IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/resene/v75y2023ics0928765523000568.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Who bears the risk? Incentives for renewable electricity under strategic interaction between regulator and investors

Author

Listed:
  • Alcorta, Peio
  • Espinosa, Maria Paz
  • Pizarro-Irizar, Cristina

Abstract

Energy policies for promoting investment in renewable energy sources have become crucial for deploying green energy technologies worldwide. Conventional incentive systems assign risk to either policymakers or investors. In this paper, we combine option theory and game theory to obtain optimal parameters for incentive schemes with different degrees of risk-sharing. We present an empirical application to the Spanish electricity market for 2013, when the Feed-in Tariff scheme was still in force, and for 2019, when Feed-in Tariffs had been completely phased out but before the demand shock caused by COVID-19, the restructuring of market price limits, and the recent energy price crisis in Europe. Our results indicate that there are more flexible systems based on Fixed Tariffs and Premiums that can outperform conventional designs, since they may enable the same investment level to be reached at a lower regulatory cost. In addition, these hybrid schemes permit risk-sharing between both parties. Our results may also be useful for designing incentives awarded through competitive auctions.

Suggested Citation

  • Alcorta, Peio & Espinosa, Maria Paz & Pizarro-Irizar, Cristina, 2023. "Who bears the risk? Incentives for renewable electricity under strategic interaction between regulator and investors," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:resene:v:75:y:2023:i:c:s0928765523000568
    DOI: 10.1016/j.reseneeco.2023.101401
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0928765523000568
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.reseneeco.2023.101401?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ritzenhofen, Ingmar & Spinler, Stefan, 2016. "Optimal design of feed-in-tariffs to stimulate renewable energy investments under regulatory uncertainty — A real options analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 76-89.
    2. Elbert Dijkgraaf & Tom P. van Dorp & Emiel Maasland, 2018. "On the Effectiveness of Feed-in Tariffs in the Development of Solar Photovoltaics," The Energy Journal, , vol. 39(1), pages 81-100, January.
    3. James Guild, 2019. "Feed‐in‐tariffs and the politics of renewable energy in Indonesia and the Philippines," Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 6(3), pages 417-431, September.
    4. Niall Farrell, Mel T. Devine, William T. Lee, James P. Gleeson, and Sean Lyons, 2017. "Specifying An Efficient Renewable Energy Feed-in Tariff," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 2).
    5. Winkler, Jenny & Magosch, Magdalena & Ragwitz, Mario, 2018. "Effectiveness and efficiency of auctions for supporting renewable electricity – What can we learn from recent experiences?," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 473-489.
    6. Steffen, Bjarne, 2020. "Estimating the cost of capital for renewable energy projects," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    7. Keppo, Jussi & Rasanen, Mika, 1999. "Pricing of electricity tariffs in competitive markets," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 213-223, June.
    8. Ciarreta, Aitor & Espinosa, Maria Paz & Pizarro-Irizar, Cristina, 2017. "Optimal regulation of renewable energy: A comparison of Feed-in Tariffs and Tradable Green Certificates in the Spanish electricity system," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 387-399.
    9. Ciarreta, Aitor & Espinosa, Maria Paz & Pizarro-Irizar, Cristina, 2017. "Has renewable energy induced competitive behavior in the Spanish electricity market?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 171-182.
    10. Michael Pahle, Wolf-Peter Schill, Christian Gambardella, and Oliver Tietjen, 2016. "Renewable Energy Support, Negative Prices, and Real-time Pricing," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Sustainab).
    11. Neuhoff, Karsten & May, Nils & Richstein, Jörn C., 2022. "Financing renewables in the age of falling technology costs," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    12. Blazquez, Jorge & Nezamuddin, Nora & Zamrik, Tamim, 2018. "Economic policy instruments and market uncertainty: Exploring the impact on renewables adoption," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 224-233.
    13. Kim, Kyoung-Kuk & Lee, Chi-Guhn, 2012. "Evaluation and optimization of feed-in tariffs," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 192-203.
    14. Ballester, Cristina & Furió, Dolores, 2015. "Effects of renewables on the stylized facts of electricity prices," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 1596-1609.
    15. Michael Pahle, Wolf-Peter Schill, Christian Gambardella, and Oliver Tietjen, 2016. "Renewable Energy Support, Negative Prices, and Real-time Pricing," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Sustainab).
    16. Hitaj, Claudia & Löschel, Andreas, 2019. "The impact of a feed-in tariff on wind power development in Germany," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 18-35.
    17. Ciarreta, Aitor & Espinosa, Maria Paz & Pizarro-Irizar, Cristina, 2014. "Is green energy expensive? Empirical evidence from the Spanish electricity market," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 205-215.
    18. Tolis, Athanasios I. & Rentizelas, Athanasios A., 2011. "An impact assessment of electricity and emission allowances pricing in optimised expansion planning of power sector portfolios," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(11), pages 3791-3806.
    19. Zhu, Lei & Li, Li & Su, Bin, 2021. "The price-bidding strategy for investors in a renewable auction: An option games–based study," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    20. Sáenz de Miera, Gonzalo & del Ri­o González, Pablo & Vizcaino, Ignacio, 2008. "Analysing the impact of renewable electricity support schemes on power prices: The case of wind electricity in Spain," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(9), pages 3345-3359, September.
