Electricity Spot, Medium & Long-term, and Ancillary Service Markets

This document, authored by Associate Professor Wang Yuwei from North China Electric Power University, provides a comprehensive overview of three key electricity market types: the spot market, the medium and long-term market (including green electricity trading), and the ancillary service market. The spot market, also known as the short-term market, facilitates physical electricity trading for immediate or near-future consumption, promoting competition and efficient resource allocation. It includes day-ahead, intraday, and balancing/real-time markets, each serving distinct roles in scheduling and real-time balancing. The document details the organization of spot markets through centralized bidding, with entities like Independent System Operators (ISOs) and Power Exchanges (PXs) managing matching, clearing, and congestion. It also explains the declaration process for generation-side participants, such as conventional coal-fired units, which declare start-up costs, no-load costs, and segmented energy bids with specific constraints. Demand-side declarations from wholesale users, retail companies, and grid companies are also covered. Additionally, the document touches on production function theory, distinguishing short-run and long-run factor adjustments, and concepts like total, average, and marginal product, though this appears as a tangential inclusion. Overall, the content serves as an educational resource for understanding electricity market structures and operations.