Project references
We are proud of the many projects we have delivered since 2014. They range from big public sector consulting projects spanning several years with multimillion euro budgets and several partners all the way to short-term advisory delivered in a matter of weeks. Some projects result in published reports, including the following:
- Value of flexibility (ZVEI e.V.)
- Cross border forward markets [study, short video, full video] (five transmission network operators)
- Passive balancing (Multi client)
- Smart retail tariffs (LichtBlick)
- Regional dynamic network charges (Agora Energiewende)
- EU electricity market design (Europäisches Parlament)
- Industrial power prices (Agora Energiewende)
- Dynamic grid fees (LichtBlick)
- Intraday / balancing (Multi client)
- Dispatch hubs (Elia)
2024 / ongoing
Network charges (Industrial company). Forecast of German network charges until 2040. Ongoing.
Ancillary services (Battery project developer). Assessment of ancillary services markets and potential business cases for batteries. Ongoing.
Offshore bid (RE project developer). Review of the tender document for a European offshore project. 2024.
REMIT (Utility). Expert opinion on behalf of a European utility in a REMIT-related market manipulation lawsuit. Ongoing.
Value of flexibility (ZVEI). Assessment of the economic value of small-scale demand-side flexibility resources such as heat pumps, EVs and solar batteries. 2023-24. Report (DE | EN)
Cross-border forward markets (TSOs). Assessment of European cross-border forward markets and long-term transmission rights, including ACER’s reform proposals. Commissioned by the German TSOs. 2023-24. Report | video summary | long video
Real-time price (Elia). Review of a new methodology to calculate the imbalance settlement price and provide a price forecast to market participants. Ongoing.
PKNS (BMWK). Scientific support for the “Platform climate-neutral power system”. We led the work package on locational signals, covering topics such as bidding zone split and dynamic grid fees. 2022-24. Website
EU electricity market design (BMWK). Large-scale, multi-year project on numerous electricity market topics for Germany’s Economics Ministry, including EU electricity market reform. Jointly with Consentec, we provided advice on crisis response and the design of the revenue cap. 2021-24.
2023
Industrial power prices (Agora Energiewende). Study on design options for electricity price subsidies for industrial consumers, considering incentives, hedging and flexibility. 2023.
Network charges (Staatskanzlei Niedersachsen). Briefing paper on the current state of network charges in Germany, shortcomings, and reform options. 2023.
Electricity market reform (European Parliament). Assessment of electricity market reform proposals such as CfDs, PPAs, price caps, and peak shaving. Joint project with Bruegel for ITRE committee. 2023. Report
German electricity market (Utility). Along with PA Consulting, we provided a global energy company with strategic assessments of the German power market. 2023.
Revenue cap implementation (BNetzA). Germany’s energy regulator is tasked with implementing the revenue cap on power generators. Along with Frontier Economics, we provided economic expertise. Ongoing.
Gaming (TenneT). Game-theoretical assessment of local markets for flexibility, formally identifying optimal increase-decrease bidding strategies and mitigation measures. Joint work with Takon and ZEW. 2021-24. Working paper
Coal exit (BMWi). Germany’s government committed to cancel carbon certificates along with its coal exit. In this project with Aurora, we provided estimates how many certificates to delete. 2021-23.
2022
Intraday / Balancing (TSO). Econometric identification of the link between intraday prices and balancing activation based on millions of individual transactions. We found a strong correlation, a possible sign for insider trading. 2022.
Electricity market design (Utility). Analytics and assessments on the EU market design reform, focusing on offshore wind. 2022.
Imbalance settlement pricing (Elia). Support in developing a new imbalance settlement pricing scheme in Belgium in the context of PICASSO. 2022.
Future gas costs (E3G). Assessment of future costs of gas supply for Berlin-based think tank E3G. 2022. Report
Home battery storage (Sonnen). Simulations for optimizing home battery storage operations during the energy crisis. 2022.
PV support scheme design (Swissgrid). Support scheme for solar energy centered around generation adequacy. We proposed an optimized contract for differences. 2022.
Consumer centric market design (50Hertz / Elia). Study on better integration of flexible consumers into power markets, particularly device-specific metering, passive balancing, and ex-ante firm imbalance pricing. 2022.
Balancing markets (Utility). For a European storage investor, we provided an assessment of multiple European balancing markets and long-term balancing price forecasts. 2022.
Future Energy Outlook (TransitionZero). Advice on setting up a global energy outlook, including recruitment and technical model development. 2021-22.
