EconPapers    
Economics at your fingertips  
 

A real options evaluation model for the diffusion prospects of new renewable power generation technologies

Gürkan Kumbaroglu, Reinhard Madlener () and Mustafa Demirel

Energy Economics, 2008, vol. 30, issue 4, pages 1882-1908

Abstract: This study presents a policy planning model that integrates learning curve information on renewable power generation technologies into a dynamic programming formulation featuring real options analysis. The model recursively evaluates a set of investment alternatives on a year-by-year basis, thereby taking into account that the flexibility to delay an irreversible investment expenditure can profoundly affect the diffusion prospects of renewable power generation technologies. Price uncertainty is introduced through stochastic processes for the average wholesale price of electricity and for input fuel prices. Demand for electricity is assumed to be increasingly price-sensitive, as the electricity market deregulation proceeds, reflecting new options of consumers to react to electricity price changes (such as time-of-use pricing, unbundled electricity services, and choice of supplier). The empirical analysis is based on data for the Turkish electricity supply industry. Apart from general implications for policy-making, it provides some interesting insights about the impact of uncertainty and technical change on the diffusion of various emerging renewable energy technologies.

Date: 2008

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6V7G ... 6f3e09d338ac32c6ac15
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Access Statistics for this article

Energy Economics is edited by R. S. J. Tol and J. P. Weyant

More articles in Energy Economics from Elsevier
Series data maintained by Heidi Boesdal ().

 
Page updated 2008-10-07
Handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:30:y:2008:i:4:p:1882-1908