The EWI’s research aims to develop academic publications at the highest and international level. For this purpose, we apply and further develop modern methods from economics and business informatics. A particular focus lies in the numerical simulation of real markets and institutions, using operations research, agent-based modeling, and machine learning (ML).
Additionally, we work on further developing the economic theory of the energy industry and its regulation and the information-theoretical foundations of artificial intelligence (AI). Due to the increasing importance of weather-dependent technologies for using renewable energy sources (especially wind and solar irradiation), the connection to energy meteorology plays a growing role.
Our research takes into account the actual conditions in the energy sector as concretely as possible. The regular exchange with other disciplines, including engineering, meteorology, law, and practitioners, also in our consulting projects, strengthens our understanding of the technological-scientific and political-institutional framework. Thus, on the one hand, we increase the relevance and soundness of our research, and on the other hand, we keep encountering exciting and interesting new research questions. Participation in large, interdisciplinary collaborative projects, such as the current Kopernikus projects, also enriches our work in many ways.
In research, the EWI closely cooperates with the chair of its director Professor Bettzüge and the team of our energy meteorologist Professor Fiedler. Furthermore, the institute is closely involved in the Key Research Initiative Sustainable Energy and Transport of the WiSo Faculty of the University of Cologne. Moreover, the EWI supports the university teaching of the two chairs. This connection – following the Humboldtian model of higher education – allows many important feedbacks on our research.
We publish our results in leading journals in energy and regulatory economics and business informatics, such as Management Science, Journal of Regulatory Economics, Energy Economics, Energy Strategy Reviews, Energy Policy, Economic Theory, The Energy Journal, Applied Energy, Machine Learning, Production and Operations Management, European Journal of Operational Research, Information Systems Research, Journal of Cleaner Production, Energies, Transportation Science or Decision Support Systems. Besides, we maintain our own Working Paper Series and – through our sponsoring association – the Journal of Energy Economics.
