All Along the Watchtower – pricing disputes in SEM

As we enter the fourth month of the new SEM market, it is already starting to feel a little like business as usual. There are still indications of high balancing price volatility and the odd surprise in the day-ahead, not to mention continued liquidity issues in the intraday continuous market. However, little by little issues are being flagged, investigated and resolved.

This week’s blog looks at some of the errors in the balancing market that are being investigated by SEMO since the market go-live date.

Related thinking

Low carbon generation

Week-on-week day-ahead power price losses in the SEM

The first reported week of February 2022 recorded week-on-week day-ahead power price losses in the SEM. Source: SEMO/Cornwall Insight Ireland Despite recent week-on-week price losses, day-ahead power prices remain significantly higher than the prices observed in the opening week of February last year, currently out turning 171.0% higher. Day-ahead power...

Business supply and services

Power prices for SME’s reach record highs

According to our latest Pricing in the SME power market report, Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) power prices have continued to rise in Q221, reaching the highest level since our records began in Q212. On average, prices have increased by 24.8% year-on-year at the PC3-6MWh and PC3-15MWh consumption points and...

Energy storage and flexibility

Caught in the balance: Assessing amber alerts in the SEM

SEMO announced on 21 January that it was issuing an amber alert. This happens when the system margin is at a level where a trip of the largest in-feed would give rise to a reasonable possibility of either a failure to meet system demand, or cause a significant deviation in system...

Home supply and services

The competition is on in the domestic energy market

It is difficult to deny that the Big Six have faced significant competitive pressure in the domestic market over the course of the year. Despite the 11 domestic market exits recorded since January 2019, new entry, new propositions and revitalised sales channels have resulted in some of the highest switching...

Low carbon generation

SEMiversary: Analysing market volatility post I-SEM go-live

On the first anniversary of the SEM market, we analyse how market volatility of the day-ahead power market has changed since go-live in October 2018, and what events have affected this. The day-ahead market has accounted for over 90% of ex-ante trades to date, with the remaining stake spread across...

Low carbon generation

Under pressure: Price cannibalisation in the SEM

After the publication of Project Ireland 2040 and Climate Action Plan 2019, it looks increasingly likely that renewables will be a significantly larger proportion of the generation mix. This development has and will increasingly see renewable projects look to the wholesale power market to underpin investment, a complicating factor of this...

Low carbon generation

Owner of a lonely heart: Intraday continuous liquidity

When the I-SEM detailed design was released, many participants were concerned about potential liquidity issues in the Intraday Continuous (IDC) market. It would seem that their concerns have merit. As the first few weeks of I-SEM have certainly displayed low volumes in comparison to the Day-Ahead Market (DAM) and three...

Low carbon generation

Coming the long way: wind forecast and imbalance prices

Last week wind generation accounted for 56% of the generation mix on an all-island basis. The market also saw significant volatility in the Balancing Market (BM), with the Single Electricity Market Operator (SEMO) receiving pricing disputes related to early trading in the BM. While there has been much discussion about...