IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/diw/diwwpp/dp2092.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Cream-skimming through PPAs – Interactions between Private and Public Long-term Contracts for Renewable Energy

Author

Listed:
  • Mats Kröger

Abstract

Public support systems and private investments in renewable energy are increasingly existing side-by-side and are both emphasized in policy proposals on the European and national levels. This paper assesses the interaction between the two approaches with respect to cream-skimming, i.e., the potential for low-cost projects to sign private contracts that increase the costs of publicly supported renewable energy. This paper uses a stylized microeconomic model and a numerical simulation to assess this question. It finds that the incentive to cream-skimming exists when governments employ any form of resource differentiation in their renewable energy contracts. The numerical analysis shows that, at current price levels, cream-skimming could increase power prices by 2-6% depending on the PPA’s mark-up. The effect is larger for a wider cost-distribution of renewable energy projects, which might occur as the energy transition proceeds.

Suggested Citation

  • Mats Kröger, 2024. "Cream-skimming through PPAs – Interactions between Private and Public Long-term Contracts for Renewable Energy," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 2092, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp2092
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.diw.de/documents/publikationen/73/diw_01.c.908397.de/dp2092.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gabrielli, Paolo & Aboutalebi, Reyhaneh & Sansavini, Giovanni, 2022. "Mitigating financial risk of corporate power purchase agreements via portfolio optimization," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    2. Nils May & Karsten Neuhoff, 2019. "Private langfristige Stromabnahmeverträge (PPAs) für erneuerbare Energien: kein Ersatz für öffentliche Ausschreibungen," DIW aktuell 22, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    3. Kalkuhl, Matthias & Edenhofer, Ottmar & Lessmann, Kai, 2013. "Renewable energy subsidies: Second-best policy or fatal aberration for mitigation?," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 217-234.
    4. Martin Bichler & Hans Ulrich Buhl & Johannes Knörr & Felipe Maldonado & Paul Schott & Stefan Waldherr & Martin Weibelzahl, 2022. "Electricity Markets in a Time of Change: A Call to Arms for Business Research," Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, Springer, vol. 74(1), pages 77-102, March.
    5. Marco Di Maggio & Vincent Yao, 2021. "Fintech Borrowers: Lax Screening or Cream-Skimming?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 34(10), pages 4565-4618.
    6. Herr Annika, 2011. "Quality and Welfare in a Mixed Duopoly with Regulated Prices: The Case of a Public and a Private Hospital," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 12(4), pages 422-437, December.
    7. Easley, David & Kiefer, Nicholas M & O'Hara, Maureen, 1996. "Cream-Skimming or Profit-Sharing? The Curious Role of Purchased Order Flow," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 51(3), pages 811-833, July.
    8. May, Nils, 2017. "The impact of wind power support schemes on technology choices," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 343-354.
    9. David L. McCollum & Wenji Zhou & Christoph Bertram & Harmen-Sytze Boer & Valentina Bosetti & Sebastian Busch & Jacques Després & Laurent Drouet & Johannes Emmerling & Marianne Fay & Oliver Fricko & Sh, 2018. "Energy investment needs for fulfilling the Paris Agreement and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 3(7), pages 589-599, July.
    10. Steinberg, Richard & Weisbrod, Burton A., 2005. "Nonprofits with distributional objectives: price discrimination and corner solutions," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(11-12), pages 2205-2230, December.
    11. Natalia Fabra & Juan-Pablo Montero, 2023. "Technology-Neutral Versus Technology-Specific Procurement," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 133(650), pages 669-705.
    12. Valletti, Tommaso M & Hoernig, Steffen & Barros, Pedro P, 2002. "Universal Service and Entry: The Role of Uniform Pricing and Coverage Constraints," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 169-190, March.
    13. Jörn C. Richstein & Frederik Lettow & Karsten Neuhoff, 2022. "Marktprämie beschert Betreibern erneuerbarer Energien Zusatzgewinne – Differenzverträge würden VerbraucherInnen entlasten," DIW aktuell 77, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    14. Faulhaber, Gerald R, 1975. "Cross-Subsidization: Pricing in Public Enterprises," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 65(5), pages 966-977, December.
    15. Veenstra, Arjen T. & Mulder, Machiel, 2024. "Impact of Contracts for Differences for non-carbon electricity generation on efficiency of electricity market," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    16. Đukan, Mak & Kitzing, Lena, 2023. "A bigger bang for the buck: The impact of risk reduction on renewable energy support payments in Europe," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    17. David L. McCollum & Wenji Zhou & Christoph Bertram & Harmen-Sytze Boer & Valentina Bosetti & Sebastian Busch & Jacques Després & Laurent Drouet & Johannes Emmerling & Marianne Fay & Oliver Fricko & Sh, 2018. "Author Correction: Energy investment needs for fulfilling the Paris Agreement and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 3(8), pages 699-699, August.
    18. Lankford, Hamilton & Wyckoff, James, 2001. "Who Would Be Left Behind by Enhanced Private School Choice?," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 288-312, September.
    19. Schlecht, Ingmar & Maurer, Christoph & Hirth, Lion, 2024. "Financial contracts for differences: The problems with conventional CfDs in electricity markets and how forward contracts can help solve them," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    20. Noah Dormady, Matthew Hoyt, Alfredo Roa-Henriquez, and William Welch, 2019. "Who Pays for Retail Electric Deregulation? Evidence of Cross-Subsidization from Complete Bill Data," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 2).
    21. Noah Dormady & Matthew Hoyt & Alfredo Roa-Henriquez & William Welch, 2019. "Who Pays for Retail Electric Deregulation? Evidence of Cross-Subsidization from Complete Bill Data," The Energy Journal, , vol. 40(2), pages 161-194, March.
