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Control energy & system balance

Key figures on the stabilisation of the Swiss transmission grid

Swissgrid publishes key figures on the system balance and the use of control energy in the Swiss transmission grid on a weekly basis. The charts show system imbalances and indicate the amounts of secondary and tertiary control energy tendered and activated. They also provide an insight into imbalance energy prices and the resulting costs.

The data illustrates how Swissgrid ensures the balance between electricity generation and consumption. This allows Swissgrid to make a significant contribution to the stability of the grid.

System balance

This chart shows the total system imbalance in the Swiss control area. It indicates the extent of deviations between electricity generation and consumption in the Swiss control area.

Missing data

The total system imbalance is typically caused by forecasting errors, short-term changes in electricity generation (e.g. by renewable energies), unplanned power plant failures or deviations in consumption.

In the event of a total system imbalance, Swissgrid must deploy control energy. Positive deviations are compensated by negative control energy, while negative deviations require positive control energy.

The data corresponds to indicative estimates calculated from real-time systems.

Tender and activation of secondary control energy

This chart shows the amounts of secondary control energy («automatic Frequency Restoration Reserve», aFRR) tendered and activated in the Swiss control area. Secondary control energy is used to compensate for imbalances between electricity generation and consumption. Positive secondary control energy is activated if generation in the Swiss control area is lower than consumption. Conversely, negative secondary control energy is activated if generation is higher than consumption.

Missing data

Tender and activation of tertiary control energy

This chart shows the amounts of tertiary control energy («manual Frequency Restoration Reserve», mFRR) tendered and activated in the Swiss electricity system. Tertiary control energy is used to compensate for larger or longer-lasting imbalances in the Swiss control area and to replace the secondary control energy provided in the previous minutes.

Missing data

Average prices of the control energy activated

The following charts show the average prices of the secondary and tertiary control energy activated.

A positive price for negative control energy can arise because in addition to remunerating an ancillary service, the energy actually exchanged also has a value. When activating negative secondary or tertiary control energy (SRE-/TRE-), the bidder reduces their feed-in or increases their consumption. This means that they effectively «take on» energy from the system. Consequently, depending on the market situation and energy price level, a payment may be made to Swissgrid by the market players.

High price fluctuations indicate situations with high demand for control energy or scarce resource availability.

Secondary control energy

The price trends illustrate how the costs for short-term balancing change over time and how volatile the market for activated control energy can be.

Missing data

Tertiary control energy

The price trends illustrate how the costs for the use of tertiary control energy change over time and how volatile the market can be.

Missing data

Costs of activated control energy

The following charts show the cumulative costs of activated control energy in one week, expressed in thousands of euros (EUR thousand). Amounts with a positive sign are costs from Swissgrid’s perspective, while contributions with a negative sign represent revenue.

Costs are generally incurred for Swissgrid in the positive supply direction. In the negative supply direction, positive prices generate revenue, but negative prices also generate costs for Swissgrid. These costs arise when control energy has to be actively deployed to stabilise the Swiss electricity system – either by using additional energy or reducing surplus feed-in.

Secondary control energy

The continuously rising curve shows:

Missing data

Tertiary control energy

The continuously rising curve shows:

Missing data

Imbalance energy price

The chart shows the imbalance energy price in the Swiss control area (in EUR/MWh). These are the prices that are applied for billing the imbalances of the balance groups.

The imbalance energy price reflects the distinction made between a deficit and a surplus in the control area:

The price determined in this way is applied symmetrically: balance groups pay or receive remuneration according to their imbalance and the corresponding imbalance energy price.

The data corresponds to indicative estimates calculated from real-time systems.

Missing data

Links & Downloads

Links

Tenders tertiary control energy

Imbalance energy

Downloads

Contact

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