Marie Petitet

  • Primary Program Utilities and Renewables
  • Research Interests Electricity Markets, Power System Modeling, Electricity Market Design and Regulation, Energy Transition, Energy and Climate Policy

Biography

Marie is a Senior Fellow in the Utilities & Renewables Department. Since she joined KAPSARC in 2021, her research has focused on power system modeling (KAPSARC Power Model), market designs for energy transitions, and framework analysis for reliable and resilient power systems.

Prior to joining KAPSARC, Marie worked as a Research Engineer within the Research and Development (R&D) unit of the utility group EDF in Paris, France. During her EDF journey, she worked on long-term and short-term electricity market design, the transmission grid at the European scale, and smart-charging opportunities for electric vehicles. Marie also worked as a researcher within the Market Department of the French Transmission System Operator RTE.

Marie holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Dauphine University, PSL (France), an M.Sc. in Environmental and Energy Economics from Ecole des Ponts ParisTech (France), and a M.Sc. in Engineering from ENSTA Institut Polytechnique de Paris (France).

Publications

See all Marie’s publications
  • Book/book chapter
  • Discussion papers
  • Methodology paper
  • Data Insights
  • Conference papers
  • Instant Insight
  • Commentaries
  • KAPSARC journal articles
  • Think20 (T20)
Revitalizing Relationships for the Clean Energy Souk

Revitalizing Relationships for the Clean Energy Souk

The GCC countries have been trading for millennia, and energy transition offers new opportunities to revitalize existing trade relationships and form new partnerships driving growth through innovation. Read More Here

18th April 2024
An Emerging Framework for the Probabilistic Cost- Benefit Analysis of the Reliability, Resiliency, and Adaptability of Electric Power Systems

An Emerging Framework for the Probabilistic Cost- Benefit Analysis of the Reliability, Resiliency, and Adaptability of Electric Power Systems

Probabilistic cost-benefit analyses of the reliability, resiliency, and adaptability of electric power systems can inform policymakers on how to efficiently reduce the frequency, magnitude, duration, and costs of power outages; how to cost-effectively improve the integration of variable and intermittent renewables; and how to enhance equitable outcomes. The elements needed for these analyses are available, and the computations are reasonably tractable due to the rapid improvements in the computational ability to conduct tens of thousands of detailed power system simulations quickly.

7th July 2024
How Can Bilateral Contracts Support Electricity Trade? A Regional Electricity Model Perspective for the GCC Plus Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq

How Can Bilateral Contracts Support Electricity Trade? A Regional Electricity Model Perspective for the GCC Plus Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq

Cross-border electricity trading in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) can provide cost and environmental benefits. However, for historical reasons, electricity trading has not reached a mature stage in this region. Based on a bespoke economic dispatch model for the 2030 horizon, this paper investigates the cost and emission implications of electricity trade in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries plus Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq.

11th June 2024
Finding Opportunity in Economic Dispatch: Saving Fuels Without Impacting Retail Electricity Prices

Finding Opportunity in Economic Dispatch: Saving Fuels Without Impacting Retail Electricity Prices

For important domestic public policy reasons, many oil- and natural-gas-producing countries allocate fuels to their electricity sector at administratively set prices that are below fuel opportunity costs. This article shows that dispatching power units based on fuel opportunity costs can significantly increase efficiency, while, for political reasons, end users’ electricity prices can continue to be defined based on administratively set fuel prices. In addition, opportunity cost dispatch can bring about environmental benefits when it results in switching the priority levels of oil and gas units in the merit order. This work also resolves the electricity trading dilemma since countries do not want to export electricity based on domestic prices.

17th March 2024
How Can the European Energy Crisis Reshape the Power Sector Reform Endeavors of GCC Countries?

How Can the European Energy Crisis Reshape the Power Sector Reform Endeavors of GCC Countries?

Energy prices in Europe have been soaring, and policymakers are trying to find solutions to immediately contain the energy prices for end-consumers and to enhance the market design in the longer term. This paper discusses some of the current events that are facing the power sector in Europe and some challenges that may face the industry more generally in the future. Then, we propose policy recommendations in the context of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries by contrasting the power sector design in place in this region with that in the European region.

