Among renewable energy resources, wind power is poised to contribute most significantly to meeting future wholesale electricity demand. However, the intermittent nature of wind power makes maintaining system reliability a challenge as the share of installed wind capacity on the grid increases. In New England, wind plants are currently unable to receive automatic dispatch instructions from the regional grid operator, but a centralized wind forecasting system under development will enable wind plants to be dispatched by ISO New England’s automatic dispatch software by 2016. Wind plants will receive an upper bound to their production through so-called Do Not Exceed (DNE) dispatch limits. This study evaluates how the automatic dispatch of wind plants in the ISO New England control area will impact wind plant output, emissions, wholesale energy market prices, and the system-wide generation mix. Wind generation is modeled using 10-minute time-series wind speed data from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s Eastern Wind Dataset. Market outcomes for 2020 are then simulated using the spreadsheet-based Oak Ridge Competitive Electricity Dispatch (ORCED) model which mimics the economic dispatch of power plants in deregulated wholesale electricity markets. Results show that imposing DNE dispatch limits reduce total wind generation by a small amount – 6.47% over the course of the study year. The study finds that DNE dispatch limits constrain wind generation often – 28.4% of the year on average – but that the levels of wind generation avoided were typically small – 72.4% of DNE limit curtailment events were at levels below 5% of plant nameplate capacity.

Cette thèse porte sur une série de problèmes d’efficacité économique créés par le développement de masse en Europe des sources d’énergie renouvelable (SER) intermittentes. Les ressources flexibles requises pour compenser certaines de leurs propriétés (variabilité, faible prévisibilité, sites spécifiques) sont connues, mais des signaux sont nécessaires pour en assurer un développement et des opérations efficaces. Une première question qui se pose est de savoir dans quelle mesure les SER intermittentes peuvent rester en dehors des marchés de l’électricité, alors qu’elles y jouent un rôle-clé. Une seconde question est de déterminer dans quelle mesure le design de marché actuel est adapté à un système électrique contenant une part très importante de SER intermittentes. Ces deux questions sont traitées ici dans quatre contributions indépendantes.Le premier chapitre consiste en une revue critique de littérature. On y introduit et compare deux paradigmes (qui sont souvent implicites) pour l’intégration des SER. On identifie ensuite des évolutions requises afin d’adapter le design de marché au développement de SER intermittentes, telles qu’une redéfinition des produits échangés, ou une réorganisation de la séquence de marchés.On emploie dans le deuxième chapitre un modèle analytique, afin d’évaluer le potentiel des marchés infra-journaliers pour gérer la faible-prévisibilité des SER intermittentes. Cette étude démontre comment ce potentiel est en grande partie déterminé par l’évolution des erreurs de prévision.Le troisième chapitre s’intéresse aux bénéfices qui peuvent résulter d’une restriction de la production des SER intermittentes à un instant donné. Un autre modèle analytique est utilisé pour décortiquer l’influence de paramètres clés sur ces bénéfices. Une attention particulière est portée à la distribution de ces bénéfices entre les différents acteurs.Enfin on réalise dans le chapitre 4 une simulation numérique de l’évolution des bilans des gestionnaires du réseau de transport (GRTs) européens, afin de souligner les difficultés posées par la connexion des SER intermittentes au réseau de transport. Des stratégies de financement alternatives sont également évaluées. Cette étude révèle l’existence d’un déficit de financement important en cas d’évolution constante des tarifs. / This thesis centres on issues of economic efficiency originating from the large-scale development of intermittent renewable energy sources (RES) in Europe. The flexible resources that are necessary to cope with their specificities (variability, low-predictability, site specificity) are already known, but adequate signals are required to foster efficient operation and investment in these resources. A first question is to what extent intermittent RES can remain out of the market at times when they are the main driver of investment and operation in power systems. A second question is whether the current market design is adapted to their specificities. These two questions are tackled in four distinct contributions.The first chapter is a critical literature review. This analysis introduces and confronts two (often implicit) paradigms for RES integration. It then identifies and discusses a set of evolutions required to develop a market design adapted to the large-scale development of RES, such as new definitions of the products exchanged and reorganisation of the sequence of electricity markets.In the second chapter, an analytical model is used to assess the potential of intraday markets as a flexibility provider to intermittent RES with low production predictability. This study highlights and demonstrates how the potential of intraday markets is heavily dependent on the evolution of the forecast errors.The third chapter focuses on the benefits of curtailing the production by intermittent RES, as a tool to smooth out their variability and reduce overall generation costs. Another analytical model is employed to anatomize the relationship between these benefits and a set of pivotal parameters. Special attention is also paid to the allocation of these benefits between the different stakeholders.In the fourth chapter, a numerical simulation is used to evaluate the ability of the European transmission system operators to tackle the investment wave required in order to manage the production of intermittent RES. Alternative financing strategies are then assessed. The findings reveal that under the current trend of tariffs, the volumes of investment forecasted will be highly challenging for transmission system operators.

