Power market restructuring in Asia: Russia, China, India and Japan

This paper examines power market restructuring in Asia, principally in Russia, China, India and Japan. It considers economic convergence points of the Russian and Asian Power Markets; Russia's power industry restructuring - current state and problems; and power industry restructuring in China: regional electricity markets, investment, planning and challenges. Also considered is development of the power market in India; and restructuring of the electric power industry and current state of the power market in Japan: progress, outline of revisions, and an assessment of institutional reforms.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Congo River's Grand Inga hydroelectricity scheme: linking environmental history, policy and impact

The idea of using the second largest river on earth - Africa's Congo - for electricity production has existed for over 100 years. Plans first proposed in 1928 were more fully explored during the European (and colonial) post-World War II industrial expansion. The idea of diverting the entire Lower Congo through electricity generators, Grand Inga was embraced by Apartheid South Africa, the Arab Republic of Egypt, and nations of post-Apartheid southern Africa. In the twenty-first century, as Europe seeks to mitigate carbon emissions, non-carbon producing electricity generation is defined as 'green' and 'renewable'. The Inga Falls on the Lower Congo River are again attracting attention. This perception of Grand Inga as a saviour of European economies is not new. For centuries, Europeans have viewed Africa as a source of raw materials for economic expansion. With the advent of electrical power and its generation by flowing water, African rivers entered the domain of European extractive relations. Moreover, the trivialization of potential environmental harm that hydro-power development could cause is not new. Rivers across the continent have been dammed in the name of 'development', benefiting elites and international corporations with scant regard for environmental consequences. Plans for a massive Grand Inga Dam were replaced by studies of a Grand Inga Cascades in 2009 when engineers recognized catastrophic local consequences. Grand Inga is eligible for finance under Kyoto as a renewable technology. This designation was surely made without consideration of the river's geomorphology, function and biogeochemistry as major constituents of the tropical Atlantic Ocean. This is because the Congo - and its influence - do not stop at its coastal mouth. A vast submarine canyon extending 730 km from the coast and ending in a 300,000 sq.km. fan on the ocean floor serves as a major conduit of terrestrial minerals and carbon to the deep sea. On the surface, the river's plume has been detected 800 km offshore. Accumulating marine evidence indicates the Congo's significant influence on the equatorial Atlantic ocean, which, in turn, is central to many climate change models. Analysis of the development of electricity, its infrastructure and policies at a continental scale articulates the global political economic context of Grand Inga's long environmental history, while environmental impact analysis at an Atlantic Basin, rather than at strictly local scale, indicates potentially serious global consequences

System Dynamics Simulation to Explore the Impact of Low European Electricity Prices on Swiss Generation Capacity Investments

European electricity markets are coping with low energy prices as a result of overinvestments in generation capacity, subsidies for renewables and the financial crisis of 2008. In this chapter we explore the implications of low electricity prices on the Swiss electricity market, which is facing the additional challenge of phasing out nuclear power plants and market liberalization. System Dynamics is utilized to model and simulate the long-term impacts on investments in new generation capacity, security of supply and future electricity prices. Simulation results indicate that the current low electricity prices are likely to persist for another decade. The most likely response to the low prices is an underinvestment in generation capacity, with the risk of scarcity pricing under low security of supply, as it coincides with the decommissioning of nuclear power plants. There is little evidence this will lead to boom-and-bust investment cycles. Finally, in the long-term we observe a shift towards renewable energy sources and natural gas fired power plants, resulting in more volatile electricity prices. These findings are similar to earlier studies of the liberalized German and Belgian electricity markets, which are also facing the challenges of a nuclear phase-out under depressed European prices