Essays on the Swedish electricity market

Abstract: The thesis consists of three separate parts. The first consists of four chapters, and this is the major part of the thesis. The four chapters deal with competition and price formation in a deregulated Swedish electricity market. The issues of market power and dominant firms are analyzed from different angles by the use of numerical methods of the electricity market. The second part consists of one chapter co-authored with Erik Hådén. The main subjects are the electricity prices after a nuclear phaseout and the cost of the phaseout. This is studied in a numerical model, given certain restrictions concerning, for example, emissions of carbon dioxide. The third part consists of two separate chapters. The first is an econometric study of Swedish residential electricity demand using micro data. The second chapter uses a search model to study barriers to energy efficiency in a white-goods market.Part 1.Chapter 1.Introduction to market power and competition in a deregulated Swedish electricity market.Chapter 2.Market structure, profit and the price of electricity: An analysis of different strategies for the firms in the Swedish electricity market.Chapter 3.Competition and market power over time: The case of a deregulated Swedish electricity market.Chapter 4.Market power and competition in a deregulated Nordic electricity market.Part 2.Chapter 5.Power production and the price of electricity: An analysis of a phaseout of Swedish nuclear power.Part 3.Chapter 6.Electricity demand – A study of the Swedish residential sector.Chapter 7.A search cost approach to energy efficient barriers.