Developing a simulator for the Greek electricity market

Following the liberalization of the Greek electricity market, the Greek Regulatory Authority for Energy (RAE) undertook the design and implementation of a simulator for the wholesale market and its interactions with the Natural Gas Transportation System. The simulator consists of several interacting modules representing all key market operations and dynamics including (i) day-ahead scheduling based on bids of market participants, (ii) natural gas system constraints, (iii) unplanned variability of loads and available capacity driven either by uncertain stochastic outcomes or deliberate participant schedule deviations, (iv) real time dispatch, and (v) financial settlement of day ahead and real time schedule differences. The modules are integrated into one software package capable of simulating all market dynamics, deliberate or probabilistic, and their interactions across all relevant time scales. The intended use of the simulator is to elaborate on and allow RAE to investigate the impact of participant decision strategies on market outcomes. The ultimate purpose is to evaluate the effectiveness of Market Rules, whether existing or contemplated, in providing incentives for competitive behaviour and in discouraging gaming and market manipulation. This paper describes the development of the simulator relative to the current Greek Electricity Market Design and key contemplated revisions.simulation; regulatory policy; electricity markets; market design;

Impact of Reserve and Fixed Costs on the Day-Ahead Scheduling Problem in Greece’s Electricity Market

We sketch the main aspects of Greece’s electricity system from a market-based point of view. First, we provide data concerning the mix of generating units, the system load and the frequency-related ancillary services. Then, we formulate a simplified model of Greece’s Day-Ahead Scheduling (DAS) problem that constitutes the basis for our analysis. We examine various cases concerning the format of the objective function as well as the pricing and compensation schemes. An illustrative example is used to indicate the impact of reserve and fixed (start-up, shut-down, and minimum-load) costs on the resulting dispatching of units and on clearing prices, under the different cases. Our analysis aims at unveiling the impact of cost components other than energy offers on the DAS problem, and provide the grounds for future research on the design of the electricity market.Electricity Market, Day-Ahead Scheduling

Developing a simulator for the Greek electricity market

Following the liberalization of the Greek electricity market, the Greek Regulatory Authority for Energy (RAE) undertook the design and implementation of a simulator for the wholesale market and its interactions with the Natural Gas Transportation System. The simulator consists of several interacting modules representing all key market operations and dynamics including (i) day-ahead scheduling based on bids of market participants, (ii) natural gas system constraints, (iii) unplanned variability of loads and available capacity driven either by uncertain stochastic outcomes or deliberate participant schedule deviations, (iv) real time dispatch, and (v) financial settlement of day ahead and real time schedule differences. The modules are integrated into one software package capable of simulating all market dynamics, deliberate or probabilistic, and their interactions across all relevant time scales. The intended use of the simulator is to elaborate on and allow RAE to investigate the impact of participant decision strategies on market outcomes. The ultimate purpose is to evaluate the effectiveness of Market Rules, whether existing or contemplated, in providing incentives for competitive behaviour and in discouraging gaming and market manipulation. This paper describes the development of the simulator relative to the current Greek Electricity Market Design and key contemplated revisions

Developing a simulator for the Greek electricity market

Following the liberalization of the Greek electricity market, the Greek Regulatory Authority for Energy (RAE) undertook the design and implementation of a simulator for the wholesale market and its interactions with the Natural Gas Transportation System. The simulator consists of several interacting modules representing all key market operations and dynamics including (i) day-ahead scheduling based on bids of market participants, (ii) natural gas system constraints, (iii) unplanned variability of loads and available capacity driven either by uncertain stochastic outcomes or deliberate participant schedule deviations, (iv) real time dispatch, and (v) financial settlement of day ahead and real time schedule differences. The modules are integrated into one software package capable of simulating all market dynamics, deliberate or probabilistic, and their interactions across all relevant time scales. The intended use of the simulator is to elaborate on and allow RAE to investigate the impact of participant decision strategies on market outcomes. The ultimate purpose is to evaluate the effectiveness of Market Rules, whether existing or contemplated, in providing incentives for competitive behaviour and in discouraging gaming and market manipulation. This paper describes the development of the simulator relative to the current Greek Electricity Market Design and key contemplated revisions

