Background: China is the country with the worldwide hugest hydropower reserves. Interms of meeting its electricity demand, further development of its reserves is necessary.European companies are leading on the hydropower market and strive for projects inChina, resulting in challenges and opportunities while facing emerging market features.Aim: This study presents an analysis of the Chinese electricity market with the aim toidentify challenges and opportunities European hydropower companies face whenoperating or entering this market. The analysis uses Blue Ocean as strategic tool to finda new perspective of examining the market situation and potential.Definition: The OECD (2007) defined hydropower as “electricity generation using thepower of falling water”.Method: This study is based on qualitative research. It constitutes five expertinterviews with company employees as Voith and a professor for fluid mechanics andhydraulic machinery at Stuttgart University.Results: The analysis resulted in 12 challenges and opportunities for Europeanhydropower companies. The challenges arise mainly from political influence on theChinese market. Opportunities, on the other hand, have strategic implications on alltime horizons but focus on different technologies and directions. The long term strategicopportunity was identifies by applying the Blue Ocean strategy. Further this proves theex ante applicability of the Blue Ocean strategy.

This thesis examines the private and external costs of electricity generated in Ontario by natural gas, wind, refurbished nuclear and new nuclear power. The purpose of the assessment is to determine a capacity expansion plan that meets the forecasted electricity supply gap in Ontario at the lowest social costs (i. e. the lowest aggregated private and external costs). A levelized unit electricity cost (LUEC) analysis is employed to evaluate private costs under both public and merchant perspectives. Computable external costs are monetized by adapting estimates from the literature that were previously developed using a primarily bottom-up damage cost method. <br /><br /> The findings reveal that social cost estimates for nuclear refurbishment are the lowest of the generation alternatives studied regardless of the evaluation perspective. Therefore, if the capacity expansion decision were based solely on these estimates, nuclear refurbishment should be utilized until its capacity constraints are reached. The generation alternative with the second lowest social costs depends on the perspective from which private costs are evaluated: from a public perspective, the remainder of the supply gap should be filled by new nuclear generation and from a merchant perspective, which is assumed to be more reflective of the current Ontario electricity market, natural gas-fired generation should be used. <br /><br /> Due to inherent uncertainty and limitations associated with the estimation of social costs, the estimates obtained in this thesis are considered to be context and data specific. A sensitivity analysis, which is employed to attempt to mitigate some of the uncertainty, shows that changes to key variables alter the capacity expansion plan. This reinforces the observation that methods and assumptions significantly affect social cost estimates. <br /><br /> Despite the limitations of this kind of evaluation, it is argued that a social cost assessment that is consistent, transparent and comprehensive can be a useful tool to assess the trade-offs of electricity generation alternatives if used along with existing evaluation criteria. Such an assessment can increase the likelihood that actual social costs are minimized, which can steer electricity generation in Ontario towards a system that is more efficient and sustainable.

The focus of this thesis is to explore a new mechanism to give added incentive to invest in new capacities in deregulated electricity markets. There is a lot of concern in energy markets, regarding lack of sufficient private sector investment in new capacities to generate electricity. Although some markets are using mechanisms to reward these investments directly, e.g., by governmental subsidies for renewable sources such as wind or solar, there is not much theory to guide the process of setting the reward levels. The proposed mechanism involves a long term planning model, maximizing the social welfare measured as consumers’ plus producers’ surplus, by choosing new generation capacities which, along with still existing capacities, can meet demand. Much previous research in electricity capacity planning has also solved optimization models, usually with continuous variables only, in linear or non-linear programs. However, these approaches can be misleading when capacity additions must either be zero or a large size, e.g., the building of a nuclear reactor or a large wind farm. Therefore, this research includes binary variables for the building of large new facilities in the optimization problem, i.e. the model becomes a mixed integer linear or nonlinear program. It is well known that, when binary variables are included in such a model, the resulting commodity prices may give insufficient incentive for private investment in the optimal new capacities. The new mechanism is intended to overcome this difficulty with a capacity price in addition to the commodity price: an auxiliary mathematical program calculates the minimum capacity price that is necessary to ensure that all firms investing in new capacities are satisfied with their profit levels. In order to test the applicability of this approach, the result of the suggested model is compared with the Ontario Integrated Power System Plan (IPSP), which recommends new generation capacities, based on historical data and costs of different sources of electricity generation for the next 20 years given a fixed forecast of demand.

