Publications

Integrated Approaches to Decentralized Electricity Transitions

Electricity sector reform is a key part of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s economic transformation agenda, as set out in the Saudi Vision 2030 goals, and of achieving its renewable energy targets. The electricity distribution sector in the Kingdom is expected…

The Policymaking Process to Restart Japanese Nuclear Power Plants

Brian Efird, Saleh Al Muhanna, Imtenan Al-Mubarak, Shahad Turkistani, Faisal Al-Ghamdi

The Japanese government’s decision to continue restarting nuclear power is shaped by a combination of domestic political concerns, energy security challenges, and its ability to meet climate change commitments and targets. Nuclear power plants have started to come back online,…

Efird, Brian

Al Muhanna, Saleh

Al-Mubarak, Imtenan

Turkistani, Shahad

Al-Ghamdi, Faisal

Reorganizing Power Markets: A Reliability Insurance Business Model for Utilities

Rolando Fuentes, Jorge Blazquez, Iqbal Adjali

A market in which individuals pursue their own self-interest normally maximizes aggregate economic well-being. But households that install Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) in order to obtain savings in their electricity bill, impose an external cost on other customers. At scale,…

Fuentes, Rolando

Blazquez, Jorge

Adjali, Iqbal

The Economics of Renewable Energy in the Gulf

Hisham Akhonbay, Imtenan Al-Mubarak, Sylvain Côté, Amro Elshurafa, Walid Matar, Shreekar Pradhan, David Wogan, Lama Yaseen

The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) has been at the epicenter of global energy markets because of its substantial endowment of hydrocarbons. Yet countries in the region have also stated their intent to be global…

Akhonbay, Hisham

Al-Mubarak, Imtenan

Côté, Sylvain

Elshurafa, Amro

Matar, Walid

Pradhan, Shreekar

Wogan, David

Yaseen, Lama

Restructuring Saudi Arabia’s Power Generation Sector: Model-Based Insights

Bertrand Rioux, Axel Pierru, Nader AlKathiri

Saudi Arabia plans to reform and privatize its power generation sector as part of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030. To provide analytical insights, we developed a model that simulates the restructuring of the electricity market, along with reforming fuel prices to…

Rioux, Bertrand

Pierru, Axel

AlKathiri, Nader

Can adoption of rooftop solar panels trigger a utility death spiral? A tale of two U.S. cities

Energy Research and Social Science

The growing penetration of distributed energy generation (DEG) is causing major changes in the electricity market. One key concern is that existing tariffs incentivize ‘free riding’ behavior by households, leading to a cycle of rising electricity prices and DEG adoption,…

Iqbal Adjali, Patrick Bean, Rolando Fuentes, Frederic Murphy, Steven O. Kimbrough, Mohammed Muaafa

Electricity Transmission Formulations in Multi-Sector National Planning Models: An illustration using the KAPSARC Energy Model

Walid Matar, Amro Elshurafa

The purpose of this study is to assess policy-relevant effects of incorporating a more proper representation of electricity transmission in multi-sector national policy models. This goal is achieved by employing the KAPSARC Energy Model (KEM), which is the first publicly…

Matar, Walid

Elshurafa, Amro

The Political Feasibility of Policy Options for the UAE’s Energy Transition

Brian Efird, Paul Mollet, Imtenan Al-Mubarak

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has said it wishes to transition toward a less carbon-intensive energy system, both as part of its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and as one of…

Efird, Brian

Mollet, Paul

Al-Mubarak, Imtenan

Technological Disruptions and Service-Based Business Models in the Power Sector

Electricity markets around the world are facing significant challenges from the demand and supply side of the industry. From the supply side, distributed energy resources, usually owned by third parties, are forcing utilities to re-evaluate their business models; while developments…

Transitioning to Liberalized Energy Markets

Some countries have successfully navigated the transition to using a free market to provide energy more efficiently, while others are only just embarking on this journey. This transition is a lengthy, costly and complex process. Consequently, lessons learned from their…

Reforming Industrial Fuel and Residential Electricity Prices in Saudi Arabia

Walid Matar

The Saudi electricity sector buys fuel and sells electricity at prices administered by the government. In this analysis, we assume that fuel prices are deregulated — priced at their marginal values or international equivalents — and use a long-term static…

Matar, Walid

Estimating the Learning Curve of Solar PV Balance-of-Systems for Over 20 Countries

Amro Elshurafa, Shahad Albardi, Carlo Andrea Bollino

The capital cost of a solar photovoltaic (PV) system comprises the module and balance-of-systems (BOS). The latter refers to everything else that is needed to make the solar system functional including cables, mounts, labor, etc. While modules are priced internationally,…

Elshurafa, Amro

SA

Albardi, Shahad

Bollino, Carlo Andrea

Reporting LCOE for Solar PV: Apples to Apples Comparisons

Amro Elshurafa

Solar energy is expected to be an integral technology in the creation of a low-carbon future. Hence, as photovoltaics (PV) installations continue to grow at an exponential rate, a better understanding of the generation costs of this relatively young industry…

Elshurafa, Amro

Adding Photovoltaics to the Saudi Power System: What are the Costs of Intermittency?

Amro Elshurafa, Walid Matar

Intermittent generation from wind or photovoltaics (PV) imposes a cost on the power systems in which they are deployed. These costs vary regionally due to different fuel costs and ramping flexibility of existing grid capacities. With 2015 as a reference…

Elshurafa, Amro

Matar, Walid

Is unbundling electricity services the way forward for the power sector?

Electricity Journal

High penetration of distributed energy resources will lead to further fragmentation of the power sector, both in the services offered and its value chain. Successful business models will be those that are able to create new products, establish more efficient…

Rolando Fuentes

Is Unbundling Electricity Services the Way Forward for the Power Sector?

Rolando Fuentes

High penetration of distributed energy resources (DERs) will lead to further fragmentation of the power sector, both in the services offered and its value chain. The ‘‘local’’ component of energy policies will probably become increasingly important.

Fuentes, Rolando

Potential Gains From Reforming Price Caps in China’s Power Sector

Bertrand Rioux, Philipp Galkin, Axel Pierru, Frederic Murphy

When energy sectors transition from government-controlled to market-driven systems, the legacy regulatory instruments can create unintended market distortions and lead to higher costs. In China, the most notable regulatory throwback is ceilings on electricity prices that generators can charge utilities,…

Rioux, Bertrand

Galkin, Philipp

Pierru, Axel

Murphy, Frederic

The Renewable Energy Policy Paradox

Jorge Blazquez, Carlo Andrea Bollino, Rolando Fuentes, Nora Nezamuddin

One major avenue for policymakers to meet climate targets is by decarbonizing the power sector, one component of which is raising the share of renewable energy sources (renewables) in electricity generation. However, promoting renewables in liberalized power markets creates a…

Blazquez, Jorge

Bollino, Carlo Andrea

Fuentes, Rolando

Nezamuddin, Nora

Renewable Energy Policy in India: Creation, Implementation and Efficacy

India aims to transition from a fossil fuel burning economy to a comparatively low-carbon economy through the increased use of renewables. To achieve this, India aims to build 175 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022, establishing one of the…

Quantifying Worldwide Demand Elasticities as a Policy Tool

Carlo Andrea Bollino

This paper provides a comprehensive worldwide database of estimated elasticities for electricity and natural gas for households as a function of income, price, capital stocks and weather conditions.

Bollino, Carlo Andrea