New indices of capacity withholding in power markets

What is it about?

Market power evaluation and mitigation influence the efficiency of the electricity markets. The traditional indices cannot analyze market power, which caused by capacity withholding of generation companies. This paper describes a new approach to assess capacity withholding. The method is an improvement of a strategy previously proposed by the authors. The contributions of the new approach can be summarized as the following. First, the supply function equilibrium model and Cournot model are used to develop the concept of capacity withholding in electricity markets. Then, distortion–withheld index is calculated according to capacity constraints, reliability, and demand elasticity.

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Why is it important?

Based on distortion–withheld index, the value of capacity withholding index, which shows the cost that independent system operator could spend for market power mitigation, can be obtained. It has been proved that the new approach is able to assess capacity withholding exactly and identify the proper market power mitigation program. The finding in this paper is helpful for market designers and regulators.