This dissertation contains three essays. The first and second essays examine intergenerational mobility in earnings in Brazil using a data set spanning three generations. I use data from PNAD{a nationally representative household survey in Brazil. I build a three-generations data set consisting of 5,125 grandfather-father- son triplets by restricting the sample to households with adult sons. The first essay estimates some relationships between a child's earnings and family background implied by the Becker-Tomes model. I find that the estimates contradict some of its predictions, like the negative relationship between child's earnings and grandparent's earnings when controlling for parent's earnings. I propose a modified version of the Becker-Tomes model and find that the estimates are consistent with its predictions. I find that family background explains 34.9% of the variation in earnings among young males who live with their parents. If it were possible to eliminate the differences in investment in the children's human capital, the variation in earnings would fall by no more than 21.1%. Additionally, if there were no differences in endowments among children, the variation in earnings would fall by no less than 26%. The second essay examines the evolution of the intergenerational elasticity across generations and im- plications of marriage, education and fertility on mobility. I find that the estimate of the intergenerational elasticity in earnings is 0.847. The elasticity of earnings between son-in-law and father-in-law, 0.89, is approximately the same as the elasticity between son and father, 0.9. Additionally, controlling for fathers' percentile in the earnings distribution, each additional sibling decreases the sons' percentile by 1.77 percentiles. The third essay estimates an indicator of the optimal investment in electricity generation in Texas, and the associated efficiency gains. The essay presents a method to estimate the optimal investment in each technology available to generate electricity. The estimation considers the expected entry and exit of generation plants, future fuel prices, different demand elasticities and a potential carbon allowance mar- kets. Considering a carbon allowance price equal to two times the level in Europe, the optimal investment in electricity generation in Texas is zero.

This thesis considers economic factors for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from utility-scale electricity generation in California. The statewide Emission Performance Standard and Renewables Portfolio Standard have led to the announced and projected retirement of many coal power facilities serving California electricity load. This reality requires new baseload power sources to meet growing energy demands over the next several decades. The economic and environmental feasibilities of competitive baseload generation technologies are assessed to determine suitable replacements for decommissioning coal power plants. Geothermal is identified as the optimal replacement due to its economic baseload functionality, low greenhouse gas emissions, small environmental impact, and resource abundance in many regions of California. Developing geothermal capacity from the Salton Sea could provide southern California with a reliable energy source for decades while simultaneously reducing adverse environmental impacts and greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation in California.

Electricity consumption in Guatemala has been steadily increasing during the recent years, challenging the generation sector to keep up with the pace of electricity demand in the long term. To tackle this problem, the government of Guatemala has delineated the Electricity Generation Expansion Plan for the period 2014-2028, proposing several hypothetical future scenarios of the energy mix for electricity production. The aim of this thesis is to evaluate how the fulfillment of this plan would influence energy security and sustainable development prospects in the country.  Following an assessment framework that allows a systematic evaluation of the system, indicators that reflect potential vulnerabilities and sustainability concerns are applied to the scenarios. The results show that energy security in the electricity sector could increase as a consequence of the capacity expansion and transformation of the energy mix to rely more on indigenous sources, taking into consideration scenarios with a more diversified portfolio that include the expansion of biomass and geothermal capacity to compensate for the vulnerability of hydroelectricity to weather events. The prospects for sustainable development in the country can be supported by the provision of secure electricity supply that takes into account efficiency and mitigation measures in the exploitation of natural resources, as well as social impact assessments to ensure that the plan will not affect the livelihood of vulnerable groups and has the possibility to contribute to increase equity in electricity access.

Orust Kretsloppsakademi is a nonprofit organisation, with a goal of annually generate the same amount of electrical energy that is consumed. Orust is an island on the west coast of Sweden, north of Gothenburg. The population of 15 000 reaches 40 000 during summer, due to the large amount of vacationer. The total electricity demand is 174 GWh a year with a maximum power need of 32 MW. This report presents an analysis for the plausibility of their plan and from a power system stability perspective, the effects on the electrical grid. The conclusion is that the restraints for development of power generation from wind, solar and wave generation, are the power systems capability to transfer power, primarily in the transformers of the grid. Various actions, such as constraints of power output at certain times, and clever location of generation facilities, reduces the utilisation rate of the line segments. In order to substantially decrease the utilisation rate of the line segments, the actions need to be combined. Executed simulations showed that Orust needs to be provided with reactive power, even if Orust is self-sufficient of active power, through its connection to the Swedish power system. The need for reactive power decreased when the feeding transformer allowed a reduced voltage in the regional network. Additionally, generation of reactive power could further increase the possibility for Orust to become self-sufficient on electricity generation.

