Cost analysis of the frequency regulation service for the Italian system

This paper deals with the problem of frequency regulation in the restructured Italian power system which, following the European deregulating process, is moving from a vertically integrated structure to a new scenario, with several private-hold companies competing on the generation side. In this evolving situation, where an independent system operator is in charge of the secure operation of transmission system, the ancillary services are changing. The frequency regulation service, although crucial for security and reliability of the interconnected systems, will be partially provided by a market structure too. The paper focuses on the investigation on the costs to be faced by each market participant to provide the service of secondary (or even tertiary) frequency regulation, in a pool structure for load-frequency control (LFC). The features of the proposed method are highlighted based on some tests, using an optimization procedure applied to the whole EHV Italian system