IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/qld/uqeemg/2-2009.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Western Australian Power Dilemma

Author

Listed:
  • Paul Edward Simshauser

    (Griffith Business School, Griffith University)

  • Phillip Wild

    (School of Economics, The University of Queensland)

Abstract

From 1984 gas-fired power generation had been gradually increasing its share of the electricity market in Western Australia (WA) starting at 1 per cent and rising to about 50 per cent by 2008. Had it continued on this trajectory, the WA power system would have made great advances in terms of cost and environmental efficiencies given the looming commencement of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme in Australia from 2011. However, more recently the cost of natural gas has increased from $3/GJ to $7/GJ following the sudden collapse of the East Spar gas field in the North West Shelf. In this article, we analyse the impact of the gas price increase and demonstrate that despite being the most environmentally efficient conventional technology, natural gas combined cycle plant has been squeezed out of the market which in turn will increase forward electricity price risks to WA consumers through greater exposure to CO2 pricing in the long run.

Suggested Citation

  • Paul Edward Simshauser & Phillip Wild, 2009. "The Western Australian Power Dilemma," Energy Economics and Management Group Working Papers 2-2009, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.
  • Handle: RePEc:qld:uqeemg:2-2009
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-8454.2009.00381.x/abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Paul Simshauser & Thao Doan, 2009. "Emissions Trading, Wealth Transfers and the Wounded Bull Scenario in Power Generation," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 42(1), pages 64-83, March.
    2. Simshauser, Paul & Doan, Thao & Lacey, Ben, 2007. "The Outlook for the Economic and Environmental Performance of Australia's National Electricity Market in 2030," The Electricity Journal, Elsevier, vol. 20(6), pages 58-75, July.
    3. John Foster & Melvin J. Hinich & Phillip Wild, 2008. "Randomly Modulated Periodic Signals in Australias National Electricity Market," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 3), pages 105-130.
    4. Joskow, Paul L., 2008. "Capacity payments in imperfect electricity markets: Need and design," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 159-170, September.
    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. Paul Simshauser, 2011. "The Hidden Costs of Wind Generation in a Thermal Power System: What Cost?," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 44(3), pages 269-292, September.
    2. Phil Wild & William Paul Bell & John Foster, 2012. "Impact of Carbon Prices: State Production Trends, Inter-state Trade and Carbon Emission Reduction Outcomes in the NEM over the period 2007- 2009," Energy Economics and Management Group Working Papers 6-2012, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.
    3. Molyneaux, Lynette & Wagner, Liam & Foster, John, 2016. "Rural electrification in India: Galilee Basin coal versus decentralised renewable energy micro grids," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 422-436.
    4. Paul Simshauser & Elizabeth Molyneux & Michelle Shepherd, 2010. "The Entry Cost Shock and the Re‐rating of Power Prices in New South Wales, Australia," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 43(2), pages 114-135, June.
    5. Rabindra Nepal & Flavio Menezes, 2017. "Regulatory Reforms in Small Energy Systems: Experience from Australia's Northern Territory Electricity Market," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 36(3), pages 300-316, September.
    6. Tim Nelson & Simon Kelley & Fiona Orton & Paul Simshauser, 2010. "Delayed Carbon Policy Certainty and Electricity Prices in Australia," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 29(4), pages 446-465, December.
    7. Paul Simshauser & Tim Nelson, 2012. "The second‐round effects of carbon taxes on power project finance," Journal of Financial Economic Policy, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 4(2), pages 104-127, May.
    8. Alexandra Bratanova & Jacqueline Robinson & Liam Wagner, 2012. "Energy cost modelling of new technology adoption for Russian regional power and heat generation," Energy Economics and Management Group Working Papers 9-2012, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.
    9. Bratanova, Alexandra & Robinson, Jacqueline & Wagner, Liam, 2016. "New technology adoption for Russian energy generation: What does it cost? A case study for Moscow," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 924-939.
    10. John Foster & Liam Wagner & Phil Wild & Junhua Zhao & Lucas Skoofa & Craig Froome & Ariel Liebman, 2011. "Market and Economic Modelling of the Intelligent Grid: End of Year Report 2010," Energy Economics and Management Group Working Papers 10, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.
    11. Patrick Hamshere & Liam Wagner, 2012. "Potential Impacts of Subprime Carbon on Australia’s Impending Carbon Market," Energy Economics and Management Group Working Papers 14, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.
    12. Nelson, Tim & Reid, Cameron & McNeill, Judith, 2015. "Energy-only markets and renewable energy targets: Complementary policy or policy collision?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 25-42.
    13. Alexandra Bratanova & Jacqueline Robinson & Liam Wagner, 2013. "New Technology Adoption for Russian Regional Energy Generation: Moscow Case Study," Energy Economics and Management Group Working Papers 4-2013, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.
    14. Simshauser, Paul & Nelson, Tim & Doan, Thao, 0. "The Boomerang Paradox, Part I: How a Nation's Wealth Is Creating Fuel Poverty," The Electricity Journal, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 72-91, January.
