Classroom simulation of an electricity market

This paper describes an experiment in which 36 final year under-graduate electrical engineering (power) students acted as participants in the simulation of an electricity market. The market structure simulated was along the lines of the Pool used in England and Wales between 1990 and 2001 and (with modifications) in California, Australia and South Africa (only within Eskom at this stage). The aims of this simulation were twofold: (i) to introduce students to the commercial aspects of electricity supply and to the technicalities of one particular market type; and (ii) to gain further insight into the operation of this market structure and to obtain comparative data on the performance of certain variations on the basic market structure.