- UK’s National Grid ESO comes live.
- The Dynamic Regulation is designed to correct continuous but small deviations in frequency.
The United Kingdom (UK) National Electricity Grid System Operator has launched the first auction for Dynamic Regulation (DR), the newest frequency service. DR is a pre-fault service designed to correct continuous but small deviations in frequency.
The launch of DR follows Dynamic Containment, which went live in October 2020, providing a significant boom to battery energy storage operators in the UK. Its high initial price of £17 (US$22.17)/MW/h, in particular, drew attention, boosting the revenue stack of storage assets. It was first called into action less than 24 hours after it was launched when an interconnector tripped while importing 1,000MW, and the 139MW of battery capacity taking part in the first auction responded. While the service initially procured just low-frequency Dynamic Containment services, in November 2021, this was expanded to include high-frequency services too.
In December 2021, a little over a year since the service was initially launched, Faye Relton, ancillary services development manager at National Grid ESO, wrote an article reflecting on its development and the next steps for frequency response including the introduction of DR.
Following on from the launch of DR, the ESO will introduce the last service in the suite, Dynamic Moderation, set to go live on EPEX on 21 April, with the first action to be held on 6 May.