Community-based and Peer-to-peer Electricity Markets

Abstract

The deployment of distributed renewable generation capacities, new ICT capabilities, as well as a more proactive role of consumers, are all motivating rethinking electricity markets in a more distributed and consumer-centric fashion. After motivating the design of various forms of consumer-centric electricity markets, we will focus on two alternative constructs (which could actually be unified) consisting in community-based and peer-to-peer electricity markets. The mathematical framework for these markets will be described, with focus on negotiation and clearing algorithms in a distributed and decentralized setup. Opportunities and challenges related to these markets, both mathematical and related to real-world applications, will be discussed. Especially, we will look at fairness aspects, product differentiation, as well as the design of network charges to account for ‘actual’ usage of a network.

Biography

Pierre Pinson is a Professor at the Centre for Electric Power and Energy (CEE) of the Technical University of Denmark (DTU, Dept. of Electrical Engineering), also heading a group focusing on Energy Analytics & Markets. He holds an M.Sc. In Applied Mathematics from INSA Toulouse and a Ph.D. In Energy Engineering from Ecole de Mines de Paris (France). He acts (or has acted) as an Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, the International Journal of Forecasting and Wind Energy. His main research interests are centered around the proposal and application of mathematical methods for electricity markets and power systems operations, including forecasting. He has published extensively in some of the leading journals in Meteorology, Power Systems Engineering, Statistics and Operations Research. He has been a visiting researcher at the University of Oxford (Mathematical Institute) and the University of Washington in Seattle (Dpt. of Statistics), as well as a scientist at the European Center for Medium-range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF, UK) and a visiting professor at Ecole Normale Superieure (Rennes, France). In 2019 he will be a Simons Fellow at the University of Cambridge, Isaac Newton Institute (“The mathematics of energy systems”). He is leading a number of initiatives aiming to profundly rethink electricity markets for future renewable-based power systems and with a more proactive role of consumers. This focus on consumer-centric and community-driven electricity markets translates into proposals for peer-to-peer energy exchange, from mathematical framework to actual demonstration in Denmark.