Anke Eßer

Scheduling of electrical household appliances with price signals

Due to the increasing competition in liberalized electricity markets, a succesful customer retention as well as a cost efficient allocation of electric energy become more and more important. Therefore, new, innovative strategies are sought, which promise on the one hand a long-term customer retention and assure, on the other hand, a more cost-efficient provision of electric energy.

Strategies for Decentralised Balancing Power

There are many different approaches to central load management in power supply systems, such as direct load control or price signals to control production and consumption. Despite these measures there will always be an imbalance between production and consumption, i.e. due to fluctuating resource availabilities and unforeseen changes in consumption. As CO 2 emissions and sustainable electricity production have entered the focus of attention in politics and industries, ecologically advantageous concepts avoiding inefficiencies in power supply are strongly promoted. In this article, a self-organising approach to small devices such as freezers or washing machines as well as Combined Heat and Power plants (CHP) is presented, which aims at avoiding imbalances in the power network. While each device has its own constraints and specific task (e.g. provide heat or wash clothes), most of them have a limited degree of freedom in their schedules. A P2P approach with an Evolutionary Algorithm in combination with a local search is used to identify suitable partners to cover their production or consumption and thus to adjust the load in a way to minimise network imbalances.

Future power markets

In this article we discuss the impact of the increasingly higher dynamics and transparency on future electricity markets due to a higher degree of automation along the energy supply chain. As part of the SESAM (Self Organization and Spontaneity in Liberalized and Harmonized Markets) project, we analyze the consequences of the customers’ higher willingness to change their supplier. In addition, we evaluate the major changes in load profiles caused by the use of load management systems in combination with dynamic retail electricity prices. We demonstrate that not only the consumer load but also the application of decentralized combined heat and power plants can be rescheduled. Finally, we outline further research activities.

Pricing Energy in a Multi-Utility Market

We present a solution to the problem of tariff design for an energy supplier (utility). The tariffs for electricity and — optionally — heat created with our pricing model are optimal in terms of the utility’s profit and take into account the consumers’ predicted behavior, their load curve, the utility’s generation prices, and prices for trading electricity on a day-ahead market like the European Energy Exchange (EEX). Furthermore, we analyze the repercussions of different assumptions about consumer behavior on a simulated market with four competing utilities.

Eine sichere verteilte Marktplattform für zukunftsfähige Energiesysteme (A Distributed and Secure Market Plattform for Future Energy Systems)

Zusammenfassung Die natürlichen Ressourcen der Erde verknappen sich angesichts des Wachstums der Weltwirtschaft drastisch. Vor diesem Hintergrund stellt gerade die Gestaltung zukunftsfähiger Energiesysteme eine besondere Herausforderung dar. Im Projekt SESAM wird unter der Prämisse, dass ein internetbasierter Markt, der einem offenen, liberalisierten Modell folgt, letztlich auch der beste Garant für einen ressourcenschonenden Energieeinsatz ist, die Vision eines zukunftsfähigen Energiesystems entworfen. In dem vorliegenden Artikel werden zunächst die Rahmenbedingungen dieses Marktes vorgestellt und daran anschließend wird die ökonomische sowie rechtliche Ausgestaltung des Marktes präsentiert. Der Beitrag schließt mit einer Beschreibung der notwendigen Informations- und Kommunikationsinfrastruktur. Summary Due to the increasing growth of the global economy, the world´s natural resources become depleted. Behind this background, especially the design of sustainable energy systems turns out to be a true challenge. In SESAM — Self Organisation and Spontaneity in Liberalised and Harmonised Markets — we consider that a Internet-based market following an open liberalised model is most likely to provide for a resource conserving energy use. In this article the framework of this market, that is our vision of a sustainable energy system is introduced. Besides, the economic as well as jurisprudential design of the market is presented. Finally a description of the necessary information and communication infrastructure is given.

Handelbare Umweltrechte als Steuerungsinstrument für den Straßengüterverkehr in sensiblen Regionen

KurzfassungDie Zunahme der Verkehrsnachfrage in Europa und die damit verbundenen steigenden ökonomischen und ökologischen Belastungen sind Ursache für die wiederkehrende Diskussion hinsichtlich einer nachhaltig orientierten Verkehrspolitik. In diesem Rahmen wird auch der Einsatz neuer verkehrspolitischer Instrumente erwogen. Vor diesem Hintergrund untersucht der Beitrag, inwieweit handelbare Umweltrechte eine Alternative zum bisher eingesetzten Instrumentenmix darstellen. Hierzu wurde ein System handelbarer Umweltrechte für den Straßengüterverkehr in ökologisch sensiblen Regionen konzipiert und für einen alpinen Verkehrskorridor auf theoretischer Ebene implementiert. Die resultierenden Auswirkungen auf die Verkehrs- und Umweltbelastungen wurden mithilfe von eigens entwickelten Instrumenten untersucht. Die gewonnenen Schlussfolgerungen können als Basis für eine kritische Bewertung des Einsatzes eines solchen Systems herangezogen werden.AbstractThe continuous growth of traffic volume in Europe over the past years and the corresponding economic and ecological impacts are the reasons for a recurring discussion of a more sustainability-oriented transport policy. In this context, the implementation of new transport policy instruments is part of the discussion. Against this background, the article investigates to what extent tradeable permits can be an alternative to the existing mix of transport policy instruments. A system of tradeable permits for heavy goods vehicles in ecologically sensitive areas has been designed and subsequently implemented on a theoretical level for one of the alpine corridors. The impact on traffic volume and the environment have been analysed using ad-hoc models. Conclusions drawn from these models can be used as a basis for a future application of such a system.