Participating in congestion management
The chance of you being asked to help manage grid congestion is growing, so prepare now.
The busier it gets on the grid, the more drastic the measures that grid operators will be forced to take. It is important, therefore, that you get ahead of the curve and prepare now. This way, you stay in control of how much flexible capacity you are willing to offer and how much you charge for it. After all, when congestion relief measures need to be scaled up, the grid operator may end up making it mandatory for you to participate in congestion management. While you will then still have a say in the price paid for flexible capacity, you will be required to make all your contracted capacity available as flexible capacity.
Click here to see the phases of congestion management and when grid operators will use them.
When congestion arises, grid operators assess the congestion management options and call on high-volume consumers to come forward if they would be willing and able to be flexible.
While the assessment is being conducted, you can already enter into a contract and prepare for congestion management. Explore what technical, contractual, and organisational scope you have to be flexible in your consumption and/or generation of electricity. You can get an idea of the congestion management options available, by reading the sample contracts for the various products.
Three ways to participate in congestion management
1. Directly with the grid operator
If you are able to use more or less power at fixed times, sign a capacity limitation contract with your grid operator. You can find the sample contracts here. To find out if you have sufficient flexible capacity available, fill in the interest form.
2. Through a Congestion Service Provider (CSP)
You can also sign up with a CSP and agree with them how to reduce your consumption at specific times. CSPs work together with grid operators to prevent grid congestion. For a list of all the CSPs, go to the TenneT website.
3. As a Congestion Service Provider (CSP)
If you are an approved CSP, there are various ways in which you can participate in congestion management, including through Redispatch (either with or without a bid obligation) or by signing a capacity limitation contract. You can find the sample contract here. Check GOPACS for more information on the various forms of congestion management.
How to become an approved CSP
The number of Congestion Service Providers (CSPs) is growing. They play an important role in finding and harnessing flexible capacity. If you are interested in becoming a CSP, sign up to the Register of Market Participants and go through the pre-qualification process. We have set out the steps of the registration process below.
The registration process in three steps
1. Apply for recognition as an approved CSP
This is a precondition for registration as a market participant.
2. Register as a market participant with EDSN
To be able to submit your registration as a CSP, you need an eHerkenning login with level 3 assurance. Within four working days, you will receive feedback on the registration you submitted.
3. Complete a pre-qualification
After registering as a CSP, you will have to complete a pre-qualification step for each connection whenever you want to submit bids through GOPACS. After registering in the Market Participants Register, you can create an account on the GOPACS platform. To have the grid operator conduct the pre-qualification, you must submit a single connection or a list of connections on the GOPACS platform. The grid operator will inform you about the outcome of the pre-qualification.
What does a Congestion Service Provider (CSP) do?
If you are an approved CSP, you are authorised to act as an agent or independent intermediary between the grid operator and customers/connected parties. This means that whenever a customer or connected party can be flexible in terms of the amount of power they consume or the amount they can generate and feed into the grid – in the form of wind power, solar power, or storage capacity – the CSP will be able to start generating or consuming more or less power as and when asked by the grid operator. Check the CSP register for a list of all CSPs.
How does GOPACS work?
GOPACS is a platform aimed at reducing capacity deficits on the power grid (congestion) and helping to keep the grid reliable and affordable. GOPACS is a joint initiative by the Dutch grid operators and is unique in Europe.
GOPACS offers market participants of any size the opportunity to capitalise their available flexibility and help solve congestion situations. The fact that grid operators work together in tackling grid congestion also means that clearing congestion in a certain part of the power grid will not cause problems elsewhere in another operator’s part of the grid. To find out more about GOPACS, take a look at their website.
Questions and more information
Needless to say, your grid operator will get you up to speed on all the phases of congestion management and the steps of each phase. If you have any questions about congestion management now, take a look at the questions and answers on this website, or send an email to [email protected].