Charging infrastructure (Agora Verkehrswende). Partnering with Consentec, we assessed the market for public EV charging infrastructure and developed a proposal for a competitive market design. 2021-22. Report
Nodal pricing model (TSO). Development of a GAMS load flow model of Europe for simulations of locational marginal prices. 2021-22.
Dispatch Hubs (Elia / 50Hertz). For TSOs Elia und 50Hertz we assess the incentives implied in multiple variants of their “Dispatch Hub” proposals, in particular incentives for inc-dec gaming. 2020-22. Report
2021
Strommarkttreffen (Agora Energiewende). For many years, we organized and grew Strommarkttreffen, a professional network that links researchers with practitioners. Agora Energiewende supported us financially. 2016-21.
Open energy outlook (TransitionZero). On behalf of NGO TransitionZero, we developed a technical proposal for a transparent, rigorous global energy systems model. 2021.
Redispatch for loads (BMWi). Outline of incentive-based participation of electricity consumers in Germany’s redispatch system based on capacity remuneration. Key design parameters are assessed with respect to economic efficiency and gaming incentives. Study for the Economics Ministry. 2020-21.
2020
Italy’s PUN (BMWi). The Italian electricity market has six different bidding zones, but consumers pay a uniform prezzio nationale unico (PUN). For Germany’s Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy, we assessed the pro’s and con’s of such an arrangement. 2020.
System imbalances (Trading company). During three episodes in June 2019, Germany’s power system was heavily out of balance. For a European trading house, we provided expertise and analysis on the reasons and regulatory implications. 2019-20.
RE auction design (BMWi). Evaluation of Germany’s renewable energy auctions and assessment of reform options on behalf of Germany’s Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy. Navigant served as project lead. Neon contributed analyses of system-friendly wind power and locational signals. 2018-20. Report
Market-based redispatch (BMWi). Large study on competitive procurement of redispatch resources and local flexibility markets. Our core conclusion was that the risk of inc-dec gaming likely outweighs potential benefits. Neon served as project lead of a large consortium. 2017-20. Markt/Netz report (DE) | Final Report (DE | EN)
Earlier
EU electricity market design (BMWi). Policy advice on wholesale market and balancing market design for Germany’s Economics Ministry in the context of the Clean Energy Package. Neon was member of a consortium with Connect Energy Economics, Consentec, and others. 2016-19.
Grid benefits of offshore wind (RE project developer). Neon delivered input to a policy paper, assessing the grid and system benefits of offshore wind, driver by high capacity factors. 2016.
Wind value lift (RE project developer). Evaluation of design options and operation strategies to improve the economics of wind power under market conditions. 2016-17.
Trading benchmark (Trading company). Regulatory assessment and quantitative cost benchmarks for portfolio management costs of renewable energy for the trading department of a major European utility. 2017.
Nodal vs. zonal pricing (BMWi). Consulting on locational price signals in wholesale markets for Germany’s Economics Ministry. Joint project with Consentec. 2016-17. Report
Open Power System Data (BMWi). Construction of an online platform for European power system data. Neon coordinated a team of three research institutes. 2015-17. Platform
RE time series (Utility). Neon developed time series of wind and solar generation at high granularity from re-analysis models. 2016.
Electricity market design (IEA-RETD). Assessment of long-term wholesale and retail power market design under very high shares of variable renewables in cooperation with FTI CL Energy. 2015-16. Report
Benefits of hydro flexibility (Utility). Model-based assessment of capture prices for a European utility. Neon provided a model-based assessment of the market value of wind energy and hydroelectricity. 2016.
Price drop (Swedish Energy). Swedish wholesale power prices declined by two thirds from 2010 to 2015. Neon conducted a model-based assessment of the reasons for this price drop. 2016. Report
Wind value in the Nordics (Energiforsk). Model-based assessment of the market value of wind energy in the hydro-dominated power system of the Nordic region. Neon designed the study, developed the model, and wrote the report, which appeared in Applied Energy. 2016. Article
Model development (Trading company). Neon supported the trading department of a major European utility in power market model development. 2015.
Whole system costs (DECC). Neon reviewed a report on whole system costs of wind and solar power for the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change, London. 2015. Report
Renewables integration cost (Agora Energiewende). Qualitative study for Agora Energiewende. Neon advised Agora and helped implement workshops in Berlin and Paris. 2015. Report
System-friendly wind and solar (IEA). Model-based study for the International Energy Agency. Neon assessed the market and system benefits of low-wind speed turbines and west-oriented PV. 2014-16. Paper