Impact of Reserve and Fixed Costs on the Day-Ahead Scheduling Problem in Greece’s Electricity Market

We sketch the main aspects of Greece’s electricity system from a market-based point of view. First, we provide data concerning the mix of generating units, the system load and the frequency-related ancillary services. Then, we formulate a simplified model of Greece’s Day-Ahead Scheduling (DAS) problem that constitutes the basis for our analysis. We examine various cases concerning the format of the objective function as well as the pricing and compensation schemes. An illustrative example is used to indicate the impact of reserve and fixed (start-up, shut-down, and minimum-load) costs on the resulting dispatching of units and on clearing prices, under the different cases. Our analysis aims at unveiling the impact of cost components other than energy offers on the DAS problem, and provide the grounds for future research on the design of the electricity market

Familial hypercholesterolaemia in children and adolescents from 48 countries: a cross-sectional study

Background: Approximately 450 000 children are born with familial hypercholesterolaemia worldwide every year, yet only 2·1% of adults with familial hypercholesterolaemia were diagnosed before age 18 years via current diagnostic approaches, which are derived from observations in adults. We aimed to characterise children and adolescents with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia (HeFH) and understand current approaches to the identification and management of familial hypercholesterolaemia to inform future public health strategies. Methods: For this cross-sectional study, we assessed children and adolescents younger than 18 years with a clinical or genetic diagnosis of HeFH at the time of entry into the Familial Hypercholesterolaemia Studies Collaboration (FHSC) registry between Oct 1, 2015, and Jan 31, 2021. Data in the registry were collected from 55 regional or national registries in 48 countries. Diagnoses relying on self-reported history of familial hypercholesterolaemia and suspected secondary hypercholesterolaemia were excluded from the registry; people with untreated LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) of at least 13·0 mmol/L were excluded from this study. Data were assessed overall and by WHO region, World Bank country income status, age, diagnostic criteria, and index-case status. The main outcome of this study was to assess current identification and management of children and adolescents with familial hypercholesterolaemia. Findings: Of 63 093 individuals in the FHSC registry, 11 848 (18·8%) were children or adolescents younger than 18 years with HeFH and were included in this study; 5756 (50·2%) of 11 476 included individuals were female and 5720 (49·8%) were male. Sex data were missing for 372 (3·1%) of 11 848 individuals. Median age at registry entry was 9·6 years (IQR 5·8-13·2). 10 099 (89·9%) of 11 235 included individuals had a final genetically confirmed diagnosis of familial hypercholesterolaemia and 1136 (10·1%) had a clinical diagnosis. Genetically confirmed diagnosis data or clinical diagnosis data were missing for 613 (5·2%) of 11 848 individuals. Genetic diagnosis was more common in children and adolescents from high-income countries (9427 [92·4%] of 10 202) than in children and adolescents from non-high-income countries (199 [48·0%] of 415). 3414 (31·6%) of 10 804 children or adolescents were index cases. Familial-hypercholesterolaemia-related physical signs, cardiovascular risk factors, and cardiovascular disease were uncommon, but were more common in non-high-income countries. 7557 (72·4%) of 10 428 included children or adolescents were not taking lipid-lowering medication (LLM) and had a median LDL-C of 5·00 mmol/L (IQR 4·05-6·08). Compared with genetic diagnosis, the use of unadapted clinical criteria intended for use in adults and reliant on more extreme phenotypes could result in 50-75% of children and adolescents with familial hypercholesterolaemia not being identified. Interpretation: Clinical characteristics observed in adults with familial hypercholesterolaemia are uncommon in children and adolescents with familial hypercholesterolaemia, hence detection in this age group relies on measurement of LDL-C and genetic confirmation. Where genetic testing is unavailable, increased availability and use of LDL-C measurements in the first few years of life could help reduce the current gap between prevalence and detection, enabling increased use of combination LLM to reach recommended LDL-C targets early in life

