The dependence of quantile power prices on supply from renewables

Understanding power prices dynamics is crucial for valuing flexibility assets such as storage or flexible consumption facilities that accommodate fluctuations in power supply from variable renewables. Owners of such assets need to know how extreme power prices can become in order to optimally manage (dis)charging or adjusting consumption volumes. We examine how to predict those high and low prices, being the different quantiles of the power price probability distribution function, and question how supply from variable renewable sources affect different quantile prices. The first contribution of our paper is that we apply quantile regressions in a panel data framework. This methodology acknowledges that day-ahead power markets’ data is structured as cross-sectional data and, as opposed to previous quantile regression techniques introduced in power markets, allows for simultaneous predictions for all hours during a delivery day. Day-ahead power prices for all 24 h in the next day are determined at the same moment, one day before delivery. The hourly data is therefore not a time-series, but a cross section. The second contribution is that we examine the interaction between demand and supply from variable renewable sources, instead of linear dependencies only. We find that lower and higher quantile prices are more heavily affected by variations in supply from variable renewable sources than centre quantile prices. This enables owners of flexibility assets to better manage their assets in anticipation of excess or scarce supply from renewable sources. By doing so, they increase the flexibility of power systems that face increasing installed capacity of variable renewable energy sources

(In)flexibility in Power Markets with Supply from Variable Renewable Sources

With the deployment of variable renewable sources such as wind or solar photovoltaic power, electricity markets face increasing inflexibility constraints, or, in other words, increasing difficulties to swiftly adjust demand or supply in order to keep the grid in balance. The present thesis studies the impact that variable renewable energy sources have on power prices, showing that in a world with more variable renewables the flexibility needs of power markets increase

Fat Tails due to Variable Renewables and Insufficient Flexibility

The large-scale integration of renewable energy sources requires flexibility from power markets in the sense that the latter should quickly counterbalance the renewable supply variation driven by weather conditions. Most power markets cannot (yet) provide this flexibility effectively as they suffer from inelastic demand and insufficient flexible storage capacity. Research accordingly shows that the volume of renewable energy in the supply system affects the mean and volatility of power prices. We extend this view and show that the level of wind and solar energy supply affects the tails of the electricity price distributions as well, and that it does so asymmetrically. The higher the supply from wind and solar energy sources, the fatter the left tail of the price distribution and the thinner the right tail. This implies that one cannot rely on symmetric price distributions for risk management and for valuation of (flexible) power assets. The evidence in this paper suggests that we have to rethink the methods of subsidizing variable renewable supply such that they take also into consideration the flexibility needs of power markets.nonPeerReviewe

The dependence of quantile power prices on supply from renewables

Understanding power prices dynamics is crucial for valuing flexibility assets such as storage or flexible consumption facilities that accommodate fluctuations in power supply from variable renewables. Owners of such assets need to know how extreme power prices can become in order to optimally manage (dis)charging or adjusting consumption volumes. We examine how to predict those high and low prices, being the different quantiles of the power price probability distribution function, and question how supply from variable renewable sources affect different quantile prices. The first contribution of our paper is that we apply quantile regressions in a panel data framework. This methodology acknowledges that day-ahead power markets’ data is structured as cross-sectional data and, as opposed to previous quantile regression techniques introduced in power markets, allows for simultaneous predictions for all hours during a delivery day. Day-ahead power prices for all 24 h in the next day are determined at the same moment, one day before delivery. The hourly data is therefore not a time-series, but a cross section. The second contribution is that we examine the interaction between demand and supply from variable renewable sources, instead of linear dependencies only. We find that lower and higher quantile prices are more heavily affected by variations in supply from variable renewable sources than centre quantile prices. This enables owners of flexibility assets to better manage their assets in anticipation of excess or scarce supply from renewable sources. By doing so, they increase the flexibility of power systems that face increasing installed capacity of variable renewable energy sources

Fat Tails due to Variable Renewables and Insufficient Flexibility: Evidence from Germany

The large-scale integration of renewable energy sources requires flexibility from power markets in the sense that the latter should quickly counterbalance the renewable supply variation driven by weather conditions. Most power markets cannot (yet) provide this flexibility effectively as they suffer from inelastic demand and insufficient flexible storage capacity or flexible conventional suppliers. Research accordingly shows that the volume of renewable energy in the supply system affects the mean and volatility of power prices. We extend this view and show that the level of wind and solar energy supply affects the tails of the electricity price distributions as well and that it does so asymmetrically. The higher the supply from wind and solar energy sources, the fatter the left tail of the price distribution and the thinner the right tail. This implies that one cannot rely on symmetric price distributions for risk management and for valuation of (flexible) power assets. The evidence in this paper suggests that we have to rethink the methods of subsidizing variable renewable supply such that they take into consideration also the flexibility needs of power markets

