Energy Economics of the Green Transition
Course 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.
MSc programme in Economics – elective course
Bacheloruddannelsen i økonomi – valgfag på 3. år
The Danish BSc programme in Economics - elective at the 3rd year
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.
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.
- 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.
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.
The students receive oral feedback from the lecturers during lectures.
Oral feedback on exercise activities will be available during lectures as well.
for enrolled students: Rules etc at Master(UK), Master(DK) and Bachelor(DK)
Foreign students and guests: Information about admission requirements, application, tuition fee, registration at Study Economics. Please read the curriculum before enrolment.
Efteruddannelse, gæste- og enkelfagsstuderende: Ansøgning, optag, pris etc. se Uddannelse i Økonomi. Læs venligst studieordningen inden tilmelding.
- ECTS
- 7,5 ECTS
- Type of assessment
-
Written assignment, 4 weeks
- Type of assessment details
- Individual take-home exam. The students are not allowed to
communicate about the given problem-set or collaborate on the
assignment with anyone. If done so, it will be regarded as
cheating.
The exam assignment is in English and must be answered in English. - Aid
-
All aids allowed at the written exams.
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.
Criteria for exam assessment
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.
Single subject courses (day)
- Category
- Hours
- Lectures
- 42
- Preparation
- 152
- Exam
- 12
- English
- 206
Kursusinformation
- Language
- English
- Course number
- AØKA08243U
- ECTS
- 7,5 ECTS
- Programme level
- Full Degree Master
Bachelor
- Duration
-
1 semester
- Placement
- Autumn
- Go to 'Signup' for information about registration and enrollment.
- Price
-
Information about admission and tuition fee: Master and Exchange Programme, credit students and guest students (Open University)
- Schedulegroup
-
and venue:
- For teaching: Go to 'Remarks'.
- For exam and re-sits: Go to 'Exam'. - Studyboard
- Department of Economics, Study Council
Contracting department
- Department of Economics
Contracting faculty
- Faculty of Social Sciences
Course Coordinators
- Rasmus Kehlet Skjødt Berg (18-756476707876316e686b6f6877316568756a4368667271316e7831676e)
- Janek Bligaard Eskildsen (3-6c64674267657170306d7730666d)
- Peter Birch Sørensen (20-736877687531656c75666b3176727568717668714368667271316e7831676e)
- Frederik Roose Øvlisen (3-6874714267657170306d7730666d)
Teacher
See ‘Course responsibles’
Please read "Remarks" regarding the schedule of the
teaching.
Timetable
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Courseinformation of students