Development of the methodology for the evaluation of a hydro-pumped storage power plant: Swiss case study

During the last two decades, an evolving market structure is recognised starting from the spot market and its derivatives, resulting to several other markets such as the Intraday Market (IM), the Balancing Market (BM) and the Reserve Capacity Market (RCM). The participation in these markets has changed significantly the operation policy of the plants and, consequently, their value in the market. The current paper deals with the problem of the long-term valuation of a Hydroelectric Pump Storage (HPS) plant participating in the DAM and IM. For this purpose, an appropriate methodology has been developed while it is demonstrated on a real case study concerning the operation of a Swiss based HPS plant that participates in the DAM and IM of the German electricity market, for a horizon of thirty-five (35) years. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.