Teaching trading electricity with the use of electricity market simulator

Due to recent introduction of competitive market environment, the power industry expressed a need for experts with detailed knowledge of power market characteristics as well as technical expertise. In this paper a day-ahead electricity simulator (ELMAS) as a teaching tool is presented. Its server-client architecture and the utilization of TCP/IP Internet protocol enable the educators to set up a virtual power trading network in computer equipped classrooms. Students representing different market participants can form their bids/offers all with one goal in mind: maximizing their profits. Since the usage of ELMAS in classroom exercises resembles the real-time multiplayer computer game where opponents try to outsmart each other students usually enjoy participating. Finally an example of teaching process is described.