Regulatory incentives for digitalisation and flexibility utilization through a yardstick competition

Inhalt:
The regulatory regime is a key-factor for a cost-effective, ecological and secure energy supply. The paper shows properties of the German revenue-cap-regulation (status quo) and compares it with a yardstick competition. Both are described and compared through a novel optimization approach. By utilizing alternative measures to cost-intensive grid expansion, identified in the project “C/sells”, these regimes are compared. An analysis of efficiency-values of German grid system operators indicates a favorable basis for a yardstick regulation. The paper concludes by introducing a method to analyze the suitability of German grid system operators towards a yardstick regulation and applies it to an incomplete dataset to give first implications towards the suitability of a yardstick competition in Germany.