An integrative modelling approach for understanding competitive electricity markets

A model of the UK Electricity market is presented focusing on the competitive behaviour of buyers and sellers. The model was developed using the OO/DEVS object oriented industry simulation platform and includes as components: generators, suppliers, customers, the electricity pool and the contract market. The motivation and structure of the OO/DEVS platform is described both as a vehicle for systems thinking and as an architecture for integrative modelling, allowing, for example, optimisation and spreadsheet models to exist as objects within an overall strategic simulation model. The actual case-study implementation presented in this paper was undertaken in collaboration with one of the privatised utilities in the UK.