Scarcity expected in the availability of reserves for the power system
The extraordinary circumstances prevailing in the energy markets have raised uncertainties around the availability of electricity, which are expected to lead to scarcity in the supply of reserves used to manage the power balance in the electricity system in the coming months. All the balancing resources capable of contributing to the reserve markets are requested to make themselves available. In addition, Fingrid is promoting market changes to facilitate the process of offering reserves as of the latter part of the year.
Fingrid uses various reserve products to balance out normal fluctuations between electricity consumption and production and to restore the balance between production and consumption in the event of a disturbance, such as a sudden fault in a power plant. The amount of supply in the reserve market has decreased in recent months due to the extraordinary circumstances prevailing in the energy markets, and there may be significant scarcity in the availability of reserves from time to time in the coming months. Without sufficient reserves, disturbances are more likely to lead to electricity shortages, making it necessary to disconnect consumers momentarily. In order to ensure the security of the electricity system in the coming winter, it is crucial for all balancing resources to participate in the reserve market.
Olkiluoto 3 will drive the need for purchases in the balancing capacity market
The commissioning of the Olkiluoto 3 nuclear power plant, scheduled for the end of the year, will increase the dimensioning fault of the power system of Finland from the current 1,100 MW cross-border line fault to 1,300 MW *), which will increase the need for up-regulation capacity in the manual Frequency Restoration Reserve (mFRR) that can be activated within 15 minutes. Fingrid ensures that the available reserves are at least equal to the Finnish dimensioning fault so that the power system can be restored to normal in the event of the largest possible individual failure. Potential new providers of up-regulation capacity are requested to contact Fingrid (Tero Mutikainen, email addresses in the form firstname.lastname@fingrid.fi).
Balancing capacity markets to transition from weekly purchases to hourly markets on 1 December
At the beginning of December 2022, day ahead hourly market will replace weekly procurements of balancing capacity. This will make it easier to offer balancing capacity, as the visibility of the capacity on offer will improve as purchases are made closer to the time of delivery, and the bid volumes in hourly markets can fluctuate at different times of the day.
One-megawatt balancing bids to be used more widely
In addition, Fingrid is working on an amendment to the terms and conditions for the balancing power market (also known as the mFRR energy market) to expand the adoption of 1 MW bids. In the future, a balancing service provider could submit up to five balancing bids under 5 MW in each direction instead of the current limit of one such balancing bid. This would allow for up to ten balancing bids below 5 MW. The aim is to introduce the amendment in the coming winter season. The amendment would make it easier to offer balancing resources, especially smaller ones. Later the aim is to enable the large-scale adoption of a minimum bid size of 1 MW.
Further information:
Jyrki Uusitalo, Unit Manager, tel. +358 30 395 5181
Email addresses are in the form firstname.lastname@fingrid.fi
*) The system protection of OL3 will help to automatically limit the impact on the main grid if the power supply from Olkiluoto 3 suddenly fails in 0.3 seconds to 1,300 MW.