The value of online information for demand response in Walrasian electricity markets

Smart energy systems integrate renewables and demand response. Most European electricity markets coordinate the resulting time-varying flexibility in demand and supply by organising day-ahead trade with Walrasian mechanisms, using simultaneous call auctions and sealed bids. These mechanisms give bidders no information on each other's values and flexibilities until after clearing. In this paper we simulate two alternative day-ahead market mechanisms which share information, such that bidders obtain a better position before entering the intraday market. One mechanism uses an ascending shared market price signal rather than sealed bids. The other auctions off future timeslots consecutively rather than simultaneously. We perform a case study on 400 households with electric vehicles, either with or without volatile wind generation. Results show that a price-taking flexible consumer can obtain higher utility in the market with simultaneous ascending-price auctions, because online price information reduces uncertainty over available energy and prices.