The dependence of quantile power prices on supply from renewables

Understanding power prices dynamics is crucial for valuing flexibility assets such as storage or flexible consumption facilities that accommodate fluctuations in power supply from variable renewables. Owners of such assets need to know how extreme power prices can become in order to optimally manage (dis)charging or adjusting consumption volumes. We examine how to predict those high and low prices, being the different quantiles of the power price probability distribution function, and question how supply from variable renewable sources affect different quantile prices. The first contribution of our paper is that we apply quantile regressions in a panel data framework. This methodology acknowledges that day-ahead power markets’ data is structured as cross-sectional data and, as opposed to previous quantile regression techniques introduced in power markets, allows for simultaneous predictions for all hours during a delivery day. Day-ahead power prices for all 24 h in the next day are determined at the same moment, one day before delivery. The hourly data is therefore not a time-series, but a cross section. The second contribution is that we examine the interaction between demand and supply from variable renewable sources, instead of linear dependencies only. We find that lower and higher quantile prices are more heavily affected by variations in supply from variable renewable sources than centre quantile prices. This enables owners of flexibility assets to better manage their assets in anticipation of excess or scarce supply from renewable sources. By doing so, they increase the flexibility of power systems that face increasing installed capacity of variable renewable energy sources

Fat Tails due to Variable Renewables and Insufficient Flexibility: Evidence from Germany

The large-scale integration of renewable energy sources requires flexibility from power markets in the sense that the latter should quickly counterbalance the renewable supply variation driven by weather conditions. Most power markets cannot (yet) provide this flexibility effectively as they suffer from inelastic demand and insufficient flexible storage capacity or flexible conventional suppliers. Research accordingly shows that the volume of renewable energy in the supply system affects the mean and volatility of power prices. We extend this view and show that the level of wind and solar energy supply affects the tails of the electricity price distributions as well and that it does so asymmetrically. The higher the supply from wind and solar energy sources, the fatter the left tail of the price distribution and the thinner the right tail. This implies that one cannot rely on symmetric price distributions for risk management and for valuation of (flexible) power assets. The evidence in this paper suggests that we have to rethink the methods of subsidizing variable renewable supply such that they take into consideration also the flexibility needs of power markets

Fat Tails due to Variable Renewables and Insufficient Flexibility: Evidence from Germany

The large-scale integration of renewable energy sources requires flexibility from power markets in the sense that the latter should quickly counterbalance the renewable supply variation driven by weather conditions. Most power markets cannot (yet) provide this flexibility effectively as they suffer from inelastic demand and insufficient flexible storage capacity or flexible conventional suppliers. Research accordingly shows that the volume of renewable energy in the supply system affects the mean and volatility of power prices. We extend this view and show that the level of wind and solar energy supply affects the tails of the electricity price distributions as well and that it does so asymmetrically. The higher the supply from wind and solar energy sources, the fatter the left tail of the price distribution and the thinner the right tail. This implies that one cannot rely on symmetric price distributions for risk management and for valuation of (flexible) power assets. The evidence in this paper suggests that we have to rethink the methods of subsidizing variable renewable supply such that they take into consideration also the flexibility needs of power markets

Fat Tails due to Variable Renewables and Insufficient Flexibility: Evidence from Germany

The large-scale integration of renewable energy sources requires flexibility from power markets in the sense that the latter should quickly counterbalance the renewable supply variation driven by weather conditions. Most power markets cannot (yet) provide this flexibility effectively as they suffer from inelastic demand and insufficient flexible storage capacity or flexible conventional suppliers. Research accordingly shows that the volume of renewable energy in the supply system affects the mean and volatility of power prices. We extend this view and show that the level of wind and solar energy supply affects the tails of the electricity price distributions as well and that it does so asymmetrically. The higher the supply from wind and solar energy sources, the fatter the left tail of the price distribution and the thinner the right tail. This implies that one cannot rely on symmetric price distributions for risk management and for valuation of (flexible) power assets. The evidence in this paper suggests that we have to rethink the methods of subsidizing variable renewable supply such that they take into consideration also the flexibility needs of power markets

Pricing forward contracts in power markets with variable renewable energy sources

With the ongoing increase of variable renewable energy sources (VRES), such as wind or solar power, weather dependent production profiles induce uncertainty on the supply side and change operations at large in wholesale power markets. In this paper, we study how an increasing market share of VRES affects spot power price dynamics and the forward price premium. Using data from simulated power markets, we analyse the forward premium in three identical power markets with a varying market share of VRES supplied to the system. We demonstrate that markets with a high share of supply from VRES yield a significantly lower forward premium than markets with a low market share of wind or solar supply. Our results further confirm that, regardless of the market share of supply from VRES, forward power prices contain information about future spot power prices. These insights generate important implications for producers, retailers and other market participants exposed to wholesale price risk