Balancing management mechanisms for intermittent power sources — A case study for wind power in Belgium

To maintain stability within the UCTE-grid, European TSOs are responsible for maintaining a balance between generation, import, consumption and export in their control zones. This responsibility is partly transferred to BRPs which are market participants responsible for the balance between injections and off-takes in their perimeter. With imbalance fees working as incentive to avoid imbalances, BRPs will forecast, schedule and nominate their positions to the TSO before gate closure. With rising interest in electricity from renewable energy sources (RES-e), often characterized by variability, lower predictability and limited controllability, BRPs are facing difficulties meeting their nominated positions in real-time. This gives them a competitive disadvantage. As in most countries RES-e are in fact supported to attain certain penetration levels, system operators and BRPs have to find ways to manage this unpredictability and variability.