| Name of Speaker | Nur Sunar |
| Schedule | 4 September 2025, 10am – 11.30am |
| Venue | HSS 3 – 2 (Hon Sui Sen Memorial Library, level 3 Seminar Room) |
| Link to Register | https://nus-sg.zoom.us/meeting/register/lZ34DiDOTh6rI4zJehKPIQ |
| Title | Designing Renewable Power Purchase Agreements: Impact on Green Energy Investment |
| Abstract | This paper studies a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) between a firm and a new renewable energy generator. The firm must dynamically satisfy uncertain electricity demand beyond its existing energy sources, while wholesale electricity prices evolve stochastically over time. Upon signing a PPA, a new renewable facility becomes operational, and the firm owns its output for the contract duration. The new facility’s capacity is determined based on PPA terms. The firm dynamically chooses when to initiate the PPA and how much to pay to maximize its expected total discounted benefit. We show that the firm’s optimal timing follows a (time-dependent) threshold policy. Our results offer key insights for policymakers and renewable energy developers. We find that, contrary to common wisdom, reducing investment costs for renewable technologies can lead to smaller renewable capacity, output, and emissions savings when projects are developed under PPAs. This finding calls for caution in applying investment tax credits in such contexts. We also show that total renewable energy generation and emissions savings may decrease with higher site productivity. Therefore, restricting renewable facility development to most productive sites might be counterproductive under PPAs. We establish the robustness of our findings across a broad range of practical scenarios.
(joint work with Zuguang Gao and John R. Birge) |
| About the Speaker | Nur Sunar is an Associate Professor of Operations and Sarah Graham Kenan Scholar at the Kenan-Flagler Business School of the UNC at Chapel Hill. She received her Ph.D. from Stanford Graduate School of Business with a thesis titled “Management Problems in Energy and Sustainability.” Her current research interest is to study innovative business models, technologies, and policies, with a focus on sustainability, energy, and digital platforms. A key theme of her recent research is doing good with management science.
Dr. Sunar is particularly interested in innovative business models and novel challenges related to renewable energy technologies (e.g., rooftop solar panels, large-scale renewable energy technologies, online solar marketplaces), sustainability practices of companies/organizations (e.g., voluntary carbon offsetting) and smart city technologies (e.g., the Internet of Things, smart meters, electric vehicles, and residential batteries). She is also passionate about innovative business solutions for inclusive health. For more information, please see https://sites.google.com/view/nur-sunar/home |
