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Marten Ovaere

Assistant Professor (Docent), Department of Economics, Ghent University • Fellow, Yale Center for Business and the Environment

I am an assistant professor (docent) of energy economics at the Department of Economics of Ghent University, working on electricity markets, demand flexibility (electric vehicles and heat pumps), grid tariffs, and renewable energy policy. My research combines high-frequency public and private electricity data, field experiments, and policy evaluation to study how behavior, policies and market design affect the energy transition.

Electricity markets Demand flexibility Electric vehicles & heat pumps Pricing and tariffs Distribution grids Renewables Policy evaluation Energy transition

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Links: Curriculum Vitae (PDF) · Google Scholar · GitHub

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Vacancies. I sometimes have funding to hire PhD students. If you are interested in doing a PhD and were in the top 5% of your graduating class, feel free to send me an email. Every year, there are vacancies for PhD students and postdoctoral researchers at tour department (typically announced in February–March). Please check the UGent department website for updates.

Grants

My research is currently supported by the following grants:

  • BE-WISE — Strengthening the competitiveness of the Belgian offshore wind sector via industrial policy strategies and economics (Federal Energy Transition Fund, 2024–2026)
  • Climate regulation and firms — Evidence from the European Union emissions trading system (Research Foundation Flanders, 2023–2027)
  • INTERFLEX — Unlocking the barriers to accelerate and scale up residential flexibility in Belgium (Federal Energy Transition Fund, 2023–2026)
  • CROCODILE — Cross-border Coordination of Offshore Grids under Different Designs for Day-Ahead and Ancillary Service Markets (Federal Energy Transition Fund, 2024–2027)

Background

I am also a fellow at the Yale Center for Business and the Environment. Previously, I was a senior postdoctoral fellow at the Research Foundation-Flanders (FWO), a postdoctoral researcher at Yale University (School of the Environment) and visiting scholar at Toulouse School of Economics.

I have a PhD in economics, a MSc in economics, and a MSc in Energy Engineering from KU Leuven.