The objective of this work is to investigate market power issues in bid-based hydrothermal scheduling. Initially, market power is simulated with a single stage Nash-Cournot equilibrium model. Market power assessment for multiple stages is then carried through a stochastic dynamic programming scheme. The decision in each stage and state is the equilibrium of a multi-agent game. Thereafter, mitigation measures, specially bilateral contracts, are investigated. Case studies with data taken from the Brazilian system are presented and discussed.

This report presents an overview of the stochastic dual DP scheme and its applications to hydrothermal scheduling, including extensions for fuel cost uncertainty and revenue maximization.

This paper describes some methodologies and tools being developed to address the new challenges - and opportunities - posed by power sector restructuring in hydrothermal systems: (a) optimal stochastic dispatch of multiple reservoir systems; (b) joint representation of equipment outage and inflow uncertainty; (c) distortion of short-run marginal costs signals when applied to cascaded plants with different owners; (d) economic efficiency and market power issues in bid-based hydrothermal dispatch. The issues are illustrated with case studies taken from the Colombian system.

The objective of this report is to formulate the problem of determining profit-maximizing bids in hydrothermal systems, and describe possible solution algorithms. The comparison of simulated system operation costs under this strategic bidding approach and under a centralized dispatch will give a measure of the distortions caused by a liberalized operation scheme.

This paper presents an overview of the new Brazilian system regulatory framework and discusses contracts in the new competitive environment.

This paper discusses some conceptual issues, methodologies and computational tools developed to handle risk and uncertainty in investment planning, both in traditional power sectors and in deregulated environments.

This report presents an overview of the new Brazilian system regulatory framework and discusses the wholesale market clearing,the hydrothermal dispatch problem, hydro plants in cascade, transmission pricing, etc.

The objective of this work is to investigate market power issues in bid-based hydrothermal scheduling. Market power is simulated with a Nash-Cournot equilibrium model. In the static model the equilibrium is calculated analytically. It is shown that the total production of N strategic agents is smaller than the least-cost solution by a factor of (N/(N+1)). In the dynamic model (multi-stage, stochastic) the problem was handled through an extended stochastic dynamic programming scheme, where the decision in each stage and state is the Nash equilibrium of a multi-agent game. Case studies with the Brazilian system are presented and discussed.