IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/eneeco/v91y2020ics0140988320302176.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Optimal contracts for renewable electricity

Author

Listed:
  • Parlane, Sarah
  • Ryan, Lisa

Abstract

Companies are increasingly choosing to procure their power from renewable energy sources, with their own set of potential challenges. This paper characterizes the contracts that minimize the cost of procuring a given amount of renewable energy from two risk averse, energy generators who are inherently unreliable (such as wind and solar). We contrast outcomes arising when investments are set in centralized and decentralized settings, with the absence of reliability addressed by either issuing orders in excess of what is needed or by investing in improved reliability. Our results suggest that future contracts may be geared towards a greater reliance on order inflation and lower investments in reliability as the cost of renewable energy keeps falling. The implications of these results for grid congestion and electricity spot market prices should be of interest to regulators and transmission system operators.

Suggested Citation

  • Parlane, Sarah & Ryan, Lisa, 2020. "Optimal contracts for renewable electricity," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:91:y:2020:i:c:s0140988320302176
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2020.104877
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140988320302176
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.eneco.2020.104877?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 look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. de Bragança, Gabriel Godofredo Fiuza & Daglish, Toby, 2017. "Investing in vertical integration: electricity retail market participation," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 355-365.
    2. David M Newbery, 2018. "What future(s) for liberalized electricity markets: efficient, equitable or innovative?," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 1).
    3. Michael G. Pollitt and Karim L. Anaya, 2016. "Can current electricity markets cope with high shares of renewables? A comparison of approaches in Germany, the UK and the State of New York," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Bollino-M).
    4. Nathan Nunn, 2007. "Relationship-Specificity, Incomplete Contracts, and the Pattern of Trade," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(2), pages 569-600.
    5. Awi Federgruen & Nan Yang, 2009. "Optimal Supply Diversification Under General Supply Risks," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 57(6), pages 1451-1468, December.
    6. Linn, Joshua & Shih, Jhih-Shyang, 2019. "Do lower electricity storage costs reduce greenhouse gas emissions?," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 130-158.
    7. Boroumand, Raphaël Homayoun & Goutte, Stéphane & Porcher, Simon & Porcher, Thomas, 2015. "Hedging strategies in energy markets: The case of electricity retailers," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 503-509.
    8. Neuhoff, Karsten & De Vries, Laurens, 2004. "Insufficient incentives for investment in electricity generations," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 12(4), pages 253-267, December.
    9. Tarroja, Brian & Shaffer, Brendan P. & Samuelsen, Scott, 2018. "Resource portfolio design considerations for materially-efficient planning of 100% renewable electricity systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 460-471.
    10. Blair, Benjamin F., 1997. "Optimal Procurement Contracts for Electricity Generation," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 125-138, January.
    11. Ciara O'Dwyer & L. (Lisa B.) Ryan & Damian Flynn, 2017. "Efficient large-scale energy storage dispatch: challenges in future high renewables systems," Open Access publications 10197/9103, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
    12. Karsten Neuhoff & Laurens De Vries, 2004. "Insufficient Incentives for Investment," Working Papers EP42, Energy Policy Research Group, Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge.
    13. Downward, Anthony & Young, David & Zakeri, Golbon, 2016. "Electricity retail contracting under risk-aversion," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 251(3), pages 846-859.
    14. Sammi Y. Tang & Haresh Gurnani & Diwakar Gupta, 2014. "Managing Disruptions in Decentralized Supply Chains with Endogenous Supply Process Reliability," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 23(7), pages 1198-1211, July.
    15. Baldursson , Fridrik M. & von der Fehr, Nils-Henrik, 2007. "Vertical Integration and Long-Term Contracts in Risky Markets," Memorandum 01/2007, Oslo University, Department of Economics.
    16. Raimund M. Kovacevic, 2019. "Valuation and pricing of electricity delivery contracts: the producer’s view," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 275(2), pages 421-460, April.
