What is the Energy Trading Platform?

Taiwan’s electrical grid is an independent grid that needs to be self-sufficient to maintain grid stability. The establishment of the Energy Trading Platform can introduce electricity resources scattered in the private sector into the electricity market more efficiently and economically, assisting in the stability of the power system. As the grid structure changes due to energy transition and the constant move towards net-zero goals, the Energy Trading Platform plays a key role in activating private investments, promoting the development of renewable energy, and enhancing the flexibility of the power system.

In addition, according to Article 11 of the Electricity Act¹, the transmission and distribution enterprises should establish an open and transparent Energy Trading Platform, fully disclosing transaction information to achieve the goals of regulating power supply and demand, ensuring fair competition, and promoting rational operation in the electricity industry.

Taiwan Power Company (hereinafter referred to as Taipower) established the Energy Trading Platform² in 2021. Its predecessor was the "Interim Program for Non-traditional Generator Participation in Spinning Reserve Ancillary Services." After confirming the feasibility of involving distributed resources in energy trading, the current Energy Trading Platform was officially established.

The current Energy Trading Platform includes two main trading markets: "Day-Ahead Ancillary Services" and "Electricity Reserve Capacity." The primary purpose of the Day-Ahead Ancillary Services market is to incorporate more external resources that can quickly respond and are flexible within the power system to maintain its safety and stability. When the grid experiences events, the series of services could also help the power system to restore to normal condition. The Electricity Reserve Capacity market provides a market trading channel for obligated reserve capacity providers to procure reserve power capacity.

Taipower's Day-Ahead Ancillary Services market mainly includes Supplemental Reserve, Spinning Reserve, Regulation Reserve, and Enhancement Dynamic Regulation. Apart from each suit for different resource participation, the main variations between these programs are the response time and duration. Some have a fast response time but a short duration, while others have a longer response time but can be sustained for a more extended period. With proper coordination, rotating these resources can leverage their strengths collectively to maintain grid stability.

Among them, Supplemental Reserve, Spinning Reserve, and Regulation Reserve can all be participated in with flexible energy resources, also known as Demand Response. This means that energy consumers can temporarily adjust their electricity consumption to provide ancillary services.

• Supplemental Reserve exists to meet the additional electricity demand required by the power system due to sudden increases in load or forecasting errors, mainly serving as standby safety capacity.
• Spinning Reserve also functions as a standby safety capacity, primarily addressing unexpected events such as generator trips or sudden load increases.
• Regulation Reserve is designed for real-time power adjustment, correcting system frequency deviations or mitigating frequency fluctuations.
• The Enhancement Dynamic Regulation is intended to address sudden increases in load and the shift of peak electricity consumption from daytime to nighttime, mainly used to adjust the difference in total system load demand during peak periods.

On the day before the dispatch day, market participants submit individual bids. After the bidding deadline, Taipower performs the optimization of the power system and announces the bidding results. The winning resources on the dispatch day then provide ancillary services according to the platform's instructions.

If businesses participate in the Energy Trading Platform through virtual power plants (VPPs) like Enel X, businesses can focus on their primary operations, with Enel X assisting in tasks such as arranging quotes, bidding, and other miscellaneous works. VPPs also offer the advantage of aggregating resources to maximize efficiency.

Enel X makes it easy for you to participate in the ancillary services market. Enel X's professional team is qualified as a market participant. Join the Enel X VPP and we will help you assess the best way to participate, complete the application process, install meters, submit deposits and more.

If you choose to trade in the Day-Ahead Ancillary Services market on your own, you need to complete and meet the requirements of the following three items:

1. Registration procedure: This includes professional qualifications, written applications and reviews, communication ability tests, execution ability tests, and deposit payments.
2. Professional qualifications: Qualified market participants must pass the professional qualifications test of the Energy Trading Platform, obtaining certification after completing the training.
3. Meter specifications: Transaction Meters and AMI Smart Electricity Meters must be installed. If participating in Regulation Reserve capacity, Frequency Detection Devices should also be installed.

The emergence of the Energy Trading Platform means that electricity consumers can now transform into prosumers—who both consume and sell electricity. For large commercial and industrial electricity consumers, power consumption of the equipment is no longer just an operating cost but an existing asset that can generate income. Adjusting electricity consumption to participate in the ancillary services market while not affecting primary operations can activate assets, promote a circular economy, and support the energy transition.

The Energy Trading Platform offers various participation methods, allowing businesses such as department stores, data centers, telecom facilities, hospitals, battery swapping stations for electric vehicles, industrial parks, and buildings with demand response resources, self-generated power equipment, and grid-connected energy storage equipment, to join the market.

^{1. Laws & Regulations Database of the Republic of China (Taiwan), The Electricity Act: https://law.moj.gov.tw/}

^{2. Taiwan Power Company, Energy Trading Platform: https://etp.taipower.com.tw/}