The ongoing energy transition in Germany creates various challenges for utilities and network operators. The expansion of wind generation in the north and the parallel nuclear fade out which mainly impacts the south, force operators to transmit large quantities of energy through an underdeveloped grid. The German response to these imbalances is an increase in transmission capacity through grid expansions. This is to ensure that electricity trade can continue as is and the assumption of having a copper plate transmission grid still holds. However, a more market based solution might be beneficial and less costly. As already proposed by the European Union, Germany could be split into several market zones which would lead to the communication of scarcity signals to market participants through rising prices in regions with large imbalances of supply and demand. This would create incentives for developers to invest in generation capacity where it is most beneficial. It would also support a more local approach to the energy transition that has frequently been called for. Such a market setup has been discussed under the term of zonal pricing and should be investigated in general and for the German market and extended to address grid expansion incentives. Furthermore, new developments such as large shares of renewable generation or the implementation of the smart grid need to be addressed for zonal markets. Therefore, the objective of this dissertation is an assessment of the implementation of advanced zonal pricing on the German electricity market.

• Energy Markets & Systems
• Applications of Smart Meter Data
• Data Mining & Analytics Methods