This thesis centres on issues of economic efficiency originating from the large-scale development of intermittent renewable energy sources (RES) in Europe. The flexible resources that are necessary to cope with their specificities (variability, low-predictability, site specificity) are already known, but adequate signals are required to foster efficient operation and investment in these resources. A first question is to what extent intermittent RES can remain out of the market at times when they are the main driver of investment and operation in power systems. A second question is whether the current market design is adapted to their specificities. These two questions are tackled in four distinct contributions.The first chapter is a critical literature review. This analysis introduces and confronts two (often implicit) paradigms for RES integration. It then identifies and discusses a set of evolutions required to develop a market design adapted to the large-scale development of RES, such as new definitions of the products exchanged and reorganisation of the sequence of electricity markets.In the second chapter, an analytical model is used to assess the potential of intraday markets as a flexibility provider to intermittent RES with low production predictability. This study highlights and demonstrates how the potential of intraday markets is heavily dependent on the evolution of the forecast errors.The third chapter focuses on the benefits of curtailing the production by intermittent RES, as a tool to smooth out their variability and reduce overall generation costs. Another analytical model is employed to anatomize the relationship between these benefits and a set of pivotal parameters. Special attention is also paid to the allocation of these benefits between the different stakeholders.In the fourth chapter, a numerical simulation is used to evaluate the ability of the European transmission system operators to tackle the investment wave required in order to manage the production of intermittent RES. Alternative financing strategies are then assessed. The findings reveal that under the current trend of tariffs, the volumes of investment forecasted will be highly challenging for transmission system operators.

This dissertation details regulation's impact in networked markets, notably in deregulated electricity and internet service markets. These markets represent basic infrastructure in the modern economy; their innate networked structures make for rich fields of economic research on regulatory impact. The first chapter models deregulated electricity industries with a focus on the Texas market. Optimal economic benchmarks are considered for markets with regulated delivery and interrelated network costs. Using a model of regulator, consumer, and firm interaction, I determine the efficiency of the current rate formalization compared to Ramsey-Boiteux prices and two-part tariffs. I find within Texas's market increases to generator surplus up to 55% of subsidies could be achieved under Ramsey-Boiteux pricing or two-part tariffs, respectively. The second chapter presents a framework to analyze dynamic processes and long-run outcomes in two-sided markets, specifically dynamic platform and firm investment incentives within the internet-service platform/content provision market. I use the Ericson-Pakes framework applied within a platform that chooses fees on either side of its two-sided market. This chapter determines the impact of network neutrality on platform investment incentives, specifically whether to improve the platform. I use a parameterized calibration from engineering reports and current ISP literature to determine welfare outcomes and industry behavior under network neutral and non-neutral regimes. My final chapter explores retail firm failure within the deregulated Texas retail electricity market. This chapter investigates determinants of retail electric firm failures using duration analysis frameworks. In particular, this chapter investigates the impact of these determinants on firms with extant experience versus unsophisticated entrants. Understanding these determinants is an important component in evaluating whether deregulation achieves the impetus of competitive electricity market restructuring. Knowing which economic events decrease a market's competitiveness helps regulators to effectively evaluate policy implementations. I find that experience does benefit a firm's duration, but generally that benefit assists firm duration in an adverse macroeconomic environment rather than in response to adverse market conditions such as higher wholesale prices or increased transmission congestion. Additionally, I find evidence that within the Texas market entering earlier results in a longer likelihood of duration. / text