Study: »Co-regulation« in electricity trading can reduce grid fees

In a study, the Berlin-based consulting firm Neon Neue Energieökonomie GmbH examined the effects of system-supporting behavior by balancing group managers in electricity trading. With this »co-regulation«, players in electricity trading consciously take positions that are not aimed at smoothing their own portfolio, but rather at supporting the grid balance. As a result, grid imbalances can be eliminated earlier and at lower cost, according to the study.
According to the authors, the practice of system-supporting balancing group management is likely to have contributed significantly to the fact that, despite a fivefold increase in wind and solar capacity over the past 15 years, the need for balancing power in Germany has halved over the same period. This, in turn, has relieved and continues to relieve the grid fees through which all electricity customers finance the provision of balancing power.
The authors criticize the fact that Germany rejects system-supporting balancing group management in the European market environment. In many European countries, the practice is explicitly desired by legislators and transmission system operators, including the Netherlands, Belgium, the United Kingdom, France, Austria and Denmark.
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