ESO prepares for European frequency response platform

National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO) has submitted a modification to the Balancing and Settlement Code (BSC) that seeks to identify and implement the necessary amendments for the introduction of a new pan-European frequency response platform.

The ESO said the platform will give it access to a wider pool of providers, increasing competition and lowering prices, whilst also granting access to European markets for providers in Great Britain.

EU regulations introduced in 2017 require the ESO to participate in the Manually Activated Reserve Initiative (MARI)– an exchange for manually-activated frequency restoration reserves.

Although the UK has now left the European Union, the withdrawal agreement stipulates that EU legislation be adhered to until the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020. The proposal document submitted by the ESO said whether providers in Great Britain will be able to participate beyond then is subject to ongoing negotiations between the UK and the EU.

To meet the go-live date of July 2022, the ESO said work must begin now to identify the necessary changes to the BSC, as well as the Grid Code and Connection and Use of System Code. Rather than waiting for the outcome of the negotiations and then being forced to play catch-up, the body said it would be better to proceed as if Great Britain’s participation in MARI will not be hindered.

“The intention is for GB to remain in the internal energy market and it is hoped that GB participants will be able to use MARI,” the body added. “Even if they are not able to from 1 January 2021, then they will be able to at some point in the future so it would be better to have the necessary changes ready to go with everything on hold, rather than spend two years developing a solution later.”

The ESO said P407 will run in conjunction with a similar modification to the Grid Code that has yet to be submitted. The aim is to develop the necessary changes to the codes and balancing and settlement systems during 2021 before testing them over the first half of 2022.

MARI is expected to utilise the same software platform, LIBRA, as the Trans European Replacement Reserves Exchange (TERRE). The EU regulations introduced in 2017 also require the ESO to participate in TERRE.

TERRE was due to go-live in December 2019, but the ESO secured a deferment from Ofgem after the system operator in France, which acts as a gateway to the market for Great Britain, was permitted to delay its entry by 12 months due to problems with its implementation.

The ESO stressed that MARI “will be a balancing product in its own right and will have its own rules and applications,” but said it nevertheless intends to “replicate and emulate the TERRE delivery mechanism as much as possible.”