    22. Lucas W. Davis & Catherine Hausman, 2022. "Who Will Pay for Legacy Utility Costs?," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 9(6), pages 1047-1085.
    23. Barros, Pedro Pita, 2003. "Cream-skimming, incentives for efficiency and payment system," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(3), pages 419-443, May.
    24. Gugler, Klaus & Haxhimusa, Adhurim & Liebensteiner, Mario, 2021. "Effectiveness of climate policies: Carbon pricing vs. subsidizing renewables," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    25. David Newbery, 2023. "Efficient Renewable Electricity Support: Designing an Incentive-compatible Support Scheme," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 3).
    26. Crew, Michael A & Kleindorfer, Paul R, 1998. "Efficient Entry, Monopoly, and the Universal Service Obligation in Postal Service," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 103-125, September.
    27. Judith Clifton & Pierre Lanthier & Harm Schröter, 2011. "Regulating and deregulating the public utilities 1830--2010," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(5), pages 659-672, August.
    28. Philipp Beiter & Jérôme Guillet & Malte Jansen & Elizabeth Wilson & Lena Kitzing, 2024. "The enduring role of contracts for difference in risk management and market creation for renewables," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 9(1), pages 20-26, January.
    29. Till Köveker & Olga Chiappinelli & Mats Kröger & Oliver Lösch & Karsten Neuhoff & Jörn C. Richstein & Xi Sun, 2023. "Green premiums are a challenge and an opportunity for climate policy design," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 13(7), pages 592-595, July.
    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. Đukan, Mak & Steffen, Bjarne, 2025. "Cost of capital for renewables and enabling technologies: Measuring the multidimensional heterogeneity in Switzerland," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 390(C).
    2. Katsumasa Tanaka & Christian Azar & Olivier Boucher & Philippe Ciais & Yann Gaucher & Daniel J. A. Johansson, 2021. "Paris Agreement requires substantial, broad, and sustained engagements beyond COVID-19 public stimulus packages," Papers 2104.08342, arXiv.org, revised Feb 2022.
    3. Schlecht, Ingmar & Maurer, Christoph & Hirth, Lion, 2024. "Financial contracts for differences: The problems with conventional CfDs in electricity markets and how forward contracts can help solve them," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    4. Lowing, David & Munich, Léa & Techer, Kevin, 2025. "Allocating the common costs of a public service operator: An axiomatic approach," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    5. Gumber, Anurag & Zana, Riccardo & Steffen, Bjarne, 2024. "A global analysis of renewable energy project commissioning timelines," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 358(C).
    6. Ozdemir, Ali Can & Buluş, Kurtuluş & Zor, Kasım, 2022. "Medium- to long-term nickel price forecasting using LSTM and GRU networks," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    7. Jaag Christian, 2011. "What is an Unfair Burden? Compensating the Net Cost of Universal Service Provision," Review of Network Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 10(3), pages 1-32, September.
    8. Polzin, Friedemann & Sanders, Mark & Serebriakova, Alexandra, 2021. "Finance in global transition scenarios: Mapping investments by technology into finance needs by source," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    9. Dahlen, Niklas & Fehrenkötter, Rieke & Schreiter, Maximilian, 2024. "The new bond on the block — Designing a carbon-linked bond for sustainable investment projects," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 316-325.
    10. Taminiau, Job, 2025. "Community choice energy: Bridging the gap between sustainability and affordability in electricity supply," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    11. Gautier Axel & Paolini Dimitri, 2011. "Universal Service Financing in Competitive Postal Markets: One Size Does Not Fit All," Review of Network Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 10(3), pages 1-30, September.
    12. David Lowing & Léa Munich & Kevin Techer, 2024. "Allocating the common costs of a public service operator: an axiomatic approach," Working Papers of BETA 2024-03, Bureau d'Economie Théorique et Appliquée, UDS, Strasbourg.
    13. Matthias Kroll & Kjell Kühne, 2024. "“Climate Bailout”: a new tool for central banks to limit the financial risk resulting from climate change," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 217-232, March.
    14. Lebeau, Alexis & Petitet, Marie & Quemin, Simon & Saguan, Marcelo, 2024. "Long-term issues with the Energy-Only Market design in the context of deep decarbonization," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    15. Deleidi, Matteo & Mazzucato, Mariana & Semieniuk, Gregor, 2020. "Neither crowding in nor out: Public direct investment mobilising private investment into renewable electricity projects," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    16. Huang, Xiaodan & Chang, Shiyan & Zheng, Dingqian & Zhang, Xiliang, 2020. "The role of BECCS in deep decarbonization of China's economy: A computable general equilibrium analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    17. Joëlle Noailly & Roger Smeets, 2022. "Financing Energy Innovation: Internal Finance and the Direction of Technical Change," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 83(1), pages 145-169, September.
    18. Hoogsteyn, Alexander & Meus, Jelle & Bruninx, Kenneth & Delarue, Erik, 2025. "Interactions and distortions of different support policies for green hydrogen," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    19. Wu, Qingyang & Wang, Yanying, 2022. "How does carbon emission price stimulate enterprises' total factor productivity? Insights from China's emission trading scheme pilots," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    20. Jaag Christian, 2011. "Entry Deterrence and the Calculation of the Net Cost of Universal Service Obligations," Review of Network Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 10(1), pages 1-19, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • D44 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Auctions
    • 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

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:diw:diwwpp:dp2092. 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: Bibliothek (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/diwbede.html .

    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.