Influence of climate policy and market forces on coal-fired power plants:Evidence on the Dutch market over 2006-2014

Many governments aim to reduce the dependence on coal-fired generation to decrease carbon emissions. At the same time power markets with competition between independently operating power firms have been created which leave the actual decisions concerning electricity production to these firms. This paper analyzes the interaction between climate policies and policies to foster power markets. Using hourly plant-level data on the Dutch power market over 2006-2014, we find that the dispatch of fossil-fuel power plants is strongly influenced by relative fuel prices, despite the existence of several... Mehr ...