado (ACR). As regras são definidas através da análise da legislação setorial e do comportamento observado dos agentes de mercado. Após essa etapa, são realizadas simulações, partindo de premissas macroeconômicas e setoriais, que fornecem projeções de preços para ambos os ambientes e, por fim, realizadas comparações entre as diversas estratégias de contratação. / The availability of electrical energy at competitive prices is of fundamental importance for the competitiveness of products in each industry field, considering the strong competition in internal and external markets. The industry production plays an important role in society everyday life, contributing decisively to the smooth running of the Brazilian economy. Taking into account this perspective, the Brazilian electrical sector institutional model allows a big consumer to have the option to satisfy his energy needs in the regulated or free market. Therefore, the analysis of the best contracting strategy becomes crucial. In this work, the energy pricing in Regulated Contracting Market (ACR) and in the Free Contracting Market (ACL) is deeply analyzed. The rules are defined through the analysis of the electrical sector legislation and the observed behavior of market players. After this stage, simulations are performed considering sector and macroeconomic assumptions, which provide spot prices forecast and long term energy prices forecast for both environments and, finally, comparisons between the different contracting strategies are established.

Submitted by Rosivalda Pereira (mrs.pereira@ufma.br) on 2017-08-11T19:29:47Z No. of bitstreams: 1 SidneyCerqueiraJunior.pdf: 2395617 bytes, checksum: cbf8e82ed5431d78b69640d4a6b7d511 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-08-11T19:29:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 SidneyCerqueiraJunior.pdf: 2395617 bytes, checksum: cbf8e82ed5431d78b69640d4a6b7d511 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-06-01 / In the last years, the process of restructuring of the electricity market, brought several changes in the operational e regulatory aspects. The main idea was the separation of the generation, transmission and distribution activities in order to insert the competition among them, aimed to increase the e ciency, safety and quality of supply of electrical energy. The hourly schedule, usually called a Unit Commitment has as objective the de - nition of which generators should be online/o ine and their respective operation points. In some markets based on this new model, the determination of the optimal scheduling of generators (thermal and hydro) is made by the Agent Generator, which is largely responsible for the allocation of your portfolio. Given this, the aim of this work is to nd the operational policy that will maximize the pro t of Agent Generator, based on forecast price and respecting the thermal, hydro and market constrictions assigned to the problem. Thus, the optimal schedule found is an important factor in developing strategies to o ers of bids to auctions in which the Genco will participate. For the case study technique Particle Swarm Optimization is applied to solve the problem in plants belonging to the Brazilian electric system, which are also analyzed the in uence of the start-up cost to the optimal schedule. / Nos últimos anos, o processo de reestruturação da indústria da eletricidade, trouxe diversas mudanças nos aspectos operacionais e regulatórios. A ideia principal foi a separação das atividades de geração, transmissão e distribuição, de modo a inserir competição entre esses, visando o aumento da e ficiência, segurança e qualidade no fornecimento da energia elétrica. A programação horária, usualmente denominada de Pré-Despacho de Potência, tem como objetivo a defi nição de quais unidades devem estar ligadas/desligadas e seus respectivos pontos de operação. Em alguns mercados baseado neste novo modelo, a determinação da programação ótima dos geradores (termelétricas e hidrelétricas) é feita pelo próprio Agente Gerador, sendo este o maior responsável pela alocação de seu portfólio. Diante disto, o objetivo deste trabalho é encontrar a política operativa que irá maximizar o lucro desse Agente Gerador, baseado na previsão de preço horário e respeitando as restrições térmicas, hidráulicas e de mercado atribuídas ao problema. Assim, a programação ótima encontrada é um importante fator para elaboração das estratégias de ofertas de lances a leilões em que o Agente Gerador irá participar. Para estudo de caso, a técnica Otimização por Enxame de Partículas é aplicada para solucionar o problema em usinas que pertencem ao sistema elétrico brasileiro, onde é analisado também a influência do custo de partida na programação ótima horária.