Addressing Flexibility Needs in Electricity Markets
Open Access
- Author:
- Varghese, Sushant
- Graduate Program:
- Industrial Engineering
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- December 08, 2023
- Committee Members:
- Steven Landry, Program Head/Chair
Paul Griffin, Outside Unit Member
Mort Webster, Chair & Dissertation Advisor
Seth Blumsack, Outside Field Member
Uday Shanbhag, Major Field Member - Keywords:
- Real-time market
market design
ramp products
future scenario
investment incentives
Real-time market
Electricity market
Flexibility
Market design
future scenario
Investment incentives - Abstract:
- Electricity grids, being one of the most significant machines ever constructed, play a pivotal role in modern society. They require high operational flexibility to balance supply and demand and to ensure reliable operation. The transition to renewable energy resources has introduced challenges, such as their inherent variability and unpredictability. The decline of traditional thermal power plants further strains grid stability. This shift towards renewable energy is transforming the electricity sector, requiring innovative grid management approaches. This dissertation addresses the pressing need for flexibility within electricity grids. It focuses on two strategies: upgrading existing generation and refining market designs. Existing research in this field often lacks granularity, realism, and fails to consider the non-homogeneous nature of electricity systems. Uncertainty and interactions between resource types and market changes are also often neglected. This dissertation addresses these gaps and brings to light several insights that were not evident under existing modeling frameworks. Chapter 2 investigates the impact of enhancing existing natural gas combined cycle generators on the operational dynamics and profitability across different classes of generators. Chapter 3 examines the implementation of ramp products in real-time markets, while Chapter 4 extends the analysis to consider the effects of multi-interval dispatch. The results highlight the need for detailed modeling that takes into account resource types, market design, and uncertainty to optimize system flexibility. In conclusion, this dissertation provides insights into addressing flexibility in the evolving energy landscape and emphasizes the importance of modeling realistic systems. It demonstrates the value of a nuanced approach that analyzes the interaction between multiple resource types and market design changes to enhance flexibility, reliability, and efficiency in electricity markets.