Bundesnetzagentur identifies further failures to meet balancing group commitments
Year of issue 2020
Date of issue 2020.04.30
The Bundesnetzagentur has found that Centrica, Danske Commodities and Statkraft have not adequately upheld the commitments made in their electricity balancing group contracts. The authority announced two weeks ago that the companies Energie Vertrieb Deutschland (EVD) and Optimax Energy had failed to meet the requirement to manage their balancing groups properly.
Impermissible behaviour by balance responsible parties
The balance responsible parties did not sufficiently balance feed-in and offtake, leading to significant imbalances in their balancing groups, which contributed to the considerable imbalances in the electricity system that occurred in June 2019.
The Bundesnetzagentur has judged the registering of energy volumes in the generation forecasts that were not, in fact, available to the balance responsible parties to be impermissible. Furthermore, it is not sufficient in the forecast to base the management of the balancing groups on the account of the grid control cooperation without taking into consideration the current feed-in of the generating installations allocated to the balancing group.
The determination by the Bundesnetzagentur, against which legal remedies are possible, is the equivalent of a warning to the five companies. It does not constitute a direct termination of the balancing group contract. Only transmission system operators can cancel balancing group contracts.
Measures to improve the upholding of balancing group commitments
The system imbalances that arose in June 2019 were so severe that they could not be attributed to the usual causes, such as power plant failures or fluctuations in the generation of energy from renewable sources. The investigation into them showed that there had been significant deviations overall in the balancing groups of some balance responsible parties.
The Bundesnetzagentur had already determined a package of measures designed to improve the upholding of balancing group commitments in December 2019. The determination of the breaches concludes the supervisory proceedings opened against six balance responsible parties.
Upholding balancing group commitments during the Covid-19 pandemic
To maintain system security, it is still essential for balance responsible parties to meet their obligations during the period of crisis caused by the coronavirus. Despite the current restrictions, they must provide the best possible forecast and manage their balancing groups so that they are balanced in each 15-minute period.