Baltic transmission system operators AS “Augstsprieguma tīkls” (AST) of Latvia, “Elering” of Estonia and “Litgrid”of Lithuania are now part of the European platform for trading manually activated balancing reserves MARI (Manually Activated Reserves Initiative).
"Participation in this market will offer new opportunities for electricity producers, consumers, and large-scale battery operators in Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania to provide balancing services to regional transmission system operators. The new balancing market will offer additional revenue opportunities for market participants, while transmission system operators will gain broader access to the resources needed to balance the power system," said an announcement from AST October 10.
“The Baltic transmission system operators’ entry into the European balancing market platform is a strategically planned step towards the disconnection of the Baltic power system from the Russian power grid, planned for February 2025," said Gatis Junghāns, Member of the AST Management Board.
"After disconnection, the so-called Baltic Frequency Control Block will be created, where an independent frequency and balancing system will operate, and the reserves needed to maintain the stable operation of the power system will be provided. This will make the Baltic power system more autonomous, independent, and resilient to various disruptions and operational challenges. Additionally, joining the European balancing market platform will allow the transmission system operator to purchase the necessary balancing reserves in a regional, competitive market at the lowest possible cost, which will have a positive impact on consumer electricity prices,” said Junghāns.
A feature of the new balancing market model is that balancing services can be provided using a wide range of technologies, including electricity storage batteries, solar and wind generators. In the balancing energy market, participants can offer to reduce or increase their production capacity or consumption close to real-time to ensure a continuous balance between electricity production and consumption.
Since 2018, the Baltic unified balancing energy market platform COBA has operated, where settlements were made hourly. With the Baltic states joining the European MARI platform, the trading interval is reduced to 15 minutes. The existing requirement for a minimum reserve offer for regulation—one megawatt—remains unchanged, but the new interval allows this capacity to be offered for shorter terms. This also allows smaller electricity market participants to enter the balancing reserves market with their offers. In the future, it is planned to implement a 15-minute trading interval for intraday and day-ahead electricity markets as well.
The MARI platform is being implemented across Europe in line with the requirements of the European Commission’s Regulation (EU) 2017/2195, which establishes guidelines for electricity balancing.
After synchronisation with the Central European Synchronous Area (CESA), Baltic transmission system operators will need to independently ensure frequency regulation and the continuous, precise balancing of consumption with electricity supply. This, along with the rapid connection of wind and solar power plants to the grid, will increase the amount of balancing reserves required by transmission system operators for the stable operation of the power system. Therefore, AST, in cooperation with the Estonian and Lithuanian transmission system operators, is introducing a regional market where operators will purchase the balancing capacity reserves needed for the operation of the electricity transmission system.