Energy storage and flexibility

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Chart of the week | We built this city… on existing generation

    The Capacity Market (CM), introduced under the Electricity Market Reform (EMR) policy programme is designed to ensure security of electricity supply in GB. This is done by providing payments – determined through a competitive auction– to generators and eligible demand side response (DSR) and can encourage existing plant to remain...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Australian Chart of the week | Slow is smooth and smooth is fast for the NEM transition

    Reporting season is all but over for the energy majors in Australia and that has left us with a bevy of takeaways on the sentiment for the not-so-distant future. A key thread among reports has been the current low-price environment in the NEM. This is a topic that we have...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Australian Chart of the week | Winds of change: Victoria and its unique afternoon ‘belly bump’

    To say the transition is well and truly underway in the Australian NEM is not exactly news. In the last year alone, renewables have delivered record shares in generation mix across the NEM. Whilst solar is the technology often in the news given its impact on both operational demand, mid-day...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Australian Chart of the week | Show me the future: can storage bank on FCAS being bankable?

    Previously we have examined the importance in FCAS prices for the revenue stream for batteries. With a growing interest in batteries in the market, this ‘Chart of the week’ takes a deeper look into the impact of bidding behaviour on the Regulation Raise price since 2012. From January 2012 until...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Chart of the week | Wider Access: BM sees annual increase in smaller participants

    In recent years National Grid ESO’s Wider Access programme has rolled out several measures to support the entry of smaller and non-traditional participants into the Balancing Mechanism (BM). This 'Chart of the week' looks at the level of new entry into the BM over the past year. Specifically, it looks...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Chart of the week | Increasing electricity balancing costs and an increasing System Operator role

    Last week saw the publication of Ofgem's review of GB energy system operation. This makes recommendations that the roles and functions of the electricity and gas system operators need to change in light of net zero. In this week's 'Chart of the week', I wanted to focus on one aspect...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Australian Chart of the week | Yesterday, [battery storage] was such an easy game to play

    FCAS continues to drive the majority of revenues for battery storage in the NEM (there are five active utility-scale battery storage projects operating in the NEM; three in SA and two in VIC), however given the forecast pipeline of prospective storage projects (with two 500MW+ projects having already been announced...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Chart of the week | Margin Call – tight system sees £4,000 imbalance price

    Tight supply margins have been a feature of the electricity system this winter during periods of high power demand and low wind output. These conditions have been combined with several unplanned and extended planned power plant outages. As a result, reducing National Grid Electricity System Operator’s (ESO) cushion of spare...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Australian Chart of the week | I can’t believe it’s not b[e]tter?… spreads getting better in NSW

    The Federal Government announced this week that they will step into the electricity market (through the state-owned Snowy Hydro) to build up to 1,000MW of gas-fired generation to fill the gap left by the Liddell Power station for the 2023-24 summer unless the market can demonstrate final investment on dispatchable...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Australian Chart of the week | A little [ price volatility ] goes a long way

    The year of 2020 is slowly ending which means that summer has well and truly arrived. However, for those with some connection to the NEM, this is a period where speculation peaks in terms of what summer has in store for us – and with good reason! Of all parts...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Australian Chart of the week | Push it to the limit: the evolution of MPC & market tightness

    With summer officially starting last Tuesday, the National Electricity Market (NEM) is about to go through the season that typically has the highest demand. Market tightness usually seen during summer sometimes pushes power prices to their maximum level – the Market Price Cap (MPC) – currently set at $15,000/MWh. In...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Australian Chart of the week | Battery of the nation + hydrogen export: Can they do both?

    The Tasmanian government have announced that they will set a target to double their current renewable generation by 2040. Based on current market dynamics, this means that Tasmania will likely need consistent renewable generation of around 2.4 GW (assuming average requirements) or 3.4 GW (if scaled to peak demand). This...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Australian Chart of the week | Where do we go now…. Sweet child o’ mine?

    On 6 November the Victorian government announced the commitment to deliver, along with the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), the largest battery in Australia 300MW. The Geelong battery is contracted under AEMO’s System Integrity Protection Scheme (SIPS) allowing an additional 250MW to flow across the interconnector and respond to network...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Chart of the week | Grand unveiling: Dynamic Containment goes live

    At 11pm on 1 October National Grid ESO debuted its new frequency response service, Dynamic Containment (DC). This is the first in a suite of new faster-acting response services, designed to address significant frequency deviations when they occur on the transmission system.   The roll-out of this new post-fault response...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Chart of the week | Flexible asset PPA market—growing, evolving & competitive

    We’ve just completed the latest research for our Flexible Asset PPA Market report. In this report we analyse and forecast key aspects of this market to detail how Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) are being used to support flexibile assets. Here, we look at some of the key headlines from the...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Chart of the week | New to the party: Recent changes in Balancing Mechanism activity

    The Balancing Mechanism (BM), one of National Grid Electricity System Operator’s key tools to balance supply and demand in real time, has experienced a notable increase in activity in 2020, especially in light of the heightened challenges that have come from COVID-19. In the BM parties submit bids and offers...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Australian Chart of the week | GPG: From middle of the order to the nightwatchman?

