@techreport{RadeckeHefeleHirth, type = {Working Paper}, author = {Radecke, Julia and Hefele, Joseph and Hirth, Lion}, title = {Markets for Local Flexibility in Distribution Networks}, series = {EconStor Preprints 204559}, journal = {EconStor Preprints 204559}, language = {en} } @techreport{DertingerHirth, type = {Working Paper}, author = {Dertinger, Andrea and Hirth, Lion}, title = {The Impact of Power Sector Reforms in Developing Economies}, series = {EconStor}, journal = {EconStor}, edition = {Preprints 201842}, publisher = {ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics}, abstract = {Since the 1990s, many developing countries have restructured their electric power industry. Policies such as breaking up, commercializing and privatizing utilities, allowing for independent power producers, installing independent regulators, and introducing competitive wholesale markets were meant to improve the industry's efficiency and service quality. We exploit more than 30 years of data from over 100 countries to investigate the impact of power sector reforms on efficiency (represented by network losses) and access to electricity (represented by connection rates and residential power consumption). Crucially, reforms are likely to be endogenous with respect to sector performance: a crisis in electricity supply might well trigger reform efforts. We deal with endogeneity using reform activity in neighboring countries as an instrument. Our results suggest that reforms strongly and positively impact electricity access. According to our preferred specification, a full reform program would increase connection rates by 20 percentage points and per capita consumption by 62 percent: these are large effects that are stable across a range of robustness checks. Moreover, the effect of improving access is largest in South Asian countries. In contrast to previous studies, we do not find robust evidence to support the theory that reforms reduce network losses.}, language = {en} } @techreport{HirthSchlecht, type = {Working Paper}, author = {Hirth, Lion and Schlecht, Ingmar}, title = {Redispatch Markets in Zonal Electricity Markets: Inc-Dec Gaming as a Consequence of Inconsistent Power Market Design (not Market Power)}, series = {EconStor}, journal = {EconStor}, publisher = {ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics}, language = {en} } @article{Hirth, author = {Hirth, Lion}, title = {Open data for electricity modeling: Legal aspects}, series = {Energy Strategy Reviews}, journal = {Energy Strategy Reviews}, edition = {27}, doi = {10.1016/j.esr.2019.100433}, abstract = {Power system modeling is data intensive. In Europe, electricity system data is often available from sources such as statistical offices or system operators. However, it is often unclear if these data can be legally used for modeling, and in particular if such use infringes intellectual property rights. This article reviews the legal status of power system data, both as a guide for data users and for data publishers. It is based on interpretation of the law, a review of the secondary literature, an analysis of the licenses used by major data distributors, expert interviews, and a series of workshops. A core finding is that in many cases the legality of current practices is doubtful: in fact, it seems likely that modelers infringe intellectual property rights quite regularly. This is true for industry analysis but also academic researchers. A straightforward solution is open data - the idea that data can be freely used, modified, and shared by anyone for any purpose. To be open, it is not sufficient for data to be accessible free of cost, it must also come with an open data license, the most common types of which are also reviewed in this paper.}, language = {en} } @article{JerrentrupLotzTiedemannetal., author = {Jerrentrup, Lars and Lotz, Bastian and Tiedemann, Silvana and Hirth, Lion}, title = {Technology-Neutral Auctions for Renewable Energy: EU Law vs. Member State Reality}, series = {Journal for European Environmental \& Planning Law}, volume = {16}, journal = {Journal for European Environmental \& Planning Law}, edition = {4}, issn = {1876-0104}, doi = {10.1163/18760104-01604005}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b1570-opus4-30906}, pages = {386 -- 406}, abstract = {European Union competition law, intended to thwart subsidies paid out by national governments, plays an important role in shaping EU Member States' support schemes for renewable energy. The Environmental and Energy State Aid Guidelines 2014-2020, which formalize the European Commission's take on subsidies in the electricity sector, prescribe technology-neutral auctions as the standard mechanism to determine support levels. In this study, we have assessed the formal decisions of the Commission with respect to technology-neutrality between July 2014 and May 2018. It turns out that 16 out of 18 schemes are not technology-neutral and figure high degrees of technology-differentiation. We have also studied the exemption clauses invoked to justify technology-discrimination, finding that the most ambiguous clause is used most frequently, and that the application and level of scrutiny varies strongly from case to case. The State Aid Guidelines are meant to increase transparency and legal certainty. We find that with respect to technology-neutral auctions for renewable energy, the Guidelines fail to deliver on their purpose.