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Investment, firm value, and risk for a system operator balancing energy grids

Engelbert Dockner, Dénes Kucsera and Margarethe Rammerstorfer

Energy Economics, 2013, vol. 37, issue C, 182-192

Abstract: With the liberalization of energy markets integrated energy companies have separated into entities that specialize in production and/or transmission of energy. Transmission of energy requires balancing the grid to guarantee system security, which is performed by the (independent) system operator (SO). When the SO faces stochastic demand, grid balancing has sizeable consequences on current and future profits, and hence, on firm value and firm risk. We explore these value and risk consequences with and without an investment option to expand transmission capacity. We show that firm value consists of the value of the transmission capacity in place plus the value of a short put and a short call option that are the result of the SO's balancing actions. Firm risk without investment option is non-linear and determined by the short option positions. It is decreasing with increasing energy demand. The existence of an option to expand transmission capacity increases firm value and firm risk.

Keywords: Balancing energy markets; Grid expansion investments; Value and risk implications of grid balancing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: G31 G32 L94 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:37:y:2013:i:c:p:182-192

DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2013.01.007

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Energy Economics is currently edited by R. S. J. Tol, Beng Ang, Lance Bachmeier, Perry Sadorsky, Ugur Soytas and J. P. Weyant

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