    Across multiple reports published in recent weeks, the topic of changing supply dynamics has been a key focus as more renewable energy resources continue to enter the system including both grid-scale and behind-the-meter assets. Much of the commentary has focussed on the changing operation of coal generation in the face...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Australian Chart of the week | Ramping: Brought into focus but always in the frame

    With the release of AEMO’s Integrated System Plan (ISP) comes increased commentary on the need for power system services critical to ensuring the secure operation of the NEM. Of growing importance are services to provide voltage control and system strength, frequency control and inertia, ramping and dispatchability. In this week’s...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Australian Chart of the week | A little respect (just a little bit): FCAS costs hit solar hardest

    Wholesale energy prices may have hit some of their lowest prices in years, but the total cost of Frequency Control Ancillary Services (FCAS) skyrocketed in Q1 resulting from the South Australian Islanding event. The islanding event threw back into the spotlight the importance of understanding the costs associated with FCAS...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Australian Chart of the week | | For a Few Dollars More: more markets proposed, not all survive

    There are a mountain of rule changes currently before the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC), many of which will fundamentally change the manner in which the National Electricity Market (NEM) operates. In this Chart of the Week, we rate the impacts and probability of implementation of the rule changes being...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Australian Chart of the week | Down, down, prices are down… but is it sustainable?

    Following a comparatively mild Q1, electricity prices have fallen significantly in Q2. While a drop in price is expected as we move from peak demand conditions in Q1 to the shoulder Q2, the surprising element is the level to which prices have fallen. Average quarterly prices in Q2 2020 were...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Chart of the week | The real deal: Recent activity in the PPA market

    In this 'Chart of the week', we outline the latest research from our PPA Market Deals Trackers. We provide this as part of our 'Renewables PPA Market Share' and 'Flexible Asset PPA Market Report'. Through this analysis, we track and record all public deals relating to the PPA market. This...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Australian Chart of the week | When they were up they were up – have we underestimated DER

    It has been a big couple of months for Distributed Energy Resources (DER), especially in relation to the policy and regulations that will play a large role in how these assets are controlled in the future. Over the last month we have seen Energy Networks Australia release their Open Energy...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Australian Chart of the week | VNI West RIT-T: another route-to-market for battery storage?

    Over the last week, we have been reading through stakeholder submissions to the Victoria to New South Wales Interconnector West (VNI West) Regulatory Investment Test for Transmission (RIT-T) Project Specification Consultation Report (PSCR). For the most part, the submissions were in support of options 7 and 6 (Figure 1). However,...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Chart of the week | What’s in it for me? Household grid balancing

    The current dearth in energy demand and high renewable generation has brought the need for flexible consumption sharply into focus. Last weekend, Octopus Energy paid thousands of smart meter customers to use energy. Industry is now seriously looking at how households will be supported in their participation in demand side...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Australian Chart of the week | Calling an audible: Voltage control changing the playbook

    Voltage instability concerns are becoming more relevant in the NEM as the system continues to incorporate higher levels of variable asynchronous generation in “electrically weak” areas of the network. Most recently, AEMO (on advice from TransGrid) implemented a new/revised system normal constraint equation in NSW for voltage collapse at Darlington...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Chart of the week | Cha-Cha Slide: COVID-19 & falling levels of inertia

    The level of inertia on the system is a key contributor to electricity system stability. Inertia is an attribute of the system related to the energy stored in the rotating motors of synchronous generators. It prevents system frequency from falling too quickly after a frequency disturbance (e.g. a generator trip)....

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Pixie Chart of the week | WPD flexibility results show increased engagement

    Western Power Distribution (WPD) published detailed results of its latest flexibility tender on 20 April. The distribution network owner procured 94.8MW of flexible capacity in its 2020 Cycle 1 procurement exercise. Consequently, this brought its total volume of contracted flexibility to 217MW. The exercise, the fifth since the launch of...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Australian Chart of the week | System strength: From by-product to necessity

    Last week, AEMO published a notice of fault level shortfall in North Queensland at the Ross node. This announcement represents the latest case of system strength issues in the National Electricity Market (NEM). It joins a growing list of areas where intervention (through direction or constraints) is required to ensure...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Australian Chart of the week | A tale of two cities: batteries vs pumped hydro & solar vs wind

    On 1 April 2020 the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) released the final Marginal Loss Factors - MLFs - for 2020-21. This week's Chart of the Week looks at how the MLFs have changed and which assets benefited the most. If we look closely at the MLF results over the past...