گزینه های قابلیت اطمینان : یک رویکرد بازارمحور برای کفایت بلندمدت

The issue of generation adequacy is not going away and every electricity market will eventually have to deal with it. The author proposes a method for assuring long-term adequacy while at the same time reducing price and quantity volatility and giving markets long-term stable equilibrium prices.

In the summer of 2004, Alex Henney and I wrote an article, “Will the New Electricity Trading Arrangements Ensure Generation Adequacy?” which appeared in the August/September 2004 issue of this journal. In that article we explained our reasons for doubting that an energy-only electricity market could ensure generation adequacy, by which we meant calling forth sufficient new investment to maintain reasonable levels of reliability over time. In the article we mentioned that we were working on a market-oriented approach that would ensure long-term adequacy while not impeding an efficient short-term energy market. In this article I explain that approach — the reliability options (RO) method for ensuring generation adequacy.

In this article, I have described a method for assuring long-term adequacy and at the same time reducing price and quantity volatility and giving electricity markets long-term stable equilibrium prices. At its essence, the RO method is dependable because it assigns the task of picking the quantity to the SO — a task SOs are well equipped for; and it assigns the task of setting the price to the market — a task markets are well equipped for. Furthermore, the RO market includes potential generators as well as existing generators, and this provides market discipline and allows the RO auction to encompass a quantity of generation that is greater than the existing quantity. The issue of generation adequacy is not going away and every electricity market will eventually have to deal with it. Every government or government agency that is trying to find the best electricity market design should have the RO approach on its short list of adequacy mechanisms that need to be explored.