Training Courses

IEC offers a range of introductory & advanced training courses for people working in the power generation industry. Courses held each year in Singapore (December), Bangkok (March) and Hong Kong (July). In addition to our regular scheduled courses, we can also arrange on-site training at our Clients’ offices and we can tailor the content to meet specific requirements.

Our standard Training Course/Workshop “Working With Deregulated Power Markets” covers 2 days (but can be condensed into 1 day) and is suitable for the following people:

		IPP project developers & managers
		Finance personnel
		Investment bankers
		Analysts
		Plant managers
		Fuel suppliers
		Construction & operations engineers
		Environmental engineers
		Lawyers

Previous exposure to deregulated power markets not essential.

The Workshop is intended to provide an introduction to basic concepts for people with little or no experience but also to allow interactive contributions and more detailed discussions for those people with greater exposure to deregulated markets.

Most of the topics are illustrated with real-life and worked examples.

The following is an abbreviated description of the topics covered:

1. Deregulated Electricity Markets

Compares regulated and unregulated markets. Overview of regulatory framework. Discusses vertical & horizontal desegregation into generation, transmission, distribution & retail. Discusses reasons, benefits and downsides of deregulation, desegregation and privatisation.

Reviews various issues related to transition from State-owned/regulated to privatised/unregulated markets.

2. Wholesale Electricity Market “The Pool”

What is a Pool? Benefits & downsides of a Pool. Function of regulator & independent system operator. Discusses ancillary services, embedded generation, must-run units, system planning and security of supply, Value of Lost Load (“VOLL”). Role of hydro and renewables in Pools.

3. Operating In Pools

Discusses concepts such as Pool price forecasting, New Entrant Price, Floor price, marginal cost bidding, strategic bidding, Nash equilibria, bidding behaviour, irrational behaviour, Game Theory, market power, take-or-pay contracts.

4. Contracts

Reviews the contract market including issues such as CFDs, forward curves, liquidity, impact on Pool prices, vesting contracts, comparison with PPAs.

5. New Entrant Analysis

Discusses how the New Entrant is identified and how the price is calculated. Discusses issues such as size, technology, siting considerations, optimum capacity factor, choice and availability of fuel and contract terms, financing, carbon tax, barriers to entry.

6. The IPP Business

Discusses successes and failures, identification of high value markets, market analysis, screening criteria, market entry strategies, acquisition strategies, development costs and burn-rate, project management