How does it work?
1
Grid need
The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) balances the supply and demand of electricity in real-time. When the grid’s frequency deviates, AEMO calls on Virtual Power Plant & Demand Response aggregators indicating that there is an urgent need for dispatchable capacity to support the system.
Frequency control services are procured in the Frequency Control Ancillary Services (FCAS) market and prices are determined every 5 minutes based on the real-time balance of supply and demand in the market. You receive the highest-priced offer that successfully cleared in each 5-minute interval, and earn revenue for each megawatt your site is available for, even if your services aren’t needed for that interval.
Frequency control services are procured in the Frequency Control Ancillary Services (FCAS) market and prices are determined every 5 minutes based on the real-time balance of supply and demand in the market. You receive the highest-priced offer that successfully cleared in each 5-minute interval, and earn revenue for each megawatt your site is available for, even if your services aren’t needed for that interval.
2
VPP is called
Enel X’s Virtual Power Plant (VPP) is called on, who aggregates its customer’s energy load or distributed energy assets made up of onsite equipment, backup generation assets, and battery energy storage solutions across businesses in Australia. Enel X offers its portfolio’s capacity to AEMO as a new source of power supply during these critical times.
3
Customer responds
Customers either switch to backup power sources (BESS, backup generation) or reduce or modify energy usage when called on. This makes their power flexibility available to AEMO, and we are able to automate the process our customers.
There are four frequency control services businesses can provide (Very Fast, Fast, Slow, Delayed), and each offers different revenue earning potential. Based on your technical capability, we confirm which categories you can participate in.
- We can adjust your level of participation at any time, and you can opt out if needed for operational reasons
- The revenue earned from your participation is proportional to the average kW you offer
- The revenue you can earn will be highest if you can provide all four services, including the Very Fast frequency control service, which requires your equipment to respond in less than one second
- An FCAS event last up to 10 minutes
4
Earn regular payments
Businesses enrolled in our VPP are paid to respond automatically to deviations in the grid’s frequency to help to restore it to its normal operating range.
5
Advance Australia’s renewable future
DR allows independent aggregators like Enel X to provide additional, dispatchable capacity to support the grid. This new capacity is essential to supporting the renewable energy transition, because dispatchable resources help to integrate variable renewable energy sources onto the grid.