Political travel across the ‘Iron Curtain’ and Communist youth identities in West Germany and Greece in the 1970s and 1980s

This article explores tours through the Iron Curtain arranged by West German and Greek pro-Soviet Communist youth groups, in an attempt to shed light on the transformation of European youth cultures beyond the ‘Americanisation’ story. It argues that the concept of the ‘black box’, employed by Rob Kroes to describe the influence of American cultural patterns on Western European youth, also applies to the reception of Eastern Bloc policies and norms by the Communists under study. Such selective reception was part of these groups’ efforts to devise a modernity alternative to the ‘capitalist’ one, an alternative modernity which tours across the Iron Curtain would help establish. Nevertheless, the organisers did not wish such travel to help eliminate American/Western influences on youth lifestyles entirely: the article analyses the excursions’ aims with regard to two core components of youth lifestyles in Western Europe since the 1960s, which have been affected by intra-Western flows, the spirit of ‘doing one’s own thing’ and transformations of sexual practices. The article also addresses the experience of the travellers in question, showing that they felt an unresolved tension: the tours neither served as a means of Sovietisation nor as an impulse to develop an openly anti-Soviet stance.PostprintPeer reviewe

Παλαιοωκεανογραφική μελέτη των προεβαποριτικών ιζημάτων Ανωτέρου Μειοκαίνου της τομής Άγιος Μύρων (Κρήτη-Ανατολική Μεσόγειος)

Η παρούσα διπλωματική εργασία καταγράφει, με σκοπό να κατανοήσει, το παλαιοπεριβαλοντολογικό καθεστώς που επικρατούσε στην περιοχή του Αγίου Μύρωνα, στην ανατολική Κρήτη την περίοδο του Ανώτερου Μειοκαίνου, και πιο συγκεκριμένα την περίοδο του Μεσσηνίου. Η μελέτη αυτή είναι μία σύνθεση αποτελεσμάτων, η οποία βασίζεται στην ποιοτική και ποσοτική ανάλυση των πλαγκτονικών τρηματοφόρων, σε ιζηματολογικές παρατηρήσεις και κυκλοστρωματογραφικούς συσχετισμούς, καθώς και σε γεωχημικές αναλύσεις για την ανασύσταση του παλαιοπεριβάλλοντος της υπό μελέτης χρονικής περιόδου. Γίνεται συσχέτιση με την πολύ καλά μελετημένη και χρονολογημένη τομή των Μετοχίων που βρίσκεται στη νήσο Γαύδο με την υπό μελέτη τομή του Αγίου Μύρωνα. Επίσης η εργασίας προσπαθεί να κατανοήσει το λόγο για τον οποίο οι δύο τομές παρουσιάζουν διαφορά στη λιθολογία τους. Η διαφορά παρουσιάζεται στην ύπαρξη διατομιτών στα Μετόχια, στο ανώτερο μέρος της τομής, ενώ απουσιάζουν από τον Άγιο Μύρωνα, δίνοντας μια ανομοιομορφία στο περιβάλλον της λεκάνης της Ανατολικής Μεσογείου.This dissertation records, in order to understand, the paleo-environmental regime that prevailed in the area of Agios Myronas, in eastern Crete during the Upper Miocene, and more specifically during the Messinian period. This study is a synthesis of results, which is based on the qualitative and quantitative analysis of planktonic foraminifers, sedimentological observations and cyclostratigraphic correlations, as well as geochemical analyzes for the reconstruction of the paleoenvironment of the period. A correlation is made with the very well-studied and dated section of Metochia located on the island of Gavdos with the section under study of Agios Myron. The work also tries to understand the reason why the two sections are different in their lithology. The difference is presented in the existence of diatoms in Metochia, in the upper part of the section, while they are absent from Agios Myron, giving a non-uniformity in the environment of the Eastern Mediterranean basin