Mediaspace scheduled maintenance: Aug 25, 2026 07:00 - 12:00 AM. During this time, videos will be temporarily unavailable. Check status updates.

Lecture

Electricity: Exercises

In course

ENV-471: Environmental economics

Introduction to economic analysis applied to environmental issues: all the necessary basic concepts, including cost-benefit analysis, for environmental policy making and its instruments (examples: climate, waste, mobility). Introduction to financial calcul ...

Description

This lecture covers exercises related to electricity, including calculations of LCOE for different types of power plants, discount rates, and investment decisions. Students will analyze cost structures and scenarios to determine optimal solutions.

This video is available exclusively on Mediaspace for a restricted audience. Please log in to MediaSpace to access it if you have the necessary permissions.

Watch on Mediaspace

Instructor

Philippe Thalmann

Philippe Thalmann was born in Lausanne in 1963. He graduated in Economics from the University of Lausanne in 1984, where he earned a postgraduate diploma in Economics in 1986. Mr. Thalmann entered the doctoral program in Economics of Harvard University (Cambridge, U.S.A.) in 1986, which he completed with a Ph.D. in 1990. His dissertation is entitled: "Essays in the Economics of Government Revenues and Spending". Returning to Switzerland, he was hired as an assistant professor first at the University of Geneva (teachings in Public Economics), then at the University of Lausanne (teachings in Econometrics and Introductory Economics). Since 1994, Mr. Thalmann is associate professor of Economics as the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology at Lausanne.

Official source

Related concepts (32)

Power station

A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many power stations contain one or more generators, rotating machine that converts mechanical power into three-phase electric power. The relative motion between a magnetic field and a conductor creates an electric current. The energy source harnessed to turn the generator varies widely.

Peaking power plant

Peaking power plants, also known as peaker plants, and occasionally just "peakers", are power plants that generally run only when there is a high demand, known as peak demand, for electricity. Because they supply power only occasionally, the power supplied commands a much higher price per kilowatt hour than base load power. Peak load power plants are dispatched in combination with base load power plants, which supply a dependable and consistent amount of electricity, to meet the minimum demand.

Cost of electricity by source

Different methods of electricity generation can incur a variety of different costs, which can be divided into three general categories: 1) wholesale costs, or all costs paid by utilities associated with acquiring and distributing electricity to consumers, 2) retail costs paid by consumers, and 3) external costs, or externalities, imposed on society. Wholesale costs include initial capital, operations & maintenance (O&M), transmission, and costs of decommissioning.

Nuclear power plant

A nuclear power plant (NPP) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power stations, heat is used to generate steam that drives a steam turbine connected to a generator that produces electricity. , the International Atomic Energy Agency reported there were 412 nuclear power reactors in operation in 31 countries around the world, and 57 nuclear power reactors under construction.

Gas-fired power plant

A gas-fired power plant (sometimes referred to as "gas-fired power station" or "natural gas power plant") is a thermal power station that burns natural gas to generate electricity. Gas-fired power plants generate almost a quarter of world electricity and are significant sources of greenhouse gas emissions. However, they can provide seasonal, dispatchable energy generation to compensate for variable renewable energy deficits, where hydropower or interconnectors are not available.

Related lectures (32)

Energy Transition in Switzerland MOOC: SES Swiss-Energyscope

Explores energy transition scenarios, costs, and assumptions in Switzerland, including the impact of photovoltaic energy.

Understanding Urban Electricity Systems MOOC: Urban Infrastructure Management

Explores urban electricity systems, covering infrastructures, consumption, production, intermediaries, transmission, distribution, transformers, power plants, consumers, and operators.

Energy Economics: Supply and Demand Dynamics

Covers the economic principles of energy supply and demand, focusing on their impact on electricity market dynamics.

Swiss Energy Transition MOOC: SES Swiss-Energyscope

Explores the Swiss energy transition, analyzing electricity supply, European market imbalance, and future challenges.

Leverage Effect in Financing