Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/97140 
Title: 

Network expansion to mitigate market power: How increased integration fosters welfare

The document was removed on behalf of the author(s)/ the editor(s).

Year of Publication: 
2014
Series/Report no.: 
DIW Discussion Papers No. 1380
Publisher: 
Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW), Berlin
Abstract: 
Lack of transmission capacity hampers the integration of the European electricity market, and thereby precludes reaping the full benefits of competition. We investigate the extent to which transmission grid expansion promotes competition, efficiency and welfare. This work proposes a three-stage model for grid investment: a benevolent planner decides on network upgrades, considering welfare benefits of investments through a reduction of market power exertion by strategic generators. These firms anticipate their impact on market clearing, in particular when lines are congested. To this end, we provide the first model effectively endogenizing the trade-o_ between costs of grid investment and benefits by reduced market power potential. In a three-node network, we illustrate three distinct strategic effects: firstly, by reducing market power exertion, network expansion can promote welfare beyond pure efficiency gains: optimally accounting for strategic generator behavior can push welfare close to a first-best competitive benchmark. Secondly, network upgrades entail a relative shift of rents from producers to consumers, and thirdly, they may yield suboptimal or even disequilibrium outcomes when strategic behavior is neglected.
Subjects: 
market power
electricity transmission
network expansion
Generalized Nash equilibrium (GNE)
mixed-integer equilibrium problem under equilibrium constraints (MIEPEC)
JEL: 
L13
L51
C61
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
The document was removed on behalf of the author(s)/ the editor(s) on: August 6, 2019


Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.