AØKA08243U Energy Economics of the Green Transition

Volume 2023/2024
Education

MSc programme in Economics – elective course

 

Bacheloruddannelsen i økonomi – valgfag på 3. år

The Danish BSc programme in Economics - elective at the 3rd year

Content

The course provides a fundamental understanding of the role of energy in the economy, the structure of energy markets, and regulatory challenges. Moreover, the course deals with the challenges of transitioning to a carbon neutral energy system, including the technical challenge of introducing more renewable energy in the energy system and the regulatory challenge of designing optimal policies that achieve this.

The course applies theories and analytical tools from microeconomics, macroeconomics, and industrial organization.

Learning Outcome

After completing the course the student is expected to be able to:

 

Knowledge:

  • Account for basic concepts and measures of energy and the fundamental design of energy markets.
  • Account for main institutional features of European and Danish energy markets and their regulatory frameworks.
  • Account and discuss regulatory challenges related to natural monopolies and imperfect competition in energy markets.
  • Identify and discuss what drives energy demand in key economic sectors such as electricity, transportation, and industry.
  • Discuss and assess the main technical challenges for an energy system that relies on intermittent renewable energy.
  • Identify and assess the potential technical instruments aimed at solving the challenge of intermittent energy supply including energy storage technologies, trade, and flexible demand technologies.
  • Discuss optimal policies aimed at reducing emissions from the energy system.
  • Discuss and assess the value of/potential for sector coupling strategies such as Power-to-X technologies.

 

Skills:

  • Compare the pros and cons of various electricity market designs from the Vertically Integrated Industry to the Wholesale and Retail Markets model.
  • Communicate the main challenges for/solutions to regulation of infrastructure network and competition.
  • Solve various electricity system models that include static and dynamic models with/without variability, uncertainty, cross-border trade, district heat markets, long-run planning of generation capacity.
  • Investigate the effects of various policies aimed at reducing emissions such as carbon taxes, technology subsidies, feed-in-tariffs, and renewable energy targets.

     

Competencies:

  • Perform advanced model analyses of the energy system.
  • Evaluate, suggest, and analyze environmental and industrial policies towards the energy sector.
  • Machiel Mulder: “Regulation of Energy Markets: Economic Mechanisms and Policy Evaluation” Springer 2021, ISBN: 978-3-030-58321-7.
  • Anna Cretí and Fulvio Fontini: “Economics of Electricity: Markets , Competition and Rules” Cambridge University Press 2019, ISBN: 978-1-316-88461-4.
  • Jonathan M. Harris and Brian Roach: “Environmental and Natural Resource Economics: A Contemporary Approach”, Routledge 2021, ISBN: 978-0-367-53138-6. (Chapter 11)
  • Selected papers from the research frontier of Energy Economics.
  • A handful of lecture notes on electricity system modeling.
The student should have followed courses similar to “Microeconomics I” and “Microeconomics II”, “Macroeconomics I” and “Macroeconomics II”, “Mathematics A” and “Mathematics B” at the Bachelor of Economics, University of Copenhagen.
Lectures.

The lectures present relevant theory, evidence, and models. Roughly half of the lectures are centered around one core model of the electricity system that is expanded in various ways to cover the specific topic. Evidence is mostly simulated from the same core model that is programmed in Python/Julia and available to the students here: https:/​/​github.com/​ChampionApe/​EnergyEconomicsE2022.
As a complement to the ordinary lectures, the course will include a few guest lectures by Danish experts who will present practical applications.

Students are provided with exercises that can be solved using the Python/Julia implementations of core models.
Schedule:
3 hours lectures a week from week 36 to 50 (except week 42).

Timetable and venue:
To see the time and location of lectures please press the link under "Timetable"/​"Se skema" at the right side of this page (E means Autumn).

You can find the similar information partly in English at
https:/​/​skema.ku.dk/​ku2223/​uk/​module.htm
-Select Department: “2200-Økonomisk Institut” (and wait for respond)
-Select Module:: “2200-E22; [Name of course]”
-Select Report Type: “List – Weekdays”
-Select Period: “Efterår/Autumn”
Press: “ View Timetable”

Please be aware:
- The schedule of the lectures can change without the participants´ acceptance. If this occures, you can see the new schedule in your personal timetable at KUnet, in the app myUCPH and through the links in the right side of this course description and the link above.
- It is the students´s own responsibility continuously throughout the study to stay informed about their study, their teaching, their schedule, their exams etc. through the curriculum of the study programme, the study pages at KUnet, student messages, the course description, the Digital Exam portal, Absalon, the personal schema at KUnet and myUCPH app etc.
  • Category
  • Hours
  • Lectures
  • 42
  • Class Instruction
  • 24
  • Preparation
  • 100
  • Project work
  • 40
  • Total
  • 206
Written
Oral
Individual
Collective
Peer feedback (Students give each other feedback)

 

The students receive oral feedback from the lecturers during lectures.

Oral feedback on exercise activities will be available during lectures as well.

Credit
7,5 ECTS
Type of assessment
Written assignment, 4 weeks
Type of assessment details
It is possible to collaborate up to 3 persons.
The exam assignment is in English and must be answered in English.
Exam registration requirements

There are no requirements during the course that the student has to fulfill to be able to sit the exam.

Aid

All aids allowed at the written exams.

 

Use of AI tools is permitted. You must explain how you have used the tools. When text is solely or mainly generated by an AI tool, the tool used must be quoted as a source.

 

For further information about allowed aids for the re-examination, please go to the section "Re-exam".

Marking scale
7-point grading scale
Censorship form
No external censorship
for the written exam.
Exam period

 

Exam information:

More information is available in Digital Exam from the middle of the semester. In special cases decided by the Department, the exam can change to another day and/or time than announced. 

 

More information about examination, rules, aids etc. at Master (UK), Master  (DK) and Bachelor (DK).

Re-exam

The reexamination form is the same as the ordinary exam. Written exam with 4 weeks duration.

 

Reexam info:

More information in Digital Exam in February. In special cases decided by the Department, the re-sit can change to another day, and/or time than announced.

 

More info: Master(UK),Master(DK), Bachelor(DK).

Criteria for exam assesment

Students are assessed on the extent to which they master the learning outcome for the course.

 

In order to obtain the top grade "12", the student must with no or only a few minor weaknesses be able to demonstrate an excellent performance displaying a high level of command of all aspects of the relevant material and can make use of the knowledge, skills and competencies listed in the learning outcomes.

 

In order to obtain the passing grade  “02”, the student must in a satisfactory way be able to demonstrate a minimal acceptable level of  the knowledge, skills and competencies listed in the learning outcomes.