It is helpful to understand Frequency Control Ancillary Services (FCAS) as FCAS price forecasts are needed to estimate generator and customer costs, as well as possible revenues for new and existing ancillary service providers.
AEMO procures regulation FCAS to balance frequency during normal operation. From May 2019, AEMO has procured a base of 220/210MW in the raise and lower regulation markets, respectively. However, the average volume procured across the day can be higher than this, depending on system requirements.
In our analysis, we have seen an evident change in regulation enablement from December 2020 onwards. Hence, in this week’s ‘Chart of the week’, we have shown the average time of day volumes from December 2020 to March 2021 and the same period 12 months earlier.