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Electricity grids as well as oil and gas supply chains are masterpieces of engineering, prime examples of second-to-second supply-demand matching, and the backbones that power modern economies. Yet, they also emit 72% of greenhouse gas emissions globally, cause geopolitical issues and leave billions of humans unserved. To address these issues, the industry is rapidly evolving: over USD9.5 trillion were invested in the power sector since 2010 and new technologies like EVs, energy storage, or green hydrogen challenge the status quo. Add to this the ever-changing policy landscape, the need for rapid decarbonization, and vocal, but heterogeneous customer interests and one reaches a business model landscape that is in rapid flux.In this dissertation, I study those evolving energy markets to help us understand how to best integrate new technologies and customer choices to ensure a future with greener power for more people on this planet.In the first chapter When Should the Off-grid Sun Shine at Night? Optimum Renewable Generation and Energy Storage Investments, I model how solar power and energy storage technologies can help off-grid locations, like islands or remote villages, to partially replace fossil fuel generation which can help reduce emissions, lower electricity costs, and increase access to electricity.In the second chapter Privately-Owned Battery Storage - Re-Shaping The Way We Do Electricity, I develop a structural model to explain why residential households invest in their own battery storage next to buying solar panels and how they utilize electricity. I estimate those preferences and utilities using a proprietary, big-data-set of German households and then study how private-owned battery storage impacts household behavior, grid-load and make policy recommendations.In the third chapter Quality-Adjusted Power. Where to Optimally Locate Wind Turbines, I develop a metric to quickly compare different locations for wind-power development that consider the natural resource quality, the distance to load centers, transmission constraints, and the timing between local wind-power generation and electricity demand in the market.
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