2. Context
Power markets are rapidly evolving due to liberalization.
Incumbent monopolies are declining as we can see with the state of EDF.
Competition in power market is slowly but surely growing.
An example : The antitrust case of EDF by the European Commission.
3. Objective of this essay
Understanding the fundamentals behind transactions on the power market.
What are the fundamentals behind a system where multiple means of
transactions coexists?
Analyzing risk and its management for agents.
How agents are apprehending this specific rational on power market?
Reviewing implications of electricity transactions for electro-intensive
industry.
An economic and financial approach of the subject.
5. The French power market
• A wholesale market with
• Spot transactions
• Intraday; day-ahead; week-end
• Futures
• Monthly; quarterly; (weekly?)
• Standardized long term contracts
• Yearly
• An over-the-counter market
• With mostly long term contracts
• Observations:
• A hierarchy
• An evolution
6. Two cases study: California’s crisis
and the NETA
California: An example of a failed restructuring program and of a spot based
market.
Illustrate the need of a second bilateral market and hedging tool for consumers.
The reference: Joskow in California's electricity crisis (2001)
The NETA: A program with an aim to replace a spot market by a market
“based on bilateral trading between generators, suppliers, traders and
customers” (National Audit Office, 2003)
The new market still have short term tools but they are either agreements or
transactions used for balancing the system
7. First step: Risk allocation – Polinsky’s
Model
• Many questions:
• How those different type of transaction affect it?
• Will the spot market will increase the risk of suppliers or of buyers?
• Do the characteristics of the buyers have a significant impact?
• An answer from theory decision: the best mean is the one that minimizes the
risk.
• In this case, mean of transaction are seen as insurance tool.
• Polinsky. (1986). Fixed Price versus Spot Price Contracts: A Study in Risk
Allocation.
8. Second step: equilibrium in a multiprice
system - Hubbard and Weiner’s Model
• Need for a deeper analysis of the market with an optimal price and quantity
for contract and spot transactions.
• This analysis will allow us to find the optimal situation for agents where two
means of exchange exists: one with a fixed price and one with a flexible price.
• Hubbard, & Weiner. (1992). Long-Term Contracting and Multiple-Price
Systems.
9. Other rationales
Wolak. (1996). Why Do Firms Simultaneously Purchase in Spot and Contract
Markets? Evidence from the United States Steam Coal Market.
Quantity risk
More an agent avoids quantity shortage more the demand for contracts will be high.
Market structure
An increasing number of sellers will lower transaction costs and lead to an higher
demand for spot transactions.
Williamson. (1979). Transaction-Cost Economics: The Governance of Contractual Relations
Contractual relations
Based on game theory, spot transactions can be regarded as a reward or an incitation to
not breach a contract.
Teece. (1976). The multinational corporation and the resource cost of international technology
transfer
10. To sum up: what theory and reality
show?
Actual markets highlights the complexity of the existence of multiple means
of transaction.
Such systems exist due to the specific nature of electricity.
The evolution of a multiprice system depends on many factors, the main one
is risk, but also on:
The origin of uncertainty, supply and demand characteristics, risk aversion …
Arbitrages between spot transactions and long term agreements can be seen
as a way of reducing this risk.
12. The demand for futures
Firm 2
𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔
Firm 1
𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 0.111; 0.111 {0.0625; 0.75}
𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 0.75; 0.0625 0.08,0.08
• A strategic tools that can appears even
without uncertainty
• A game theory approach to explain the
existence of such contracts.
• A duopoly and a prisoner dilemma
• With Cournot and Stackelberg games
• Allaz, & Vila. (1989). Cournot Competition,
Forward Markets and Efficiency.
13. Other implications of futures on power
markets
Futures increase liquidity by raising the demand for spot transaction.
Termini. (2007). Spot, Bilateral and Futures Trading in Electricity Markets.
Implications for Stability.
An important role on power markets where price are highly volatile.
Futures mitigate market power by reducing price to marginal cost
Termini. (2007) and Allaz, & Vila. (1989)
Also very present on power markets due to historical but also economic reasons.
14. Application for the electro-intensive
industry
Definition and review of the Exeltium consortium
15. Legal definition
At the beginning:
The ratio between the electricity consumed and the added value of the firm is above 2.5
Kwh/€.
55% of the total annual consumption has to be during baseload (between 8 pm and 8
am);
A ratio between the energy consumption below a certain power threshold and the higher
power or equal to 8 000 hours;
The eligibility of the CSPE;
New conditions:
A firm is electro intensive when it is in a sectors which takes part in the European
exchange of C02 quotas with an intensity of at least 4%;
A site is considered electro intensive when its annual consumption is at least 5OGWh;
A site is considered hyper electro intensive when its ratio between the electricity
consumed and the added value of the firm is above 6 Kwh/€ and when the firm is in a
sectors which takes part in the European exchange of C02 quotas with an intensity of at
least 25%;
16. Electro-intensive industry and electricity
Those industries are particularly vulnerable to any change in electricity price.
Electricity count for more than 6 % of their revenue.
A proof: French authorities decided to protect those industries by lowering price
constraints.
Based on a study, an increase of 1% of the electricity cost leads to a decrease of
0.14% of the production in the paper industry.
Bordigoni. (2013). Détermination du rôle de l’energie dans la compétitivité de
l’industrie manufacturière : Etudes économétriques et modélisation des
interdépendances.
Those observations illustrate the need for a solid and significant risk management
policy.