Nordic TSOs to move to more flexible buying of reserves

The Nordic electricity transmission system operators (TSOs) are moving to a new method for purchasing the reserves they need to maintain balance in the system as the share of wind and solar power increases, the Danish operator, Energinet, announced today.

The TSOs will cease purchasing fixed amounts of reserves and instead forecast the exact need hour-by-hour, explains Thomas Dalgas Fechtenburg, head of ancillary services at Energinet.

The method, called dynamic dimensioning, has just been approved by the Nordic utility regulators.

“As more renewable energy dependent on the wind blowing and the sun shining is generated, and as electricity consumption becomes more fluctuating as we electrify society – with electric vehicles, heat pumps and large hydrogen plants – the specific need for reserves will vary further from the ‘constant’ on an hourly basis,” said Fechtenburg.

The objective is to make reserve purchases more accurate and hence ensure cheaper prices for electricity consumers.

The new system, on which Energinet has been working for about three years, will be implemented in stages. The first phase will be to predict deviations in forecast consumption and generation from wind and solar facilities.

Using a common platform to purchase reserves across Nordic borders, will also ensure more efficient and cost-effective operation of the electricity systems, according to the announcement. The same can be said for more intelligent purchasing, drawing on reserve power in neighbouring countries, which are unlikely to need activation of reserves simultaneously.

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