    15. Rabindra Nepal & Flavio Menezes, 2016. "Small Energy Markets, Scattered Networks and Regulatory Reforms: The Australian Experience," Discussion Papers Series 561, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.
    16. Simshauser, Paul, 2010. "Vertical integration, credit ratings and retail price settings in energy-only markets: Navigating the Resource Adequacy problem," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(11), pages 7427-7441, November.
    17. Nelson, Tim & Nelson, James & Ariyaratnam, Jude & Camroux, Simon, 2013. "An analysis of Australia's large scale renewable energy target: Restoring market confidence," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 386-400.
    18. Khezr, Peyman & Nepal, Rabindra, 2021. "On the viability of energy-capacity markets under decreasing marginal costs," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(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. Fatemeh Nazifi, 2016. "The pass-through rates of carbon costs on to electricity prices within the Australian National Electricity Market," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 18(1), pages 41-62, January.
    2. Tim Nelson & Joel Gilmore & Tahlia Nolan, 2023. "Be Wary of Paying Wounded Bulls – Capacity Markets in Australia's National Electricity Market," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 42(1), pages 72-91, March.
    3. Andor, Mark A. & Frondel, Manuel & Schmidt, Christoph M. & Simora, Michael & Sommer, Stephan, 2015. "Klima- und Energiepolitik in Deutschland: Dissens und Konsens," RWI Materialien 91, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung.
    4. 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).
    5. Simshauser, Paul, 2024. "On static vs. dynamic line ratings in renewable energy zones," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    6. Elberg, Christina, 2014. "Cross-Border Effects of Capacity Mechanisms in Electricity Markets," EWI Working Papers 2014-11, Energiewirtschaftliches Institut an der Universitaet zu Koeln (EWI).
    7. Growitsch, Christian & Just, Lisa & Pedell, Burkhard, 2014. "Risk Assessment of Investments in Energy-only and Capacity Markets," Die Unternehmung - Swiss Journal of Business Research and Practice, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 68(3), pages 181-188.
    8. Kim, Hyunsook & Kim, Sung-Soo, 2012. "The resource adequacy scheme in the Korean electricity market," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 133-144.
    9. David P. Brown & Andrew Eckert, 2018. "Analyzing the Impact of Electricity Market Structure Changes and Mergers: The Importance of Forward Commitments," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 52(1), pages 101-137, February.
    10. Jaakko Jääskeläinen & Kaisa Huhta & Sanna Syri, 2022. "The Anatomy of Unaffordable Electricity in Northern Europe in 2021," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(20), pages 1-18, October.
    11. Steggals, Will & Gross, Robert & Heptonstall, Philip, 2011. "Winds of change: How high wind penetrations will affect investment incentives in the GB electricity sector," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 1389-1396, March.
    12. Ochoa, Camila & van Ackere, Ann, 2015. "Winners and losers of market coupling," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 522-534.
    13. Meyer, Roland & Gore, Olga, 2015. "Cross-border effects of capacity mechanisms: Do uncoordinated market design changes contradict the goals of the European market integration?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 9-20.
    14. Paul Simshauser & Farhad Billimoria & Craig Rogers, 2021. "Optimising VRE plant capacity in Renewable Energy Zones," Working Papers EPRG2121, Energy Policy Research Group, Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge.
    15. Rentizelas, Athanasios & Georgakellos, Dimitrios, 2014. "Incorporating life cycle external cost in optimization of the electricity generation mix," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 134-149.
    16. Simshauser, Paul, 2022. "Rooftop solar PV and the peak load problem in the NEM's Queensland region," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    17. Aryani, Morteza & Ahmadian, Mohammad & Sheikh-El-Eslami, Mohammad-Kazem, 2020. "Designing a regulatory tool for coordinated investment in renewable and conventional generation capacities considering market equilibria," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 279(C).
    18. Peter Cramton & Emmanuele Bobbio & David Malec & Pat Sujarittanonta, 2022. "Electricity Markets in Transition: A Multi-Decade Micro-Model of Entry and Exit in Advanced Wholesale Markets," ECONtribute Discussion Papers Series 183, University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany.
    19. Hagspiel, Simeon, 2017. "Reliable Electricity: The Effects of System Integration and Cooperative Measures to Make it Work," EWI Working Papers 2017-13, Energiewirtschaftliches Institut an der Universitaet zu Koeln (EWI).
    20. Veit Böckers & Leonie Giessing & Justus Haucap & Ulrich Heimeshoff & Jürgen Rösch, 2012. "Braucht Deutschland Kapazitätsmechanismen für Kraftwerke?: Eine Analyse des deutschen Marktes für Stromerzeugung," Vierteljahrshefte zur Wirtschaftsforschung / Quarterly Journal of Economic Research, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 81(1), pages 73-90.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Electiricty Generation; Natural Gas; Levelised Cost of Energy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q40 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - General

    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:qld:uqeemg:2-2009. 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: SOE IT (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/eemuqau.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.