Sustainability, Vol. 11, Pages 5031: An Agent-Based Two-Stage Trading Model for Direct Electricity Procurement of Large Consumers (Sustainability)

Many electricity markets around the world are still at developmental and transitional stages. To complete the transition and achieve the key objectives of perfect market design, designers often choose direct electricity procurement of large consumers (LCs) as a pilot. The trading mechanism is critical because it lays the foundation for the exploration of formulating a trading model and the succeeding solution; however, the existing trading mechanisms of direct electricity procurement struggle to cope with new challenges that electric power systems are facing. This paper proposes a novel two-stage trading mechanism, considering both the fairness and efficiency of direct electricity procurement. Based on the proposed trading mechanism, an agent-based trading model with multiple participants is developed. The simulation results of the transactions between LCs and generation companies (GenCos) illustrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed mechanism. With this mechanism, LCs and GenCos will have more choices in the trading process and can benefit from the reduction of the average market price. The two-stage trading model provides a new choice for market designers and participants of direct electricity procurement.