Local Electricity Markets

This master thesis has as an objective the development of an electricity market. It is a research project that aims to be the foundation for a bigger and more thorough analysis. It examines the implementation of a local electricity market in a residential network equipped with renewable generation and storage technologies. In the context of this project the electricity market is defined as a real-time market focused on the exchange of active power. This thesis focuses on examining the effects on electricity prices that different pricing and consumption strategies have. In this context the feasibility of the results, from a power flow point, are not examined. The network in question is considered to be connected to the low voltage, alternating current grid and it comprises exclusively of households. It is a perfectly competitive market in the sense that no single player can exercise market power on his own, in order to raise prices. Simulations are conducted in a MATLAB environment to investigate the effects of different pricing and consumption strategies on the clearing prices of the market, as well as to determine the viability of such a market. The viability of the project in the context of this thesis is examined only from a financial aspect. Prices are not chosen arbitrarily but aim to mirror real world costs and more specifically the Levelized Costs of Energy and Storage. It is against these quantities that the resulting prices are compared to conclude about the viability of the project. Furthermore a cartel situation is simulated to investigate possible outcomes. Again in the context of this thesis a cartel is assumed to be a consortium of players colluding for financial gain, a fraction of the market players that offers higher prices and instigate atypical market operation. The results demonstrate the viability of such a market, as well as the effects of the cartel situation. Each scenario is examined separately and then compared against the rest. Finally a cost analysis is conducted in order to show the costs of such a study in the real world