PhD defence M. (Mohammad) Ansarin

The first renewable energy era saw biomass (wood), wind energy (windmills), and hydropower as energy resources. Following the industrial revolution, the pollution and climate change effects of fossil fuel-based energy use has fostered interest in cleaner alternatives. One such alternative in the electricity grid, renewable energy sources, have also significantly reduced in price during the past years. Consequently, many stakeholders of electricity systems seek to replace fossil fuel-based electricity generation with generation from renewable sources, paving the way to a second renewable energy era. Some renewable energy sources can be installed in smaller scales, potentially in residential settings. Policymakers and retailers thus promote renewable energy uptake by households in many regions around the world. Many promotions happen within retail pricing, for example by granting advantageous prices for electricity generated from renewable sources. These incentives have led to rapid growth of renewable resources in many regions of the world, including Germany, the US state of California, and Australia. In electricity retail, multiple principles govern the economic relationship between retailers and customers. Two important principles represent economic efficiency and equity. Achieving both principles within a residential grid is commonly distorted by the increase of distributed renewable energy sources (D-RES). As this trend continues in many regions of the world, we can only expect such distortions to grow. In this dissertation, I focus on this matter and discuss, in quantitative terms, the consequences of (mis-) pricing electricity in this second renewable energy era.

The public defence will take place at the Senate Hall, 1st floor Erasmus Building, location campus Woudestein. The ceremony will begin exactly at 15.30 PM. In light of the solemn nature of the ceremony, we recommend that you do not take children under the age of 6 to the first part of the ceremony.