Many analysts have attempted to develop a systematic approach towards understanding the public policy framework in Thailand, and the impact of policies on Thai society and the environment. However, approaches so far have been limited in scope, and little has been done to investigate Thailand's electricity development policy approach, and its impact on society and natural resources in Thailand. This thesis contributes to filling this knowledge gap through undertaking an analysis of the development of Thailand's electricity industry power generation policy, its institutions and the policy process. It also examines the policy actors working within the process, and their roles, power and influence, factors that have shaped the distinctive characteristics of the electricity industry in Thailand today, an industry that is being confronted by increased opposition to its development from a range of community groups concerned with adverse environmental and social impacts on it. My research here uses Historical Institutionalism and Policy Network Analysis to guide the investigation. A qualitative research methodology, including the examination of documentary evidence and the interviewing of 25 key informants, was used to improve our knowledge of the policy process, and to reveal the nature of the conflicts that have emerged within the Thai policy-making bureaucracy, a bureaucracy that controls the electricity industry, and between these policy actors, the elected and military governments, and other parts of the Thai community. My research found that the development of Thailand's electricity generation policy has been complex; influenced bysocio-economic and political factors, as well as by external factors such as conditionalities imposed by foreign governments and multinational lending agencies. These factors have constrained the political institutions and political elites who play a key role in setting the rules for the restructuring of the industry. As Thailand has developed to become more democratic, the emergence of new groups of policy-makers, such as elected-politicians and civil society, has brought about a change in electricity policy direction, and in the structure of the industry. The research identified four key groups of policy actors participating in the Thai electricity policy arena, including first the 'old energy aristocrats'; officials in Electricity Generation Authority of Thailand (EGAT) who established the industry. They were followed by the officials in Energy Policy and Planning Office (EPPO) who had a more commercial orientation and who challenged the earlier ideas, leading to proposals to privatize the industry. Civic Society Organisations (CSOs) emerged in the 1970s to challenge the large energy projects proposed by the Government, those supported by elected-politicians, particularly the politicians from Thai Rak Thai Party that tried to take control of the industry for their own ends. The TRT interventing in the industry after it came to power in the 1990s. Each of these policy participants developed their own discourses to influence policy-making and public opinion. To reveal the nature of the challenges faced in developing the electricity industry in Thailand, this thesis focuses on a number of case studies of large electricity development projects, including the Nam Choan and Pak Mun Dam Projects, the Prachub Kirikhan Power Plant Projects, and the Wiang Haeng Coal Mine Development Project. My studies reveal evidence of the significant negative impacts that these projects had and continue to have, on the communities and environment adjacent to them, and on Thai society more generally. These problems emerged due to the fact that the policy institutions were, and still are, dominated by technocrats and political elites, with limited public participation in either the policy decisions made, or the policy development process. My thesis concludes that conflicts in relation to the electricity industry policy process are likely to grow in future years, and so makes a number of suggestions as to how these issues might be addressed.

Orientador: Carlos Alberto Mariotoni / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Civil, Arquitetura e Urbanismo / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-12T13:49:37Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Agapito_CassianoAugusto_M.pdf: 873706 bytes, checksum: 7857de431ef19393521f03474f7ecdad (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008 / Resumo: O objetivo desse estudo é explorar os caminhos da expansão da geração no setor elétrico brasileiro. Com uma avaliação econômica das diferentes opções de projetos selecionados através da simulação de Tarifas de Equilíbrio, este estudo busca analisar a competitividade das fontes renováveis de geração no mercado brasileiro de energia elétrica e o impacto da evolução dos conceitos da economia ambiental e a colocação destes conceitos em prática através da alteração da legislação vigente. Através de uma pesquisa com especialistas são levantados os dados necessários para elaboração dos modelos econômico-financeiros individuais de cada fonte. Os resultados obtidos com a pesquisa mostram que as fontes renováveis devem manter participação elevada na expansão do sistema, e o novo paradigma ambiental deve elevar essa superioridade ainda mais. / Abstract: The purpose of this study is to explore the ways of expansion of generation in the Brazilian electricity sector. With an economic evaluation of different options for selected projects through the simulation of Rates of balance, this study aims to analyze the competitiveness of renewable generation in the Brazilian electricity market and the impact of the development of concepts of environmental economics and putting these concepts into practice by amending the existing legislation. Through a search specialists are raised with the data necessary to produce economic and financial models of each individual source. The results of the research show that renewable sources must maintain high participation in the expansion of the system, and the new paradigm environmental superiority that should raise even more. / Mestrado / Recursos Hidricos, Energeticos e Ambientais / Mestre em Engenharia Civil

Electricity generation is both a major contributor to the root causes of environmental unsustainability and an energy source that will likely play an important role in the transition to a sustainable society. Because renewable sources of electricity generation are seen as sustainable as a group, there is a danger that investments will be made in renewable technologies that do not effectively move society towards sustainability. We propose the use of a scientific, principles-based definition of sustainability to compare current and future renewable electricity options on their sustainability potential. This study presents a pilot decision-support comparison tool, Guide for Sustainable Energy Decisions (GSED), designed to give investors, policy makers, and manufacturers strategic guidance on the most effective renewable technologies to invest in for sustainability. The tool is based on a modified version of life cycle assessment (LCA) that allows comparisons of the upstream and downstream effects of generation technologies from a whole-systems sustainability perspective. Early feedback by experts suggests that the tool has strong potential to serve as an effective comparison tool and help decision-makers make strategic investments for sustainability.