Balancing Mechanism

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Balancing Reserve: ESO proposes new regulating reserve service

    In recent months National Grid ESO has been developing a new reserve service to improve the management of the system and enable the grid to accommodate zero carbon operation of the electricity system by 2025. On 28 September the ESO first announced at their Autumn 2022 Markets Forum, a proposal...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    The new face of frequency response – 1 year of Dynamic Containment

    In October 2020, National Grid Electricity System Operator (NGESO) implemented the soft-launch of the Dynamic Containment (DC) service, the first in a new suite of faster-acting frequency response services. Since its launch, the DC service has been the most lucrative response service and has grown considerably in the past year....

  • Announcement

    The top 5 podcasts of 2020

    We released 13 podcasts in 2020 covering all aspects of the energy market, from the Capacity Market and Electric Vehicles to Faster Switching and heat networks. Here are our top five podcasts of the year, ranked by the number of people who listened. 5. The Impact of COVID-19 on System...

  • Low carbon generation

    The Balancing Mechanism and BSUoS under lockdown

    The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown restrictions have severely impacted the GB energy market with demand and prices at record lows. As market conditions have drastically changed, National Grid Electricity System Operator (NG ESO) has been much in the spotlight, with the current low demand scenario providing new operational challenges....

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Turn it up – responding rapidly to manage the system

    In balancing the system, we used to talk mostly about narrowing capacity margins and the need to ensure ‘headroom’. But suddenly there’s a greater need for greater consumption and the provision of ‘footroom’ during COVID-19, and potentially and also in the future. The ESO will need to procure more and...

  • Low carbon generation

    Flexible Asset PPAs – more capacity, more competition

    The Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) market for flexible assets in the last six months has both grown in size and seen increased levels of competition as new offtakers and optimisers make themselves known in the market. What do we mean by the PPA market for flexible assets? We mean the...

  • Announcement

    Celebration: Cornwall Insight wins second FT award

    Tom Palmer, our managing consultant, discusses our recent success of achieving a bronze award for consulting from the Financial Times for the second year running. Last week we discovered that for the second year running we have been rated in the top 20 Management Consultants for Energy, Utilities and Environment...

  • Low carbon generation

    Constraints – can’t stop loving you

    Do you remember Just under 10 years ago I worked at Ofgem, as part of a team focused on the electricity System Operator incentive scheme. Much of my time was spent evaluating expenditure by National Grid (now known as National Grid Electricity System Operator(ESO)) on their actions pre- and post-fault...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    In the balance: Analysing volatility in the BM

    In this week’s blog, we focus on developments for the Balancing Market (BM) in the SEM.  The BM is where the Transmission System Operator (TSO) can take actions to ensure the transmission system remains within operational parameters as supply and demand changes. Actions here ultimately determine the imbalance settlement price (ISP)...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Five things we learned in our new Flexible PPA Market Report

    Cornwall Insight has been examining the fast-developing market for flexible asset Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with a new report, The Flexible PPA Market Report, specifically launched to cover this. Through our leading market research and regulatory expertise, complemented by in-depth discussions with a range of market participants, the report encapsulates...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Is flexibility evolving? The latest from our customer flexibility event

    On Thursday 26th September, Cornwall Insight held its customer flexibility event, presenting a comprehensive overview of our research covering flexibility in the GB electricity sector. The presentations encompassed a broad spectrum of topics, ranging from analysis of recent Balancing Mechanism trends to proposed network reforms and progress under Project TERRE....

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Changes in accepted BM offers: What’s the STORy?

    In August 2018 National Grid (NG) made a change to its internal processes, restricting the operational window in which its staff could engage Short Term Operating Reserve (STOR) assets from four to two hours ahead of delivery. This has contributed to a significant reduction in the number and volume of...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Imbalance prices turn negative for six straight hours

    Imbalance prices turned negative for 13 consecutive settlement periods on Sunday, as low electricity demand and high levels of wind output led the System Operator to reduce generation output from a variety of wind, combined cycle gas turbines (CCGT) and biomass power stations. The imbalance price dropped below zero in...

  • Regulation and policy

    Getting to grips with the future balancing market

    Modification P344 Project TERRE Implementation into GB Market Arrangements was implemented into the BSC on 28 February, having been approved in August 2018. The change will introduce the Trans-European Replacement Reserves Exchange (TERRE) products to the GB market while simultaneously widening the range of parties that can participate in the...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Tilted – high pricing in the Balancing Market

    Since the launch of the new SEM market a topic which has undergone a great deal of scrutiny, discussion and investigation (not least by Cornwall Insight Ireland) has concerned the Balancing Market, and specifically how the balancing price (aka Imbalance Settlement Price) is calculated.  The latest twist in the tale...

  • Low carbon generation

    Fight the power: CRU, Huntstown and the Appeal Panel

    Lemme hear you say The indirect impacts of last year’s capacity auction continue to come. An Appeal Panel has determined that the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities (CRU) erred in seeking to enforce a decision on licence changes relating to Huntstown power station. If implemented, they found that the...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    A pragmatic review of battery business cases

    As we await the full results of the latest T-4 Capacity Market, which has delivered the lowest clearing price to date for this type of auction, we have been reflecting on the possible business cases for large-scale battery storage. I was speaking on this very topic at the Energy Storage...