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Engineering topics

Bloom, Aaron P

Publications and source records attributed to Bloom, Aaron P.

Overview of Wholesale Electricity Markets

This chapter provides a comprehensive review of four key electricity markets: energy markets (day-ahead and real-time markets); ancillary service markets; financial transmission rights markets; capacity markets. It also discusses how the outcomes of each of these markets may be impacted by the introduction of high penetrations of variable generation. Furthermore, the chapter examines considerations needed to ensure that wholesale market designs are inclusive of emerging technologies, such as demand response, distributed generation, and distributed storage.

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Incentivizing Flexibility in System Operations

Defining flexibility has been a challenge that a number of industry members and researchers have attempted to address in recent years. With increased variability and uncertainty of variable generation (VG), the resources on the system will have to be more flexible to adjust output, so that power output ranges, power ramp rates, and energy duration sustainability are sufficient to meet the needs of balancing supply with demand at various operational timescales. This chapter discusses whether existing market designs provide adequate incentives for resources to offer their flexibility into the market to meet the increased levels of variability and uncertainty introduced by VG in the short-term operational time frame. It presents a definition of flexibility and discusses how increased levels of VG require increased needs for flexibility on power systems. Following this introductory material, the chapter examines how existing market designs ensure that resources have the right incentives to provide increased flexibility, and then discusses a number of emerging market design elements that impact flexibility incentives.

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Long-Term Resource Adequacy, Long-Term Flexibility Requirements, and Revenue Sufficiency

Variable generation (VG) can reduce market prices over time and also the energy that other suppliers can sell in the market. The suppliers that are needed to provide capacity and flexibility to meet the long-term reliability requirements may, therefore, earn less revenue. This chapter discusses the topics of resource adequacy and revenue sufficiency - that is, determining and acquiring the quantity of capacity that will be needed at some future date and ensuring that those suppliers that offer the capacity receive sufficient revenue to recover their costs. The focus is on the investment time horizon and the installation of sufficient generation capability. First, the chapter discusses resource adequacy, including newer methods of determining adequacy metrics. The chapter then focuses on revenue sufficiency and how suppliers have sufficient opportunity to recover their total costs. The chapter closes with a description of the mechanisms traditionally adopted by electricity markets to mitigate the issues of resource adequacy and revenue sufficiency and discusses the most recent market design changes to address these issues.

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Five Indisputable Facts on Modern Power Systems

This presentation overviews five indisputable facts about modern power systems: Fact one: The grid can handle more renewable generation than previously thought. Fact two: Geographic and resource diversity provide additional reliability to the system. Fact three: Wind and solar forecasting provide significant value. Fact four: Our electric power markets were not originally designed for variable renewables -- but they could be adapted. Fact five: Modern power electronics are creating new sources of essential reliability services.

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