Here’s one I can’t recall seeing before

My curiosity was piqued today when I saw the AEMO had lobbed in a Market Notice titled “Zero Regulation Dispatched”.

Not having seen something like that before, I opened the message within NEM-Watch to read more:

Using Playback in my copy of NEM-Watch I was easily able to step back to the 12:50, 12:55 and 13:00 dispatch intervals to grab the following snapshot (of 13:00) of the Raise Regulation Service:

Yes, that price is real money in Tasmania – it’s not just energy prices that are volatile.

About Ancillary Services

Ancillary Services are services called on within each (5-minute) dispatch interval to keep the interconnected system spinning at 3,000rpm (or 50Hz).

Regulation services are one of a set of four (based on response times within that 5 minute window), and there are separate “products” for raising the frequency (required, for instance, if a generator was to trip) and lowering the frequency (required, for instance, if a large load was to trip).

Note that Tasmania is only connected to the mainland by a DC link, so is independent of the mainland, in terms of frequency.  For readers who want to know more, see this reference from AEMO (formerly NEMMCO, still referenced therein).

In other parts of the world the system spins at 3,600rpm (60 Hz) but the principles are the same, from a market point of view.