On Thursday 6th January 2022 3MW of flexibility from the NODES marketplace was transacted in Statnett’s mFRR market.
This transaction is the first of its kind, pioneered within the NorFlex pilot project, where flexibility offered from industrial, commercial buildings or households can be bought by both local grid companies and Statnett as a result of the coordination between the two marketplaces. The first trade resulted in the activation of flexibility from greenhouses.
«Statnett has in a previous pilot project (eFleks) tested flexibility, where the aggregators have participated directly in the TSOs balancing markets. What is new in the NorFlex project, is that we are testing how a local flexibility market can be offered to both local grid companies and Statnett’s balancing markets, simultaneously. This has never been tested before and can contribute to increased liquidity in markets and the customers’ ability to make money» Says Pasi Norrbacka, Project manager for NorFlex at Statnett.
He continues by saying that the pilot project gives valuable learnings around «independent aggregation» which is currently not part of today’s regulation.
«The grid companies have traded local flexibility on NODES during 2021. In its last phase, the project will test the aggregation of flexibility integrated into Statnett’s mFRR market. NODES is an independent marketplace where flexibility from 1KW upwards can be bought and sold between the local grid operator and aggregators. Flexibility not bought by the local grid companies is aggregated and offered into the Statnett mFRR market, in minimum block sizes of 1MW» says Daniel Stolbotn, NorFlex project manager at NODES.
A more sustainable and efficient power grid
The innovation project NorFlex consists of partners Agder Energi (project owner), Glitre Energi, NODES, and Statnett. The project aims to develop and test technology and business models that enable a more efficient and sustainable power grid.
«To avoid bottlenecks in the grid, households and commercial companies can be paid to reduce their consumption, for example by switching off EV charging, boilers and other consumptions in a short period. The local grid companies Agder Energi Nett and Glitre Energi has tested this with flexibility from greenhouses, schools and nurseries by using different types of technology» says Inger Ose, NorFlex project manager at Agder Energi.
An important part of the project is to demonstrate how aggregation, trading and activation of flexibility can be done in an automated process. This is important to Statnett, who is not set up to manage small bid volumes. Statnett uses electronic processes (e-bestill) when the bids are activated, and NODES are forwarding these activation signals.
«In the future, there is a growing need for flexibility to balance the grid when the larger part of the production is sourced from renewable sources. It is therefore important to find good solutions for flexible power consumption and working market mechanisms. The NorFlex project will give us valuable knowledge on how distributed flexibility can be made available to local grid companies and the system operator. The project will contribute to reducing investment needs in the grid and a better managing of operational challenges for the grid companies » explains Norrbacka.
About NorFlex
- NorFlex is an innovation project run by Agder Energi (project owner), Glitre Energi, NODES, and Statnett. The project runs from 2019 to the end of March 2022.
- The project is one of eight large-scale demonstration projects funded by Norwegian Enova
- The project aims to develop and test technology and business models that enable a more efficient and sustainable power grid.
- The aggregators Ishavskraft, Noova, Entelios, Tibber, Istadkraft, Futurehome, Glitre Energi Strøm, Volue, True Energi and LOS participate in the NorFlex project with different types of flexibility and technology.
- In the project period households and companies can get renumerated to reduce their power consumption when the grid load is high. Byers of this flexibility can be local grid companies or Statnett.
- NODES is an independent market operator offering local marketplaces for trading flexibility.
- The project has been granted an exception to the regulation in order to offer aggregated flexibility to Statnett’s mFRR market with bid size down to 1 MW in the test period.
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