    17. Fell, Harrison & Linn, Joshua, 2013. "Renewable electricity policies, heterogeneity, and cost effectiveness," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 66(3), pages 688-707.
    18. Macho-Stadler, Ines & Perez-Castrillo, J. David, 2001. "An Introduction to the Economics of Information: Incentives and Contracts," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, edition 2, number 9780199243273, December.
    19. Powell, Andrew, 1993. "Trading Forward in an Imperfect Market: The Case of Electricity in Britain," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 103(417), pages 444-453, March.
    20. Volodymyr Babich & Apostolos N. Burnetas & Peter H. Ritchken, 2007. "Competition and Diversification Effects in Supply Chains with Supplier Default Risk," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 9(2), pages 123-146, October.
    21. Paul L. Joskow, 2011. "Comparing the Costs of Intermittent and Dispatchable Electricity Generating Technologies," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(3), pages 238-241, May.
    22. Lion Hirth, Falko Ueckerdt, and Ottmar Edenhofer, 2016. "Why Wind Is Not Coal: On the Economics of Electricity Generation," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 3).
    23. Contreras, Javier & Rodríguez, Yeny E. & Sosa, Aníbal, 2017. "Construction of an efficient portfolio of power purchase decisions based on risk-diversification tradeoff," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 286-297.
    24. Carson, Richard T. & Novan, Kevin, 2013. "The private and social economics of bulk electricity storage," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 66(3), pages 404-423.
    25. Falbo, Paolo & Ruiz, Carlos, 2019. "Optimal sales-mix and generation plan in a two-stage electricity market," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 598-614.
    26. Gautam Gowrisankaran & Stanley S. Reynolds & Mario Samano, 2016. "Intermittency and the Value of Renewable Energy," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 124(4), pages 1187-1234.
    27. Masih-Tehrani, Behdad & Xu, Susan H. & Kumara, Soundar & Li, Haijun, 2011. "A single-period analysis of a two-echelon inventory system with dependent supply uncertainty," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 45(8), pages 1128-1151, September.
    28. Maqbool Dada & Nicholas C. Petruzzi & Leroy B. Schwarz, 2007. "A Newsvendor's Procurement Problem when Suppliers Are Unreliable," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 9(1), pages 9-32, August.
    29. Ma, Chunbo & Burton, Michael, 2016. "Warm glow from green power: Evidence from Australian electricity consumers," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 106-120.
    30. Joos, Michael & Staffell, Iain, 2018. "Short-term integration costs of variable renewable energy: Wind curtailment and balancing in Britain and Germany," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 45-65.
    31. Söder, Lennart & Tómasson, Egill & Estanqueiro, Ana & Flynn, Damian & Hodge, Bri-Mathias & Kiviluoma, Juha & Korpås, Magnus & Neau, Emmanuel & Couto, António & Pudjianto, Danny & Strbac, Goran & Burke, 2020. "Review of wind generation within adequacy calculations and capacity markets for different power systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    32. Lawrence V. Snyder & Zümbül Atan & Peng Peng & Ying Rong & Amanda J. Schmitt & Burcu Sinsoysal, 2016. "OR/MS models for supply chain disruptions: a review," IISE Transactions, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(2), pages 89-109, February.
    33. Sammi Yu Tang & Panos Kouvelis, 2011. "Supplier Diversification Strategies in the Presence of Yield Uncertainty and Buyer Competition," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 13(4), pages 439-451, October.
    34. Praktiknjo, Aaron J. & Hähnel, Alexander & Erdmann, Georg, 2011. "Assessing energy supply security: Outage costs in private households," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(12), pages 7825-7833.
    35. Awi Federgruen & Nan Yang, 2008. "Selecting a Portfolio of Suppliers Under Demand and Supply Risks," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 56(4), pages 916-936, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Pliego Marugán, Alberto & García Márquez, Fausto Pedro & Pinar Pérez, Jesús María, 2022. "A techno-economic model for avoiding conflicts of interest between owners of offshore wind farms and maintenance suppliers," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    2. Silva, Rodolfo Rodrigues Barrionuevo & Martins, André Christóvão Pio & Soler, Edilaine Martins & Baptista, Edméa Cássia & Balbo, Antonio Roberto & Nepomuceno, Leonardo, 2022. "Two-stage stochastic energy procurement model for a large consumer in hydrothermal systems," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).