    21. Laura N. Haar and Lawrence Haar, 2017. "An Option Analysis of the European Union Renewable Energy Support Mechanisms," Economics of Energy & Environmental Policy, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 1).
    22. Barbosa, Luciana & Ferrão, Paulo & Rodrigues, Artur & Sardinha, Alberto, 2018. "Feed-in tariffs with minimum price guarantees and regulatory uncertainty," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 517-541.
    23. Lin, Boqiang & Wesseh, Presley K., 2013. "Valuing Chinese feed-in tariffs program for solar power generation: A real options analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 474-482.
    24. Lee, Shun-Chung & Shih, Li-Hsing, 2010. "Renewable energy policy evaluation using real option model -- The case of Taiwan," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(Supplemen), pages 67-78, September.
    25. Boomsma, Trine Krogh & Meade, Nigel & Fleten, Stein-Erik, 2012. "Renewable energy investments under different support schemes: A real options approach," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 220(1), pages 225-237.
    26. Jun Maekawa & Koji Shimada & Ai Takeuchi, 2022. "Sustainability of renewable energy investment motivations during a feed-in-tariff scheme transition: evidence from a laboratory experiment," The Japanese Economic Review, Springer, vol. 73(1), pages 83-101, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Assereto, Martina & Byrne, Julie, 2021. "No real option for solar in Ireland: A real option valuation of utility scale solar investment in Ireland," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    2. Kozlova, Mariia, 2017. "Real option valuation in renewable energy literature: Research focus, trends and design," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 180-196.
    3. Ciarreta, Aitor & Pizarro-Irizar, Cristina & Zarraga, Ainhoa, 2020. "Renewable energy regulation and structural breaks: An empirical analysis of Spanish electricity price volatility," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    4. Rövekamp, Patrick & Schöpf, Michael & Wagon, Felix & Weibelzahl, Martin & Fridgen, Gilbert, 2021. "Renewable electricity business models in a post feed-in tariff era," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    5. Zhang, M.M. & Zhou, D.Q. & Zhou, P. & Chen, H.T., 2017. "Optimal design of subsidy to stimulate renewable energy investments: The case of China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 873-883.
    6. Bell, William Paul & Wild, Phillip & Foster, John & Hewson, Michael, 2017. "Revitalising the wind power induced merit order effect to reduce wholesale and retail electricity prices in Australia," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 224-241.
    7. Yu, Chin-Hsien & Wu, Xiuqin & Lee, Wen-Chieh & Zhao, Jinsong, 2021. "Resource misallocation in the Chinese wind power industry: The role of feed-in tariff policy," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    8. Yao, Xing & Fan, Ying & Zhu, Lei & Zhang, Xian, 2020. "Optimization of dynamic incentive for the deployment of carbon dioxide removal technology: A nonlinear dynamic approach combined with real options," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    9. Sapio, Alessandro, 2019. "Greener, more integrated, and less volatile? A quantile regression analysis of Italian wholesale electricity prices," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 452-469.
    10. Zhu, Lei & Li, Li & Su, Bin, 2021. "The price-bidding strategy for investors in a renewable auction: An option games–based study," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    11. Adkins, Roger & Paxson, Dean & Pereira, Paulo J. & Rodrigues, Artur, 2019. "Investment decisions with finite-lived collars," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 185-204.
    12. Barbosa, Luciana & Nunes, Cláudia & Rodrigues, Artur & Sardinha, Alberto, 2020. "Feed-in tariff contract schemes and regulatory uncertainty," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 287(1), pages 331-347.
    13. Zhang, Ruixiaoxiao & Shimada, Koji & Ni, Meng & Shen, Geoffrey Q.P. & Wong, Johnny K.W., 2020. "Low or No subsidy? Proposing a regional power grid based wind power feed-in tariff benchmark price mechanism in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    14. Zhang, M.M. & Zhou, D.Q. & Zhou, P. & Liu, G.Q., 2016. "Optimal feed-in tariff for solar photovoltaic power generation in China: A real options analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 181-192.
    15. Espinosa, María Paz & Pizarro-Irizar, Cristina, 2018. "Is renewable energy a cost-effective mitigation resource? An application to the Spanish electricity market," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 902-914.
    16. Zhang, M.M. & Wang, Qunwei & Zhou, Dequn & Ding, H., 2019. "Evaluating uncertain investment decisions in low-carbon transition toward renewable energy," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 240(C), pages 1049-1060.
    17. Carmen Schiel & Simon Glöser-Chahoud & Frank Schultmann, 2019. "A real option application for emission control measures," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 89(3), pages 291-325, April.
    18. Hortay, Olivér & Rozner, Bence Péter, 2019. "Allocating renewable subsidies," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 236-247.
    19. Zhang, Mingming & Zhou, Dequn & Zhou, Peng, 2014. "A real option model for renewable energy policy evaluation with application to solar PV power generation in China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 944-955.
    20. Zhang, Mingming & Liu, Liyun & Wang, Qunwei & Zhou, Dequn, 2020. "Valuing investment decisions of renewable energy projects considering changing volatility," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Renewable energy; Feed-in tariff; Energy policy; Energy economics; Option pricing;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L51 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Economics of Regulation
    • L94 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Electric Utilities
    • C61 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Optimization Techniques; Programming Models; Dynamic Analysis

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:resene:v:75:y:2023:i:c:s0928765523000568. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/505569 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.