24th October 2023
How Firm Capacity and Forced Outage Rate Assumptions of Renewables Impact Capacity Expansion Model Results

How Firm Capacity and Forced Outage Rate Assumptions of Renewables Impact Capacity Expansion Model Results

The undergoing energy transition relies heavily on the deployment of renewables such as solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind power for the generation of electricity. These variable and intermittent resources would modify power systems’ reliability compared to the situation where electricity is generated by conventional dispatchable power plants. It is also important to accurately capture their contribution to resource adequacy in long-term expansion planning. This discussion paper assesses how varying the firm capacity (FC) and forced outage rate (FOR) assumptions of renewable energy (RE) impact capacity expansion models (CEM). Eight scenarios that vary the FC and FOR, RE share targets, and annual RE uptake were run on a power system model of Saudi Arabia. Assuming a relatively high FC and a relatively low FOR favors renewables (i.e., Optimistic-RE), while the opposite disfavors them (i.e., Pessimistic-RE). Compared with optimistic RE assumptions, the pessimistic RE assumptions result in significant increases in costs, emissions, and battery storage deployment of up to 11%, 17%, and 41%, respectively. However, no observable patterns were found for resource adequacy. Quantifying the extent to which FC and FOR of RE technologies, which are considered heavily weather-dependent, impact investments in the power sector provides valuable insights for policymakers as the world moves forward more aggressively with RE deployment to reduce emissions and combat climate change.

9th March 2023
One Year After the Texas Blackout: Lessons for Reliable and Resilient Power Systems

One Year After the Texas Blackout: Lessons for Reliable and Resilient Power Systems

In February 2021, Texas experienced an extreme cold snap causing a dramatic electricity blackout that left millions of households without electricity, resulting in over 200 fatalities and economic damages of approximately $100 billion. The Texas blackout has been used to support a variety of claims regarding renewable energy, electricity markets and climate change. We identify the blackout’s drivers and what has been learned since then. These lessons apply to power systems worldwide, including those of the Gulf Cooperation Council and the broader Middle East and North Africa region.

14th June 2022
Renewables, Reliability and Efficiency in Electricity Markets

Renewables, Reliability and Efficiency in Electricity Markets

The choice to use electricity markets to transition to an ultra-high renewable electricity sector depends on whether a high level of reliability and efficiency can be achieved. This study presents a reliability, resiliency and adaptability policy framework for a liberalized power system with a high share of renewables. This framework provides policy insights regarding electricity market reliability and the implications of remuneration mechanisms for renewables. Our analysis shows that it is necessary to reconsider adequacy assessments of liberalized power systems, to enhance the definition of the loss of load probability, and to explicitly consider the probability that the market clears. Under these conditions, electricity markets can theoretically achieve reliability and efficiency with large percentages of variable and intermittent renewable resources with zero or near-zero marginal costs, and market and technical challenges can be addressed.  

29th December 2021
A Meta-Analysis of the Long-Term Oil Demand Emerging from the Power Sector

A Meta-Analysis of the Long-Term Oil Demand Emerging from the Power Sector

Oil is a versatile source of energy that is used in various sectors, including the power sector. The power sector is transitioning toward low-carbon generation sources. During this transition, it is important to understand the role of oil-based power generation. This paper presents a meta-analysis of the long-term oil demand emerging from the power sector at the international level and by region. The analysis assesses and compares 19 prospective scenarios published between 2021 and 2023.

9th January 2024
Why is the EU Carbon Price at a Record €60 per Tonne?

Why is the EU Carbon Price at a Record €60 per Tonne?

Carbon prices soared above €60/tonne for the first time on August 30, 2021, with the expectation of tightened environmental legislation. These prices made a new record on the European Union Emission Trading System (EU ETS), the European Union’s carbon market. The stressed gas market and expectations of a tighter gas supply in Europe are also behind rising carbon prices. These factors spilled over into electricity prices, which also broke highs, hitting €140 per megawatt hour (MWh) in real-time trading on September 1, 2021.    

1st March 2022
Why are European Wholesale Electricity Prices Soaring?

Why are European Wholesale Electricity Prices Soaring?

Since the beginning of summer 2021, European wholesale electricity prices have been soaring to historic highs. The average day-ahead price of electricity for central European countries more than doubled between June and September, reaching 170 euros per megawatthour (e/MWh) on September 15. This data insight discusses this unprecedented increase in wholesale electricity prices and their key drivers.  