}, language = {en} } @article{RuhnauHirthPraktiknjo, author = {Ruhnau, Oliver and Hirth, Lion and Praktiknjo, Aaron}, title = {Time series of heat demand and heat pump efficiency for energy system modeling}, series = {Nature Scientific Data}, volume = {6}, journal = {Nature Scientific Data}, number = {189}, doi = {10.1038/s41597-019-0199-y}, abstract = {With electric heat pumps substituting for fossil-fueled alternatives, the temporal variability of their power consumption becomes increasingly important to the electricity system. To easily include this variability in energy system analyses, this paper introduces the "When2Heat" dataset comprising synthetic national time series of both the heat demand and the coefficient of performance (COP) of heat pumps. It covers 16 European countries, includes the years 2008 to 2018, and features an hourly resolution. Demand profiles for space and water heating are computed by combining gas standard load profiles with spatial temperature and wind speed reanalysis data as well as population geodata. COP time series for different heat sources - air, ground, and groundwater - and different heat sinks - floor heating, radiators, and water heating - are calculated based on COP and heating curves using reanalysis temperature data. The dataset, as well as the scripts and input parameters, are publicly available under an open source license on the Open Power System Data platform.}, language = {en} } @article{KochHirth, author = {Koch, Christopher and Hirth, Lion}, title = {Short-term electricity trading for system balancing: An empirical analysis of the role of intraday trading in balancing Germany's electricity system}, series = {Renewable \& Sustainable Energy Reviews}, volume = {113}, journal = {Renewable \& Sustainable Energy Reviews}, doi = {10.1016/j.rser.2019.109275}, abstract = {Previous studies have noted that, surprisingly, Germany's dramatic expansion of wind and solar energy coincided with a reduction of short-term balancing reserves. This paper provides further and updated evidence, supporting this "German Balancing Paradox": since 2011 wind and solar energy nearly doubled while reserve requirements and reserve activation declined by around 50\%. We quantitatively explore one reason for reduced balancing needs: increased and improved short-term wholesale electricity trading. Electricity trading is now commonly done around the clock and based on quarter hours, rather than hours. The shift to quarter-hourly products alone explains a decrease in balancing energy by 17\%. We also find strong evidence for market parties to respond efficiently to imbalance charges, suggesting that market-based approaches to balancing work.}, language = {en} } @article{WieseSchlechtBunkeetal., author = {Wiese, Frauke and Schlecht, Ingmar and Bunke, Wolf-Dieter and Gerbaulet, Clemens and Hirth, Lion and Jahn, Martin and Kunz, Friedrich and Lorenz, Casimir and M{\"u}hlenpfordt, Jonathan and Reimann, Juliane and Schill, Wolf-Peter}, title = {Open Power System Data - Frictionless data for electricity system modelling}, series = {Applied Energy}, volume = {236}, journal = {Applied Energy}, doi = {10.1016/j.apenergy.2018.11.097}, pages = {409}, abstract = {The quality of electricity system modelling heavily depends on the input data used. Although a lot of data is publicly available, it is often dispersed, tedious to process and partly contains errors. We argue that a central provision of input data for modelling has the character of a public good: it reduces overall societal costs for quantitative energy research as redundant work is avoided, and it improves transparency and reproducibility in electricity system modelling. This paper describes the Open Power System Data platform that aims at realising the efficiency and quality gains of centralised data provision by collecting, checking, processing, aggregating, documenting and publishing data required by most modellers. We conclude that the platform can provide substantial benefits to energy system analysis by raising efficiency of data pre-processing, providing a method for making data pre-processing for energy system modelling traceable, flexible and reproducible and improving the quality of original data published by data providers.}, language = {en} }