APPLIES TO ACADEMIC YEAR 2016/2017

GRA 8504 The Gas & Power Business

Responsible for the course
Jon Lereim, (IFP)

Department
Department of Leadership and Organizational Behaviour

Term
According to study plan

ECTS Credits
5

Language of instruction
English

Introduction
This course is part of the Executive Master of Management in Energy in cooperation with BI Norwegian Business School and IFP School.

The gas and electricity sector has gone through major changes since the 1990s. These changes include deregulations of several parts of the utility industries and their evolving internationalization. Besides, climate changes issues have put a considerable public attention on these sectors.

Learning outcome
Acquired knowledge
This course addresses the need of energy utilities leaders and policy makers. It enables them to face with current worldwide concerns of large and middle sized utilities from both technical and economic point of views. Finally, participants will get an overview of various technologies, theoretical and practical insights into business strategies, regulatory and policy-making issues of these industries.

Acquired skills
Upon completion of this second week, participants will be able to:

- Discuss major recent developments and innovations in the gas and electricity industry
- Identify key technical, economic and financial issues relevant to these sectors
- Describe electricity and gas production, transmission and distribution challenges

Reflection
- Interpret the strategy of major gas & power players before & after deregulation
- Analyse and evaluate financial products related to gas & power sector

Prerequisites
Granted admission to the Executive Master of Management in Energy programme.

Compulsory reading

Other:
Compulsory reading (before the module):

- EEnergy Informer (2 Latest issues): The International Energy Newsletter (mostly related to Coal, Gas & Power Sectors)
- The Economics of Nuclear Power: World Nuclear Association (March 2016) (http://world-nuclear.org/info/Economic-Aspects/Economics-of-Nuclear-Power/)


Recommended reading

Other:
Supplementary / recommended reading (before / during / after the module)

General references
A list of articles will be provided
Handbook Utility Management. A. Bausch and B. Schwenker. Springer
Energy Economics: Concepts, Issues, Markets and Governance. S.C. Bhattacharyya. Springer

Gas industry
LNG: A Nontechnical Guide. M.D. Tusiani and G. Shearer, PennWell.
Natural Gas: A Basic Handbook. J.G. Speight, Gulf Publishing Company, Houston, Texas.
Natural Gas and Geopolitics: From 1970 to 2040. Victor, David G., Jaffe, Amy M., Hayes, Mark H. Cambridge University Press.

Power sector
Power System Economics. Steven Stoft. IEEE.
Competitive Electricity Markets: Design, Implementation, Performance. F.Sioshansi. Elsevier.
Electricity Economics: regulation and deregulation. G.S.Rothwell and T. Gomez. John Wiley.


Course outline
Natural Gas Economics and Markets
- Natural gas chain fundamentals: production, processing, liquefaction, storage, transportation and distribution.
- Natural gas market structure: Gas monopolies in emerging markets and liberalization in mature markets, LNG.
- Emergence of spot markets, price risk, and futures markets.
- Natural gas marketing: netback pricing and upstream natural gas contracts (take-or-pay).

Electricity Techno-Economics
- Power generation plants: fuel, gas, nuclear and renewable and electricity transmission
- Total cost of electricity generation for different technologies
- Network, supply/demand equilibrium, transmission and distribution
- Market and institutions : liberalization, market structure, regulation and deregulation

Coal Industry and Markets
- Coal industry fundamentals: coal mines, production and transportation
- Coal supply and demand: reserves/resources, major players and uncertainties
- Coal markets: market's structure, products, price formation, international trades, growing trends and challenges

Interdisciplinary topics
- Nuclear industry: technologies, innovations, players and perspectives
- Gas and power players: strategic perspective over major utilities
- Gas and power trading: spreads, products, interconnections and risks

Computer-based tools
It's Learning

Learning process and workload
1 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of 26-30 hours.

Attendance to all sessions in the course is compulsory. If you have to miss part(s) of the course you must ask in advance for leave of absence. More than 25% absence in a course will require retaking the entire course. It's the student's own responsibility to obtain any information provided in class that is not included on the course homepage/ It's learning or other course materials

Examination
The students are evaluated through an individual 72 hours home exam, counting for 5 credits.

Specific information regarding student evaluation beyond the information given in the course description will be provided in class.
Examination code(s)
GRA 85041 - Home exam; counts for 100% to pass the course GRA 8504; 5 credits.

The course is a part of a full Executive Master of Management in Energy (EMME) and examination in all courses must be passed in order to obtain a certificate.

Examination support materials


Re-sit examination
Re-takes are only possible at the next time a course will be held. When course evaluation consists of class participation or continuous assessment, the whole course must be re-evaluated when a student wants to retake a exam. Retake examinations entail an extra examination fee.

Additional information