23rd November 2021
One Year After the Texas Blackout: Lessons for Reliable and Resilient Power Systems

One Year After the Texas Blackout: Lessons for Reliable and Resilient Power Systems

In February 2021, Texas experienced an extreme cold snap causing a dramatic electricity blackout that left millions of households without electricity, resulting in over two hundred fatalities and economic damages of approximately $100 billion. The Texas blackout has been used to support a variety of claims regarding renewable energy, electricity markets and climate change. We identify the blackout’s drivers and what has been learned since then. These lessons apply to power systems worldwide, including those of the Gulf Cooperation Council and the broader Middle East and North Africa region.   Read more here

10th August 2023
How Firm Capacity and Forced Outage Rate Assumptions of Renewables Impact Capacity Expansion Model Results

How Firm Capacity and Forced Outage Rate Assumptions of Renewables Impact Capacity Expansion Model Results

We assess how varying the firm capacity (FC) and forced outage rate (FOR) assumptions of renewable energy (RE) resources impact capacity expansion models (CEM). Eight scenarios that vary the FC and FOR, RE share targets, and annual RE uptake were run on a power system model of Saudi Arabia. Assuming a relatively high FC and relatively low FOR favors renewables (i.e., Optimistic-RE), while the opposite disfavors them (i.e., Pessimistic-RE). Compared with optimistic RE assumptions, the pessimistic RE assumptions result in significant increases reaching up to 11%, 17%, and 41% in costs, emissions, and battery storage deployment, respectively. However, no observable patterns were found in terms of resource adequacy. Quantifying the extent to which FC and FOR of RE technologies, which are considered heavily weather-dependent, impact investments in the power sector provides valuable insights for policymakers as the world moves forward more aggressively with RE deployment to reduce emissions and combat climate change.   Read more here

10th August 2023
Lessons From the European Electricity Crisis

Lessons From the European Electricity Crisis

On January 23, 2023, the European Commission initiated a public consultation to reform the European Union’s electricity market (European Commission 2023) on the heels of extremely high wholesale electricity prices in Europe in the last months and days of 2022. Negative spot prices, however, were recorded in a large number of European countries on January 1, 2023, including Spain, France, Switzerland, Germany and the United Kingdom. Despite the large variety in how power systems are organized worldwide, from fully integrated monopolies to liberalized systems, all countries can learn from Europe’s experience. In Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, liberalization and markets are being introduced progressively, and it is an opportune time to learn from experiences abroad.

20th February 2023
Assessing the Impact of Electric Vehicle Penetration on Electricity Demand in Riyadh

Assessing the Impact of Electric Vehicle Penetration on Electricity Demand in Riyadh

This paper aims to assess and estimate the impact of electric vehicle (EV) penetration on annual electricity demand, specifically in Riyadh, the capital city of Saudi Arabia. Such an assessment can yield significant insights for stakeholders, including policymakers, energy planners, and utility companies, to anticipate and strategize for the expected rise in the level of electricity consumption. Consequently, this work can facilitate the establishment of sustainable energy infrastructure, ensuring a reliable power supply and reducing the risk of overloading the electrical grid.

22nd January 2024
Modeling of the Interconnected Middle East and North Africa Electricity System: Including Uncertainties to Better Inform Policymakers

Modeling of the Interconnected Middle East and North Africa Electricity System: Including Uncertainties to Better Inform Policymakers

The modeling of power systems can bring about insightful quantitative results to inform policymakers. This commentary reviews the literature on modeling the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region’s electricity interconnections and trade in the context of expanding variable and intermittent renewable resources such as wind and solar photovoltaic (PV) resources, evolving market and regulatory structures, and power system modeling advances and trends. This stream of literature can be enhanced by formally incorporating uncertainties to provide enhanced models with which to better inform policymakers.

26th September 2023
Climate and Power System Reliability in the Aftermath of the Texas Blackouts

Climate and Power System Reliability in the Aftermath of the Texas Blackouts

The February 2021 blackout in Texas underscored the importance of reliable and resilient power systems. In this commentary, we discuss the roles of regulators, markets, fuel and generation supply chains, and interdependent infrastructures, and finds that they need to be reconsidered and redefined to successfully meet the future challenges of increased electrification and severe weather.

25th August 2021

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