Chart of the week | FFR tender results surprises

On 16 October, National Grid ESO published its monthly tender results for the Firm Frequency Response (FFR) service. Stiff competition from participants, including battery storage projects and the influx of aggregators, have led to an oversupplied service. This has seen the prices realised fall and stagnate.

This week look into the results that show the year-to-date, prices for accepted tenders offering dynamic response have averaged £7.6/MW/hr; this 46.2% below the £14.2/MW/hr seen to October 17.

It was, surprising to market participants when a tender from First Hydro was accepted this month at £17.7/MW/hr. The tender from the company’s Dinorwig hydro pumped storage asset (capacity 1.8GW) became the most expensive accepted tender since January 2018. All the while, seemingly cheaper alternatives where rejected.

Joe Camish

Joe Camish

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