ABSTRACT This paper provides insight in the time-varying relation between electricity futures pri... more ABSTRACT This paper provides insight in the time-varying relation between electricity futures prices and fundamentals in the form of prices of contracts for fossil fuels. As supply curves are not constant and different producers have different marginal costs of production, we argue that the relation between electricity futures prices and futures prices of underlying fundamentals such as natural gas, coal and emission rights are not constant and vary over time. We test this view by applying a model that linearly relates electricity futures prices to the marginal costs of production and calculate the log-likelihood of different time-varying and constant specifications of the coefficients. To do so, we formulate the model in state-space form and apply the Kalman Filter to observe the dynamics of the coefficients. We analyse historical prices of futures contracts with different delivery periods (calendar year and seasons, peak and off-peak) from Germany and the U.K. The results indicate that analysts should choose a time-varying specification to relate the futures price of power to prices of underlying fundamentals.
We analyse the time-variation of the emission pass-through rate in power prices. We examine histo... more We analyse the time-variation of the emission pass-through rate in power prices. We examine historical futures prices for Germany and the U.K. We test the hypothesis by using the Kalman Filter methodology. Strong support is found that pass-through rates vary over time. The chosen time-frame for pass-through rates is important for policy evaluation.
Electricity is not storable. As a consequence, electricity demand and supply need to be in balanc... more Electricity is not storable. As a consequence, electricity demand and supply need to be in balance at any moment in time as a shortage in production volume cannot be compensated with supply from inventories. However, if the installed power supply capacity is very flexible, variation in demand can be counterbalanced with flexible adjustment of production volumes. Therefore, supply flexibility can replace the role of inventory. In this paper, we question whether power production flexibility is a substitute for storability. To do so, we examine power futures prices from countries that differ in their power supply and test whether power futures prices contain information about expected future spot prices and risk premiums and examine whether futures prices from a market in which power supply is more flexible would lead to futures prices that are more in line with the theory of storage. We find the opposite; futures prices from markets with flexible power supply behave according to the expectations theory. The implicit view from futures prices is that flexibility is not a substitute for storability.
The goal of this paper is to examine to what extent electricity futures prices contain expected r... more The goal of this paper is to examine to what extent electricity futures prices contain expected risk premiums or have power to forecast spot prices and whether this might be dependent on the type of electricity supply. We analyse futures prices from the Dutch market, a market in which power is produced with storable fossil fuels, and futures prices from the NordPool market, where electricity is mostly produced by hydropower. We show that futures prices from markets in which electricity is predominantly produced by imperfectly storable fuels such as hydro, wind and solar contain information about expected changes in the spot price of electricity, whereas futures prices from markets in which electricity is predominantly produced with perfectly storable fuels contain information about both expected price changes and time-varying risk premiums. These findings provide insight in the applicability of forward price models; one cannot apply the same model to all electricity markets. Forward models for markets with imperfect indirect storability should depend heavily on price expectations and models should include time-varying risk premiums for markets with perfect indirect storability.
ABSTRACT In this article, we examine the development of day-ahead prices in five European markets... more ABSTRACT In this article, we examine the development of day-ahead prices in five European markets which became more connected over recent years. Where previous studies examined the convergence of price levels over time, we focus on patterns in estimates for the parameters in a switching regimes model. This makes it possible to distinguish between prices under normal market conditions and under non-normal market conditions, those market conditions that can cause extreme price spikes. We expect that increased connectivity yields additional supply in the short-term and therefore will reduce the impact of price spikes. Our results indicate that the impact of price spikes and volatility decreased over time, that prices behave more random, and that the parameter estimates between various connected markets seem to have converged between the Belgian, Dutch, French, German and Nordic day-ahead markets over the years 2003 through 2010. These results can be explained by increased connectivity and improved liquidity.
ABSTRACT This paper provides insight in the time-varying relation between electricity futures pri... more ABSTRACT This paper provides insight in the time-varying relation between electricity futures prices and fundamentals in the form of prices of contracts for fossil fuels. As supply curves are not constant and different producers have different marginal costs of production, we argue that the relation between electricity futures prices and futures prices of underlying fundamentals such as natural gas, coal and emission rights are not constant and vary over time. We test this view by applying a model that linearly relates electricity futures prices to the marginal costs of production and calculate the log-likelihood of different time-varying and constant specifications of the coefficients. To do so, we formulate the model in state-space form and apply the Kalman Filter to observe the dynamics of the coefficients. We analyse historical prices of futures contracts with different delivery periods (calendar year and seasons, peak and off-peak) from Germany and the U.K. The results indicate that analysts should choose a time-varying specification to relate the futures price of power to prices of underlying fundamentals.
We analyse the time-variation of the emission pass-through rate in power prices. We examine histo... more We analyse the time-variation of the emission pass-through rate in power prices. We examine historical futures prices for Germany and the U.K. We test the hypothesis by using the Kalman Filter methodology. Strong support is found that pass-through rates vary over time. The chosen time-frame for pass-through rates is important for policy evaluation.
Electricity is not storable. As a consequence, electricity demand and supply need to be in balanc... more Electricity is not storable. As a consequence, electricity demand and supply need to be in balance at any moment in time as a shortage in production volume cannot be compensated with supply from inventories. However, if the installed power supply capacity is very flexible, variation in demand can be counterbalanced with flexible adjustment of production volumes. Therefore, supply flexibility can replace the role of inventory. In this paper, we question whether power production flexibility is a substitute for storability. To do so, we examine power futures prices from countries that differ in their power supply and test whether power futures prices contain information about expected future spot prices and risk premiums and examine whether futures prices from a market in which power supply is more flexible would lead to futures prices that are more in line with the theory of storage. We find the opposite; futures prices from markets with flexible power supply behave according to the expectations theory. The implicit view from futures prices is that flexibility is not a substitute for storability.
The goal of this paper is to examine to what extent electricity futures prices contain expected r... more The goal of this paper is to examine to what extent electricity futures prices contain expected risk premiums or have power to forecast spot prices and whether this might be dependent on the type of electricity supply. We analyse futures prices from the Dutch market, a market in which power is produced with storable fossil fuels, and futures prices from the NordPool market, where electricity is mostly produced by hydropower. We show that futures prices from markets in which electricity is predominantly produced by imperfectly storable fuels such as hydro, wind and solar contain information about expected changes in the spot price of electricity, whereas futures prices from markets in which electricity is predominantly produced with perfectly storable fuels contain information about both expected price changes and time-varying risk premiums. These findings provide insight in the applicability of forward price models; one cannot apply the same model to all electricity markets. Forward models for markets with imperfect indirect storability should depend heavily on price expectations and models should include time-varying risk premiums for markets with perfect indirect storability.
ABSTRACT In this article, we examine the development of day-ahead prices in five European markets... more ABSTRACT In this article, we examine the development of day-ahead prices in five European markets which became more connected over recent years. Where previous studies examined the convergence of price levels over time, we focus on patterns in estimates for the parameters in a switching regimes model. This makes it possible to distinguish between prices under normal market conditions and under non-normal market conditions, those market conditions that can cause extreme price spikes. We expect that increased connectivity yields additional supply in the short-term and therefore will reduce the impact of price spikes. Our results indicate that the impact of price spikes and volatility decreased over time, that prices behave more random, and that the parameter estimates between various connected markets seem to have converged between the Belgian, Dutch, French, German and Nordic day-ahead markets over the years 2003 through 2010. These results can be explained by increased connectivity and improved liquidity.
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Papers by Mehtap Kilic