    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. Sarah Parlane & Ying-Yi Tsai, 2017. "Optimal Management of Supply Disruptions when Contracting with Unreliable, Risk-averse, Suppliers," Working Papers 201714, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
    2. Long He & Ying Rong & Zuo‐Jun Max Shen, 2020. "Product Sourcing and Distribution Strategies under Supply Disruption and Recall Risks," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 29(1), pages 9-23, January.
    3. Simshauser, P., 2020. "Merchant utilities and boundaries of the firm: vertical integration in energy-only markets," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 2039, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    4. Simshauser, Paul, 2019. "Missing money, missing policy and Resource Adequacy in Australia's National Electricity Market," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 1-1.
    5. Ming Zhao & Nickolas Freeman & Kai Pan, 2023. "Robust Sourcing Under Multilevel Supply Risks: Analysis of Random Yield and Capacity," INFORMS Journal on Computing, INFORMS, vol. 35(1), pages 178-195, January.
    6. Mohammadivojdan, Roshanak & Merzifonluoglu, Yasemin & Geunes, Joseph, 2022. "Procurement portfolio planning for a newsvendor with supplier delivery uncertainty," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 297(3), pages 917-929.
    7. Yuan, Zhennan & Chen, Frank Y. & Yan, Xiaoming & Yu, Yugang, 2020. "Operational implications of yield uncertainty in mergers and acquisitions," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 219(C), pages 248-258.
    8. Xiang Li, 2017. "Optimal procurement strategies from suppliers with random yield and all-or-nothing risks," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 257(1), pages 167-181, October.
    9. Carsten Helm & Mathias Mier, 2020. "Steering the Energy Transition in a World of Intermittent Electricity Supply: Optimal Subsidies and Taxes for Renewables Storage," ifo Working Paper Series 330, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    10. Keppler, Jan Horst & Quemin, Simon & Saguan, Marcelo, 2022. "Why the sustainable provision of low-carbon electricity needs hybrid markets," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    11. Helm, Carsten & Mier, Mathias, 2021. "Steering the energy transition in a world of intermittent electricity supply: Optimal subsidies and taxes for renewables and storage," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    12. Qi, Lian, 2013. "A continuous-review inventory model with random disruptions at the primary supplier," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 225(1), pages 59-74.
    13. Tao Lu & Jan C. Fransoo & Chung-Yee Lee, 2017. "Carrier Portfolio Management for Shipping Seasonal Products," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 65(5), pages 1250-1266, October.
    14. Svoboda, Josef & Minner, Stefan & Yao, Man, 2021. "Typology and literature review on multiple supplier inventory control models," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 293(1), pages 1-23.
    15. Panos Kouvelis & Guang Xiao & Nan Yang, 2021. "Role of Risk Aversion in Price Postponement Under Supply Random Yield," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(8), pages 4826-4844, August.
    16. Simshauser, Paul, 2018. "On intermittent renewable generation & the stability of Australia's National Electricity Market," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 1-19.
    17. Seung Hwan Jung, 2020. "Offshore versus Onshore Sourcing: Quick Response, Random Yield, and Competition," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 29(3), pages 750-766, March.
    18. Xue, Weili & Choi, Tsan-Ming & Ma, Lijun, 2016. "Diversification strategy with random yield suppliers for a mean–variance risk-sensitive manufacturer," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 90-107.
    19. Peng, Yang & Yan, Xiaoming & Jiang, Yujie & Ji, Min & Cheng, T.C.E., 2021. "Competition and coordination for supply chain networks with random yields," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 239(C).
    20. Qi Feng & Justin Jia & J. George Shanthikumar, 2019. "Dynamic Multisourcing with Dependent Supplies," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(6), pages 2770-2786, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Renewable electricity contracts; Power purchase agreements; Newsvendor model; Risk aversion; Order inflation; Moral hazard;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty
    • D86 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Economics of Contract Law
    • L14 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Transactional Relationships; Contracts and Reputation
    • L24 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Contracting Out; Joint Ventures
    • L94 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Electric Utilities
    • Q21 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Demand and Supply; Prices

    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:eneeco:v:91:y:2020:i:c:s0140988320302176. 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/eneco .

    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.