Stitching seams with different threads: US versus EU electricity markets

FSR Energy Seminar Series with Professor R. Baldick (University of Texas at Austin)

In this presentation, professor Baldick compares and contrasts US and European Union (EU) electricity markets, particularly focusing on issues that are relevant to the long-term integration of renewables. He will start with a high level view of US electricity markets, primarily looking at the characteristics of US Independent System Operator (ISO) and Regional Transmission Organization (RTO) markets. He will review the growth of such markets and the manner in which their growth has widened the geographical scale of real-time coordination. He will argue that this pattern of growth has important positive implications for the integration of large-scale renewables, even though there are still important “seams” between the existing ISOs/RTOs. He will then turn to a high level view of EU electricity markets, highlighting that recent developments in seams management in the EU have focused mostly on day-ahead coordination. While important for trade, day-ahead coordination does not provide the benefits of real-time coordination in the context of renewable integration. A discussion of the implications and the prospects for real-time seams management in the EU will conclude the seminar.

Presenter: Prof. Ross Baldick (University of Texas at Austin)

The Seminar is organised by the Research Team of the Florence School of Regulation – Energy and open to all EUI members.