intro - context and research gap

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 ## Context and motivation
 
-TODO: Fix Handbook citation
+Mitigation of the wide-ranging, adverse impacts of climate change on ecological and human systems requires reducing and eventually halting global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, of which largest source is the electricity sector [@portnerIPCC2022Climate2022; @internationalenergyagencyNetZero20502021]. Achieving this goal requires an unprecedented deployment of renewable energy, storage and transmission – not only to replace emissions-intensive fossil fuel generation, but also to meet projected increases in the demand for electricity driven by economic development  and electrification [@internationalrenewableenergyagencyGlobalRenewablesOutlook2020]. Fortunately, investment in the energy transition is being buoyed by two reinforcing forces: greater direct investment or investment support from policy-makers for low-carbon technologies and enablers, and declining technology and deployment costs – particularly for solar photovoltaic modules and lithium-ion batteries – facilitated by device modularity and achieved through experiential learning [@wayEmpiricallyGroundedTechnology2022; @roquesEvolutionEuropeanModel2021a; @joskowHierarchiesMarketsPartially2022].
 
-Mitigation of the wide-ranging and adverse impacts of climate change on ecological and human systems requires reducing and eventually halting global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, of which largest source is the electricity sector [@portnerIPCC2022Climate2022; @internationalenergyagencyNetZero20502021]. Reducing emissions requires an unprecedented deployment of renewable energy, storage and transmission – not only to replace emissions-intensive fossil fuel generation, but also to meet projected increases in the demand for electricity driven by economic development  and electrification [@internationalrenewableenergyagencyGlobalRenewablesOutlook2020]. Fortunately, investment in the energy transition is being buoyed by two reinforcing forces: increasing direct investment or investment support from policy-makers for low-carbon technologies and enablers, and technology and deployment cost declines that accompany increasing deployment (to date, these have been significant for solar photovolatic panels and lithium-ion battery energy storage) [@wayEmpiricallyGroundedTechnology2021; @joskowHierarchiesMarketsPartially2022; @glachantHandbookElectricityMarkets2021].
+Consequently, power systems are currently experiencing or soon expected to experience high instantaneous penetrations of variable renewable energy (VRE), of which solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind generation are the most prevalent forms [@australianenergymarketoperatorMaintainingPowerSystem2019]. The inherent variability, uncertainty and, in the case of inverter-based resources, asynchronicity of VRE can be problematic for balancing power systems (i.e. ensuring that active power supply and demand are more or less equal at each moment) that were originally designed to accommodate conventional (thermal and hydroelectric) generation [@elaOperatingReservesVariable2011; @kenyonStabilityControlPower2020]. Modelling has indicated that 100% renewable power system configurations are technically feasible [@hansenStatusPerspectives1002019; @ellistonLeastCost1002013; @rey-costaFirming100Renewable2023]; however, determining how best to incentivise, control and/or coordinate resources to ensure successful balancing of high VRE power systems remains a significant and ongoing challenge. This challenge necessitates reassessing the design of operational practices such as grid codes, system operator processes and, most critically in jurisdictions that have introduced competition at the wholesale level, electricity markets [@papaefthymiou100RenewableEnergy2016].
 
-As power systems across the world begin to experience higher penetrations of variable renewable energy
+This thesis aims to understand how policy-makers should design or, at the very least, approach the design of operational practices for balancing electricity markets given existing challenges and those posed by growing penetrations of VRE.
 
+## Research gap
 
-High level context setting and motivation, higher level thesis objective
+Whilst there exists a degree of international consensus regarding high-level outcomes and the priority areas for designing operational balancing practices for electricity markets with growing penetrations of renewable energy, the multi-layered nature of the design problem, the presence of existing tensions and challenges, and a changing resource mix mean that the design process is complex and contested. Previous literature has emphasised the need for empirical research to identify feasible, flexible and contextually appropriate solutions, even if they may not be optimal. Through empirical studies of aspects of the Australian National Electricity Market, this thesis endeavours to address this knowledge gap in the Australian context. It also aims to provide policy-makers in other jurisdictions with valuable insights drawn from the Australian experience whilst also serving as a model for approaching context-specific design when assessing the merit of operational practices in balancing electricity markets in transition.
 
 ## Research questions and methods
 

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 Policy-makers must confront and account for these complexities to design the flexible operational practices required to effectively and efficiently operate complex power systems and electricity markets undergoing a transition to renewable energy. Whilst the literature has identified high-level design outcomes and the design areas that deserve the most attention, there is, as @maysMissingIncentivesFlexibility2021 indicates, a role for empirical work that identifies "second-best" design solutions given the specific context of each power system and jurisdiction. This approach to the design problem recognises that purpose-fit balancing practices arise not from "optimal" settings, but from solutions that combine and compromise.
 
-With the need for robust design decisions supported by context-specific analysis, the work in [Chapters @sec:fcs; Chapters @sec:reserves] and [-@sec:info] contributes to the field of power system operational practice design by providing recommendations to system operators, market designers and energy system policy-makers based on models and detailed empirical studies of facets of the Australian National Electricity Market. Whilst some of the recommendations in these chapters may be unsuitable for other jurisdictions, the work in this thesis also contributes to the broader literature by serving as an example for policy-makers elsewhere of how to approach "second-best" and context-specific design when assessing which practices are best to successfully balance electricity markets in operational timeframes with increasing penetrations of variable renewable energy.
+With the need for robust design decisions supported by context-specific analysis, the work in [Chapters @sec:fcs; Chapters @sec:reserves] and [-@sec:info] contributes to the field of power system operational practice design by providing recommendations to system operators, market designers and energy system policy-makers based on models and detailed empirical studies of facets of the Australian National Electricity Market. Whilst some of the recommendations in these chapters may be unsuitable for other jurisdictions, the work in this thesis also contributes to the broader literature by serving as an example for policy-makers elsewhere of how to approach "second-best" and context-specific design when assessing which practices are best to successfully balance electricity markets in operational timeframes with growing penetrations of variable renewable energy.