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This article focuses on the way in which grotesque poetics participate in the representation of an imaginary of the crisis that cannot be reduced to a socio-political satire, based on the reading of the novels Les Sept solitudes de Lorsa Lopez by Sony Labou Tansi and Za by Raharimanana. While the grotesque is a particularly apt mode of expression for expressing the disarray resulting from the anomie into which the post-independence world seems to have fallen, this one does however make the novel escape from a purely pessimistic or miserable discourse by opening up to an elsewhere. An ambiguous resistance to the reality, and a fortiori to a reality in crisis, which proceeds simultaneously from its collapse and its re-creation, is thus established. Insofar as it blurs established boundaries and puts Manichean norms in crisis, the grotesque appears in the novels studied as an attempt to overcome a dichotomous way of thinking about otherness, in favour of more ambivalent and shifting representations of the so-called postcolonial space., Cet article s’intéresse à la façon dont les poétiques grotesques participent de la mise en scène d’un imaginaire de la crise non réductible à une satire socio-politique, à partir de la lecture des romans Les Sept solitudes de Lorsa Lopez de Sony Labou Tansi et Za de Raharimanana. Si le grotesque constitue un mode d’expression particulièrement apte à dire le désarroi face à l’anomie dans lequel le monde post-indépendances semble avoir basculé, il fait cependant échapper le roman, par l’ailleurs sur lequel il ouvre, à un discours purement pessimiste ou misérabiliste. S’instaure dès lors une résistance ambiguë au réel, et a fortiori à un réel en crise, qui procède simultanément de son effondrement et de sa recréation. Dans la mesure où il brouille les frontières établies et met en crise les normes manichéennes, le grotesque apparait d’autre part dans les romans étudiés comme la tentative de dépassement d’une pensée dichotomique de l’altérité, au profit de représentations plus ambivalentes et mouvantes de l’espace dit postcolonial.

Bis 2030 soll der Anteil erneuerbarer Energien im Stromsystem 80% betragen. Nicht nur für den Klimaschutz, auch für die Unabhängigkeit von fossilen Brennstoffen und einzelnen Exportländern ist der Ausbau der erneuerbaren Energien zentral. Diesen möchte die Bundesregierung mit der Überarbeitung des Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetzes forcieren und auch das Strommarktdesign an die Erfordernisse der Zeit anpassen. Doch mit diesem Ausbau sind auch enorme Kosten verbunden. Im Impulspapier „Strommarktdesign 2030: Die Förderung der erneuerbaren Energien wirksam und effizient gestalten“ geht es um die Frage, wie der Wandel hin zu einem marktwirtschaftlichen System gelingen kann, in dem Erneuerbare effizient in den Markt integriert werden können., By 2030, the share of renewable energies in the electricity system is to be 80%. The expansion of renewable energies is not only central for climate protection, but also for independence from fossil fuels and individual exporting countries. With the revision of the Renewable Energy Sources Act, the Federal Government would like to accelerate this and also adapt the electricity market design to the requirements of the times.

This paper proposes a game-theoretic model to analyze the strategic behavior of incdec gaming in market-based congestion management (redispatch). We extend existing models by considering incomplete information about competitors’ costs and a finite set of providers. We find that these extensions do not dissolve inc-dec gaming, which already occurs in our setup of two regions. We also benchmark market-based redispatch against grid investment, cost-based redispatch, and the Vickrey-Clarke-Groves mechanism. The comparison highlights a significant inefficiency of market-based redispatch and inflated redispatch payments. Finally, we study seven variations of our basic model to assess whether different market fundamentals or market design changes mitigate inc-dec gaming. None of these variations eliminate inc-dec gaming entirely

This paper proposes a game-theoretic model to analyze the strategic behavior of inc-dec gaming in market-based congestion management (redispatch). We extend existing models by considering incomplete information about competitors' costs and a finite set of providers. We find that these extensions do not dissolve inc-dec gaming, which already occurs in our setup of two regions. We also benchmark market-based redispatch against grid investment, cost-based redispatch, and the Vickrey-Clarke-Groves mechanism. The comparison highlights a significant inefficiency of market-based redispatch and inflated redispatch payments. Finally, we study seven variations of our basic model to assess whether different market fundamentals or market design changes mitigate inc-dec gaming. None of these variations eliminate inc-dec gaming entirely.

Das Jahr 2021 hat in Deutschland neuen Schwung in die Bemühungen zum Klimaschutz gebracht. Die Novelle des Klimaschutzgesetzes schreibt eine Reduktion der Treibhausgasemissionen um 65 % bis zum Jahr 2030 gegenüber 1990 fest. Maßgeblich dazu beitragen soll ein massiver Ausbau der Stromerzeugung aus erneuerbaren Energien. Nach Verschärfung der Klimaschutzmaßnahmen stellt sich die Frage, ob das bisherige Strommarktdesign und die damit einhergehenden Vergütungsregeln für die Stromerzeugung auch bei einem von erneuerbaren Energien dominierten Strommarkt weiterhin geeignet sind, um die im Energiewirtschaftsgesetz festgeschriebenen Ziele der Versorgungssicherheit und Preisgünstigkeit bestmöglich zu erreichen. The year 2021 has brought new momentum to climate protection efforts in Germany. The amendment to the Climate Protection Act stipulates a 65 % reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to 1990. A major contribution to this will come from a massive expansion of electricity generation from renewable energies. Following the tightening of the climate protection measures, the question arises as to whether the current electricity market design and the associated remuneration rules for electricity generation are still suitable for achieving the goals of security of supply and low prices stipulated in the Energy Industry Act, even with an electricity market dominated by renewable energies.

Partant du postulat que l’écriture de l’abjection produit chez le lecteur un vertige, voire un choc, tout à fait particulier, notre article s’intéresse à la façon dont celle-ci constitue dans les romans La Vie de Joséphin le fou d’Ananda Devi (2003) et Za de Raharimanana (2008) une formidable puissance de remise en question des normes et des limites qui fondent ce qu’on peut appeler avec Julia Kristeva « l’ordre social et symbolique ». Il s'agit en d'autres termes d’explorer la puissance propre à l’abjection qui permet au récit de dépasser à la fois la simple satire socio-politique et la jubilation de l’obscène, au profit de représentations plus ambivalentes, mouvantes et dérangeantes, qui touchent aux fondements mêmes de notre humanité. Nous nous efforcerons ainsi de dépasser la sidération dans laquelle plonge la violence parfois difficilement soutenable de l’écriture pour envisager la façon dont l’abject, la pourriture et le grouillant apparaissent en creux comme le terreau fertile d’un contre-pouvoir sur les plans aussi bien éthique qu’esthétique. Parce que ces bas-fonds abjects sont aussi le lieu d’une vie proliférante, multiple et anarchique, la parole qui s’y ancre et s’en revendique peut en effet être comprise comme une poche de résistance face à la menace de la tyrannie de l’Un, du vide et de la pétrification qui caractérisent le pouvoir postcolonial.

Speeding up the energy transition in the European Union (EU) is a major task to quickly reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions. Market design plays a crucial role in the decarbonization of the European energy system, driving the expansion of both Renewable Energy Sources (RES) and accompanying flexibility sources. In particular, demand flexibility by energy-intensive industrial companies can play a key role. By flexibilizing their production processes, industrial companies can contribute to an increased use of variable RES (in the following referred to as Variable Renewable Energy (VRE)) to lower the CO2 footprint of their products with positive effects on economic competitiveness. Together with other flexibility sources like electric vehicles, the EU can transition to a just, low-carbon society and economy with benefits for all. However, to actually realize these benefits, market design must account for the changing production and consumption characteristics, e.g., the intermittency of VRE. Starting with current challenges of the energy transition that need to be solved with a future market designin the EU, the whitepaper takes alternative market design options and recent technological developments into account, which are highly intertwined. The whitepaper elaborates on the role of, for instance, flexibility, digital technologies, market design with locational incentives, and possible transition pathways in a European context. The “Clean energy for all Europeans” package offers a new opportunity to deepen the integration of different national electricity systems, whereby Transmission System Operators (TSOs) are required to reserve at least 70% of transmission capacities for cross-border trades from 2025 onwards. The corresponding scarcity of transmission capacities on the national level, however, may aggravate congestion to a critical extent, calling for transformational changes in market design involving, e.g., a redefinition of bidding zones close to the network-node level. The present whitepaper can be seen as part of a series of whitepapers on electricity market design 2030 - 2050 [14, 15] and continues the analysis of regionally differentiated prices or Locational Marginal Pricing (LMP) as a means to address congestion problems in future VRE-based electricity systems. Thereby, the whitepaper extends the findings of the previous two whitepapers (where in the latter whitepapers, e.g., a detailed discussion of the pros and cons of LMP can be found) and elaborates on the question how LMP could be implemented in one or several European countries and how possible implementation pathways may look like in a coupled European system. Moreover, the whitepaper describes preparatory steps that are necessary for the introduction of LMP, and – at the same time – create advantages for countries under both, a nodal and zonal market design. All in all, the results and outcomes of the whitepaper shall support the market design transition in Europe and, thus, the integration and activation of flexibility potentials to foster a fast reduction of CO2 emissions through a better use of VRE. Therefore, the whitepaper contributes with concrete policy measures to the overarching vision of a future European electricity market design that bases on low-carbon technologies and enhances welfare and fairness, while ensuring economic competitiveness of Europe. We would like to thank all the partners and are grateful for the financial support from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research as well as the Project Management Jülich. Martin Bichler, Hans Ulrich Buhl, and Martin Weibelzahl (SynErgie) Antonello Monti (OneNet)

Herdenimmunität, oder zumindest eine hohe Durchimpfung, ist ein Ziel der Impfungen gegen COVID-19. Dieses soll möglichst schnell erreicht werden, um weitere Ansteckungswellen zu verhindern und auch die Ausbreitung stärker ansteckender Varianten zu bremsen. Bisher war die Impfstoffmenge ein limitierender Faktor, der aber zeitnah verschwinden wird, so dass das Impfangebot durch Mediziner und die Impfbereitschaft in der Bevölkerung relevant für die Zielerreichung wird. Die Impfbereitschaft in der Bevölkerung kann jedoch niedriger sein als es für Herdenimmunität notwendig ist. Neben einer generellen Ablehnung einer Impfung ist auch relevant, dass der individuelle Nutzen einer Impfung in der Anzahl der insgesamt Geimpften abnimmt. Insbesondere Menschen mit hohen Transaktionskosten beispielsweise durch unflexible Arbeitszeiten, Betreuungsbedarf für Kinder oder fehlende Transportmittel werden zunächst ungeimpft bleiben. Bisherige Diskussionen konzentrieren sich auf die Nachfrage nach Impfungen, d.h. die Schaffung von Anreizen für potentiell Impfwillige. Es sollte aber auch die Angebotsseite, d.h. die impfenden Mediziner nicht vernachlässigt werden. Aufklärung und Information durch impfende Mediziner ist ein entscheidender Faktor in der Erhöhung der Impfbereitschaft. Allerdings gilt: Je mehr Menschen geimpft sind, desto schwieriger wird es potentiell Impfwillige zu erreichen, aufzuklären und zu impfen. Dadurch steigen die Kosten im Verlauf der Impfkampagne. Impfende Mediziner benötigen eine flexible Kostenerstattung, die an den Aufwand angepasst ist. Ein bedarfsorientiertes Kostenerstattungsschema für Mediziner kann hier Abhilfe schaffen.

Driven by the climate conference in Paris in December 2015 countries worldwide are confronted with the question of how to shape their power system and how to establish alternative technologies to reduce harmful CO2 emissions. The German government plans that even before the year 2050, all electricity generated and consumed in Germany should be greenhouse gas neutral [1]. To successfully integrate renewable energies, a future energy system must be able to handle the intermittent nature of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. One important means to address such electricity production variability is demand-side flexibility. Here, industry plays a major role in responding to variable electricity supply with adequate flexibility. This is where the Kopernikus project SynErgie comes in with more than 80 project partners from academia, industry, governmental, and non-governmental organizations as well as energy suppliers and network operators. The Kopernikus project SynErgie investigates how to best leverage demand-side flexibility in the German industry. The current electricity market design in Germany is not well suited to deal with increasing levels of re- newable energy, and it does not embrace demand-side flexibility. Almost 6 GW of curtailed power in 2019 provide evidence that changes are needed with respect to the rules governing electricity markets. These rules were designed at a time when electricity generation was concentrated on a few large and dispatchable conventional power plants and demand was considered inelastic. The SynErgie Cluster IV investigates how a future-proof electricity market design should be organized. The corresponding Work Package IV.3.1 more specifically deals with analyzing and designing allocation and pricing rules on electricity spot markets. The resulting design must be well suited to accommodate demand-side flexibility and address the intermittent nature of important renewable energy sources. This whitepaper is the result of a fruitful collaboration among the partners involved in SynErgie Cluster IV which include Germany’s leading research organizations and practitioners in the field. The collaboration led to an expert workshop in October 2020 with participation from a number of international energy market experts such as Mette Bjørndal (NHH), Endre Bjørndal (NHH), Peter Cramton (University of Maryland and University of Cologne), and Raphael Heffron (University of Dundee). The whitepaper details the key recommendations from this workshop. In particular, the whitepaper recommends a move to a locational, marginal price-based system together with new bidding formats allowing to better express flexibility. We argue in favor of a one-step introduction of locational, marginal prices instead of repeatedly splitting existing zones. Frequent zone splitting involves recurring political debates as well as short- and long-run instabilities affecting the basis for financial con- tracts, for example. Importantly, the definition of stable prize zones is very challenging with increasing levels of distributed and renewable energy sources. The recommendation is the outcome of an intense debate about advantages and downsides of different policy alternatives. However, such a transition to locational, marginal prices is not without challenges, and it is a call to arms for the research community, policymak- ers, and practitioners to develop concepts on how to best facilitate the transition and ensure a reliable and efficient electricity market of the future. We’d like to thank all the project partners and are grateful for the financial support from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research as well as the Project Management Jülich. Hans Ulrich Buhl (Cluster Lead) Martin Bichler (Work Package Lead)