Access by Capacity and Peak-Load Pricing

Several European telecommunications regulatory agencies have recently introduced a fixed capacity charge (flat rate) to regulate access to the incumbents network. The purpose of this paper is to show that the optimal capacity charge and the optimal access-minute charge analysed by Armstrong, Doyle, and Vickers (1996) have a similar structure and imply the same payment for the entrant. I extend the analysis to the case where there is a competitor with market power. In this case, the optimal capacity charge should be modified to avoid that the entrant cream-skims the market, fixing a longer or a shorter peak period than the optimal. Finally, I consider a multiproduct setting, where the effect of the product differentiation is exacerbated.peak-load pricing, network regulation, telecommunications, access pricing, capacity charge

Worksharing and access discounts in the postal sector with asymmetrics information

This paper analyses the optimal worksharing discount granted to mailers and entrants in a liberalized postal sector when there is asymmetric information about the Post Offices costs. When the regulator is unable to ascertain which part of the total cost of sorting has to be attributed to each sorting facility, the optimal access discount given to the entrants is set in a procompetitive way, thus facilitating the entry of firms that are less efficient than the Post Office. However, with the same asymmetry of information, the optimal worksharing discount given to the mailers is set to favor the Post Office, even when it is less efficient than the mailers in providing the sorting.postal sector, worksharing discounts, competition, access pricing

Procediments heurístics de disseny de sistemes d'electrificació rural amb energies renovables

Electrification hybrid systems (wind-photovoltaic systems) are a suitable option to supply electricity independently in isolated communities. To design these systems, there are recent mathematical models that provide the location and type of each of the electrification components and the design of the possible micro-distribution networks. When the amount of consumption points to electrify increases, solving the mathematical models require computational times that become infeasible in practice. For these cases, three heuristic methods based on mixed integer linear programming (MILP) are presented in this thesis: Relax and Fix heuristics, heuristics based on Corridor Method and Increasing Radius heuristics. In all procedures first a relaxed MILP is solved to obtain a base solution and then it is used as a starting point to find a feasible solution by searching in a more reduced search space. For each type of heuristics several options to relax and to reduce the solution space were developed and tested. Finally, extensive computational experiments based on real projects were carried out and results show that the best heuristic to apply varies according to the size of the instances to be solved.Els sistemes d’electrificació híbrids (fotovoltaics i eòlics) són una opció adequada per a subministrar electricitat de forma autònoma a comunitats aïllades. Per a dissenyar aquests sistemes hi ha models matemàtics recents que proporcionen la ubicació i el tipus de cadascun dels components d'electrificació i també el disseny de les possibles micro-xarxes de distribució. Quan la quantitat de punts de consum per electrificar augmenta, les solucions dels models matemàtics requereixen uns temps de càlcul que en la pràctica es converteixen en inviables. Per aquests casos, en aquesta tesi es presenten tres procediments heurístics basats en programació lineal entera mixta (PLEM): heurístiques de Relaxament i Fixació, heurístiques basades en el Corridor Method i les heurístiques aquí anomenades de Radis creixents. En tots els procediments primer es resol un model PLEM relaxat per tal d’obtenir una solució base que després s'utilitza com a punt de partida per trobar una solució factible mitjançant la recerca en un espai de cerca més reduït. S’han desenvolupat i provat diverses opcions de relaxament i de reducció de l'espai de cerca per a cada tipus d’heurística. Finalment, s’han dut a terme extensos experiments computacionals basats en projectes reals i els resultats mostren que la millor heurística a aplicar varia segons la mida dels exemplars a resoldre.Los sistemas de electrificación híbridos (fotovoltaicos y eólicos) son una opción adecuada para suministrar electricidad de forma autónoma a comunidades aisladas. Para diseñar estos sistemas hay modelos matemáticos recientes que proporcionan la ubicación y el tipo de cada uno de los componentes de electrificación y también el diseño de las posibles micro-redes de distribución. Cuando la cantidad de puntos de consumo para electrificar aumenta, las soluciones de los modelos matemáticos requieren tiempos de cálculo que en la práctica se convierten en inviables. Para estos casos, en esta tesis se presentan tres procedimientos heurísticos basados en programación lineal entera mixta (PLEM): heurísticas de Relajación y Fijación, heurísticas basadas en el Corridor Method y las heurísticas aquí llamadas de Radios crecientes. En todos los procedimientos primero se resuelve un modelo PLEM relajado para obtener una solución base que luego se utiliza como punto de partida para encontrar una solución factible mediante la búsqueda en un espacio de búsqueda más reducido. Se han desarrollado y probado varias opciones de relajación y de reducción del espacio de búsqueda para cada tipo de heurística. Finalmente, se han llevado a cabo extensos experimentos computacionales basados en proyectos reales y los resultados muestran que la mejor heurística a aplicar varía según el tamaño de los ejemplares a resolverPostprint (published version

Study of the electric vehicle implementation on the smart grid

Since some years ago the electric vehicle popularity, and so the pluggable hybrid, notably increased although it's not a brand new development. To understand it, together with the oil prices rise, another factors are to be considered like the CO2 emissions reduction or the fossil fuels dependence. This work is devoted to the study of the electric vehicle integration on the Smart Grid exploring the synergies and the challenges of it. Geographically the study illustrates the Spanish case using as a main data inputs the International Energy Agency forecasts for western Europe together with some highly valuable European Union studies, especially those issued by the JRC. On a first step an electric vehicle market penetration investigation shows that, on year 2030, a 21% of the cars running trough the Spanish roads will be electrically powered. The impact of such a presence of electric vehicles could be assumed, disregarding power grid meshing requirements, by the Spanish electric generation pool and transport infrastructures even if no improvement on them takes place on the next 15 years. The bottleneck will then be found on the low voltage distribution systems and their associated medium voltage lines, that will not be able to hold the electric vehicle deployment forecast unless their capacities are increased or the users car availability is impaired. A solution must be found to this fix this issue that should also explore all the possible synergies with the rest of the electrical system. As a result two countermeasures arise preserving as much as possible the cars availability to their owners. One is to size up all the low voltage and related medium voltage systems to accommodate bigger power flows solving the main problem but doing nothing to integrate the steadily increasing renewal energy that should be consumed when is produced or stored on expensive, environmentally harmful, hydropower pumping stations. The other countermeasure, the main outcome of the next pages, derives from the functionalities of the Smart Grid and is in fact a reviewed version of the, yet popular, Vehicle To Grid (V2G) strategy. Its about to add an inertia battery emulating the inertia tanks in central sanitary water production facilities. Such a kind of proposal is possible because the grid-wide information share and distributed control that lies on the Smart Grid concept. The countermeasure will allow not only a 21% presence of the electric vehicle but even a 100% with almost no cost for the owners, will greatly help the renewables integration as offers a big energy storage capacity on valley hours without compromising the electric vehicles batteries life and also could prevent outages acting as a grid energy supplier in some case