Modern energy markets are changing rapidly, as evidenced by the recent transition of the Baltic States from the BRELL to the European CESA system. One of the consequences of this transition was the opportunity for private homeowners to participate in trading in energy markets for additional services.
Until recently, opportunities to earn money from supplying solar energy to the grid were a source of additional income for homeowners, but as the number of solar power plants grows, these opportunities are becoming fewer. Competition among private electricity producers is growing, and the regulator is reducing prices, sometimes even making them negative.
This situation has become a reason for disappointment in small-scale solar energy and a reason to look for new opportunities to participate in the market. The use of storage batteries in the home energy network seems to be a reasonable solution.
When using batteries in the home network, it becomes possible not only to manage your load and generation, but also to trade in the balancing services markets. The energy ancillary services market is designed to quickly respond to changes in energy consumption and generation. It involves generating companies responsible for maintaining the balance of the network (BRP) and balancing service providers (BSP).
The main supply of electricity is carried out through the exchange, where prices are formed for the day ahead. Prices are formed in such a way as to ensure the best possible balance between generation and consumption. This is monitored by the network operator.
But the reality is that it is impossible to perfectly balance the market - too many factors affect production and consumption, many of which appear completely unexpectedly. The ancillary services market is used for balancing.
The energy ancillary services market includes several levels of regulation.
The first level is FCR (Frequency Containment Reserve). This is the fastest form of regulation, which is activated automatically within a few seconds. Participants (BSP) provide an immediate response to frequency deviations in order to prevent serious fluctuations in the power system.
The second level is aFRR (Automatic Frequency Restoration Reserve). This balancing level is activated within 30 seconds to several minutes and serves to restore the normal frequency in the power system after the initial FCR response. Participants receive commands from the network operator automatically.
The third level is mFRR (Manual Frequency Restoration Reserve). This level is activated manually by the operator's command and uses resources for medium-term restoration of the energy balance. The response time can be up to 15 minutes.
Trading in the additional services market is similar to trading in securities. However, there are also specific features, which will be discussed below.
In order for a homeowner to be able to participate in them, it is necessary to have at least the necessary equipment. First of all, this is a battery storage and energy conversion system (BESS) - batteries and an inverter. A regular inverter for solar panels does not have the necessary functions, so a hybrid inverter is needed in the system.
Special software is also needed for these purposes. The software package not only works locally, but also transmits data to the server, where the most important decisions are made. The program running on the backend unites decentralized batteries into a single network. This is done so that, firstly, the total power and capacity are sufficient and the network operator can count on these resources, and, secondly, to manage the distributed capacity as a single block, using different physical batteries at different times. Such united energy objects can act as a single object, a virtual power plant (VPP). Alternatively, you can connect your batteries to an existing VPP.
Most often, all administrative issues, such as registration, accreditation, obtaining permits, concluding contracts, etc. are resolved at the VPP level and homeowners are not required to take any special actions other than concluding a contract. They are only provided with the necessary information in the form of reports upon receipt of their consent to all necessary actions.
Until recently, opportunities to earn money from supplying solar energy to the grid were a source of additional income for homeowners, but as the number of solar power plants grows, these opportunities are becoming fewer. Competition among private electricity producers is growing, and the regulator is reducing prices, sometimes even making them negative.
This situation has become a reason for disappointment in small-scale solar energy and a reason to look for new opportunities to participate in the market. The use of storage batteries in the home energy network seems to be a reasonable solution.
When using batteries in the home network, it becomes possible not only to manage your load and generation, but also to trade in the balancing services markets. The energy ancillary services market is designed to quickly respond to changes in energy consumption and generation. It involves generating companies responsible for maintaining the balance of the network (BRP) and balancing service providers (BSP).
The main supply of electricity is carried out through the exchange, where prices are formed for the day ahead. Prices are formed in such a way as to ensure the best possible balance between generation and consumption. This is monitored by the network operator.
But the reality is that it is impossible to perfectly balance the market - too many factors affect production and consumption, many of which appear completely unexpectedly. The ancillary services market is used for balancing.
The energy ancillary services market includes several levels of regulation.
The first level is FCR (Frequency Containment Reserve). This is the fastest form of regulation, which is activated automatically within a few seconds. Participants (BSP) provide an immediate response to frequency deviations in order to prevent serious fluctuations in the power system.
The second level is aFRR (Automatic Frequency Restoration Reserve). This balancing level is activated within 30 seconds to several minutes and serves to restore the normal frequency in the power system after the initial FCR response. Participants receive commands from the network operator automatically.
The third level is mFRR (Manual Frequency Restoration Reserve). This level is activated manually by the operator's command and uses resources for medium-term restoration of the energy balance. The response time can be up to 15 minutes.
Trading in the additional services market is similar to trading in securities. However, there are also specific features, which will be discussed below.
In order for a homeowner to be able to participate in them, it is necessary to have at least the necessary equipment. First of all, this is a battery storage and energy conversion system (BESS) - batteries and an inverter. A regular inverter for solar panels does not have the necessary functions, so a hybrid inverter is needed in the system.
Special software is also needed for these purposes. The software package not only works locally, but also transmits data to the server, where the most important decisions are made. The program running on the backend unites decentralized batteries into a single network. This is done so that, firstly, the total power and capacity are sufficient and the network operator can count on these resources, and, secondly, to manage the distributed capacity as a single block, using different physical batteries at different times. Such united energy objects can act as a single object, a virtual power plant (VPP). Alternatively, you can connect your batteries to an existing VPP.
Most often, all administrative issues, such as registration, accreditation, obtaining permits, concluding contracts, etc. are resolved at the VPP level and homeowners are not required to take any special actions other than concluding a contract. They are only provided with the necessary information in the form of reports upon receipt of their consent to all necessary actions.
