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Support Schemes for Renewable Electricity in the European Union: Producer Strategies and Competition

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  • Luisa Dressler

Abstract

Current discussion about how to reform European support schemes for renewable electricity neglects certain risks of market power in wholesale electricity markets. In a stylized Cournot model of interacting spot and forward electricity markets, I analyze how different price-based support schemes affect producer strategies and, ultimately, competition in the wholesale market. I compare the strategic behavior of renewable and conventional producers in terms of electricity production and forward market sales in the presence of two different price-based support schemes: feed-in tariffs and feed-in premiums. I show that the feed-in premium, which is the European Commission's current scheme of choice, may enhance market power and favor conventional electricity production. It may also reduce the likelihood of achieving the political objective to increase production from renewable energy sources.
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  • Luisa Dressler, 2014. "Support Schemes for Renewable Electricity in the European Union: Producer Strategies and Competition," Working Papers ECARES ECARES 2014-54, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    • Handle: RePEc:eca:wpaper:2013/185672
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    Cited by:

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    3. Andersen, Anders N. & Østergaard, Poul Alberg, 2020. "Support schemes adapting district energy combined heat and power for the role as a flexibility provider in renewable energy systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    4. Sirin, Selahattin Murat & Uz, Dilek & Sevindik, Irem, 2022. "How do variable renewable energy technologies affect firm-level day-ahead output decisions: Evidence from the Turkish wholesale electricity market," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    5. Amundsen, Eirik S. & Andersen, Peder & Mortensen, Jørgen Birk, 2018. "Addressing the climate problem: Choice between allowances, feed-in tariffs and taxes," Working Papers in Economics 3/18, University of Bergen, Department of Economics.
    6. Moritz Bohland & Sebastian Schwenen, 2020. "Technology Policy and Market Structure: Evidence from the Power Sector," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1856, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    7. Eirik S. Amundsen & Peder Andersen & Jørgen Birk Mortensen, 2018. "Addressing the Climate Problem: Choice between Allowances, Feed-in Tariffs and Taxes," CESifo Working Paper Series 6926, CESifo.
    8. Fabra, Natalia & , Imelda, 2020. "Market Power and Price Exposure: Learning from Changes in Renewables' Regulation," CEPR Discussion Papers 14729, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    9. Bowei Guo & Giorgio Castagneto Gissey, 2019. "Cost Pass-through in the British Wholesale Electricity Market: Implications of Brexit and the ETS reform," Working Papers EPRG1937, Energy Policy Research Group, Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge.
    10. Oskar Lecuyer & Philippe Quirion, 2019. "Interaction between CO2 emissions trading and renewable energy subsidies under uncertainty: feed-in tariffs as a safety net against over-allocation," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(8), pages 1002-1018, September.
    11. Koltsaklis, Nikolaos E. & Nazos, Konstantinos, 2017. "A stochastic MILP energy planning model incorporating power market dynamics," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 205(C), pages 1364-1383.
    12. Iychettira, Kaveri K. & Hakvoort, Rudi A. & Linares, Pedro & de Jeu, Rob, 2017. "Towards a comprehensive policy for electricity from renewable energy: Designing for social welfare," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 228-242.
    13. Andersen, Anders N. & Østergaard, Poul Alberg, 2018. "A method for assessing support schemes promoting flexibility at district energy plants," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 225(C), pages 448-459.
    14. Hortay, Olivér & Víg, Attila A., 2020. "Potential effects of market power in Hungarian solar boom," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 213(C).
    15. Díaz, Guzmán & Coto, José & Gómez-Aleixandre, Javier, 2019. "Levelized income loss as a metric of the adaptation of wind and energy storage to variable prices," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 238(C), pages 1179-1191.
    16. Chong, Zhaotian & Wang, Qunwei & Wang, Lei, 2023. "Is the photovoltaic power generation policy effective in China? A quantitative analysis of policy synergy based on text mining," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    17. Fabra, Natalia, 2021. "The energy transition: An industrial economics perspective," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    18. Darudi, Ali & Weigt, Hannes, 2019. "Renewable Support, Intermittency and Market Power: An Equilibrium Investment Approach," Working papers 2019/06, Faculty of Business and Economics - University of Basel.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    oligopoly; forward market; renewable electricity; feed-in tariff; premium;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G13 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Contingent Pricing; Futures Pricing
    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
    • L98 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Government Policy
    • Q42 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Alternative Energy Sources
    • Q48 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Government Policy

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