“…Compared with hourly markets, block markets can reduce energy procurement costs more effectively in countries with large amounts of thermal power generation. In a competitive electricity market, power-retailing companies are considered as an intermediary link for purchasing electricity from wholesale markets (purchase level) and selling to customers (sales level) [8]. Demand response (DR) is a versatile tool of providing flexibility in electricity markets and has great effects in reducing electricity cost and maximising social welfare [9][10][11][12].…”