Nur Sunar
University of North Carolina
Designing Renewable Power Purchase Agreements: Impact on Green Energy Investment
Monday, March 2, 2026 –05:15 – 06:30 PM (CET)
This session will be held online only. To join virtually, please register in advance using this link.
Seminar 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. Read more
Speaker Bio
Nur Sunar studies innovative business models, policies and technologies, and their impacts on inclusion. A key theme of her current research is doing good with management science. She is particularly interested in renewable energy technologies (such as rooftop solar panels), sustainability and smart city technologies (such as the Internet of Things, smart meters and residential batteries).
Dr. Sunar teaches courses in operations management. She is passionate about the operations of online marketplaces/
Dr. Sunar has collaborated with a variety of companies for research. She uses various methods, including machine learning methods (clustering, deep learning and text mining), data-driven optimization, stochastic analysis, game theory and econometrics.
She has published papers in leading academic journals such as Management Science, M&SOM and Operations Research. Her research received multiple prestigious awards, including the INFORMS Data Mining Best Paper Award; the People’s Choice Award in the Early-Career Sustainable Operations Management Workshop; and the Amundi-ESSEC ESG Best Paper Award 2024 from the Commodity and Energy Markets Association for her paper “Designing Renewable Power Purchase Agreements: Impact on Green Energy Investment.”
She received her PhD from Stanford Graduate School of Business at Stanford University and her BS in industrial engineering from Bogazici University in Istanbul.
Admission information
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