Cross-border sharing of frequency restoration reserves
The cross-border interaction of different countries’ electricity systems should not be limited to exchanging energy. A key aspect in the secure operation of the European power system is the commitment of sufficient reserves to restore power balance, considering the inherent variability of continuously increasing renewable generation and large contingencies, such as the loss of large generators.
As part of the CROSSBOW’s Regional Operation Centre – Balancing Cockpit (ROC-BC) product, ICCS partners have developed a novel approach to cooperatively size and share frequency restoration reserves (FRR) among 9 countries in south-Eastern Europe (SEE), while ensuring that individual countries’ FRR requirements, as well as cross-border capacity limits, are satisfied. Quantitative tests have demonstrated that this FRR cross-border sharing approach can significantly reduce the overall amount of FRR requirements and the associated FRR procurement cost in the SEE region. These benefits are driven by the more efficient allocation of cheaper FRR resources and the natural diversity of generation and demand conditions in different countries (associated with varying weather conditions, generation mix, and demand portfolios) which diversifies the risks associated with demand-supply imbalances, reducing significantly the overall reserve requirements.
