Availability contract (LongFlex) procurement as part of sthlmflex

Vattenfall Eldistribution, who owns and operate the regional grid around Stockholm, will issue an Invitation to Tender (ITT) for flexibility in the Stockholm region as part of the sthlmflex project. sthlmflex is a joint R&D project between Svenska Kraftnät, Ellevio and Vattenfall Eldistribution.

The purchasing process will be managed by the independent market operator, NODES as part of its LongFlex offering. LongFlex contracts are long term contracts that ensure the availability of flexibility over the duration of the contract.  Delivery of flexibility under the LongFlex contracts will be governed  by the terms set out in NODES’ rule book.

The Stockholm region is currently experiencing capacity challenges. Until the transmission- and subtransmission grids around Stockholm have been reinforced, Vattenfall Eldistribution estimates that flexibility of around 200 MW is needed to operate affected connections in its subtransmission grid. In the winter months, a certain amount of flexibility is needed almost around the clock. In addition, historic data shows that flexibility is needed  to manage peak load during certain hours during the winter season.

In order to address the peak load needs, Vattenfall Eldistribution wishes  to contract with flexibility service providers (FSPs) for the availability of flexibility, during the sthlmflex project.  The sthlmflex project will run during winter 2020/21 and has been designed to stimulate new types of flexibility from different FSPs to participate.

LongFlex contracts are contracts with an availability price and an activation price. After a LongFlex contract has been agreed between Vattenfall Eldistribution and the FSP, the contract will be entered on NODES marketplace where the activation price will form part of NODES near term flexibility market. Sales orders will automatically be created for the days and the hours agreed in the availability contract.  These automated offers become part of the near term flexibility market merit order stack for the respective hours and will be matched with the purchase orders from Vattenfall Eldistribution provided that the sales price (activation price) is equal or lower to the price of the purchase price.

Through this LongFlex process in sthlmflex, the grid company, FSPs and regulators can learn how availability contracts can be acquired and managed in a market based framework.

• Vattenfall Eldistribution wishes  to purchase LongFlex contract for the period January – March 2021.
• The initial aim is to acquire the following flexibility Stockholm Norra (10 MW) and Stockholm Södra (30MW) but the need for flexibility can increase.
• Flexibility offered needs to be available every day in the period, between  08:00 to 12:00, and 17:00 to 21:00
• The bids must be available at 08:30 the day before activation day
• The bidder must verify how many hours can be activated within the availability period.
• The bids must be available at 08:30 the day before activation day
• Flexibility should be grouped into 0,5 MW steps
• Offered flexibility should be available during the full hour although metering will only be required for the hour.
• The activation price for this first acquisition round has been set to SEK 560/MW/h.
• Availability price to be set by the bidder.

The location of assets relative to the congested area of the grid determines the impact flexibility has to the grid operator in resolving congestion (impact factor).  Impact factors will be calculated by Vattenfall Eldistribution based on the information submitted as part of the pre-qualification process and made known to the bidder before the deadline to submit the bid.

Vattenfall Eldistribution will issue and Invitation To Tender (ITT) to pre-qualified FSPs at a later stage along with terms and condition for the contracts along with a more detailed  description on how bids will be evaluated.

FSPs that wish to participate in the procurement proses should register basic site and technical information as a response to Vattenfall Eldistribution’s pre Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ).

Deadlines:

• 20/10/16  Expression of interest and PQQ submitted by FSPs
• 20/10/30  Qualification feedback to FSPs
• 30/10/30  Vattenfall Eldistribution issues ITT and NODES notifies qualified FSPs that the ITT has been issued
• 20/11/13  Deadline for submission of  bids
• 20/11/30 FSPs that have been allocated availability contracts notified
• 20/12/01-18 Onboarding of FSPs to NODES platform
• 21/01/04 Go live

Please register with myNODES below to get access to expression of interest and pre-qualification questions: