Pioneer in the flexibility marketing of renewable energies

Following the prequalification of the first German offshore wind farm Borkum Riffgrund 1 for the provision of Frequency restoration reserve (aFRR), the wind farm has now been providing balancing energy continuously and reliably for over a year.

In an interview with our Regulatory Manager Sebastian Nitsche and Product Manager Filip Markert, we discuss how this path was shaped and what challenges Energy2market has to face in day-to-day balancing power operations.

We were able to prequalify the first wind farm in the aFRR as early as 2022, and we are now also in our second year of marketing. What milestones and challenges can you look back on?

SN: With the prequalification, the transmission system operators have basically confirmed that offshore wind – together with our provision concept for supply-dependent units – meets the demanding requirements for the provision of aFRR. (If you would like to read more about the project implementation: Grid stability through offshore wind – stadt+werk online)

One technical challenge on the way to marketing was ensuring permanently uninterrupted communication with the wind farm. This had to be tested again in detail to prove that prequalification was not just a theoretical construct.

For marketing via the balancing power market (RLM), the actual readiness for call-off is of decisive importance, especially in this order of magnitude.

How did you then approach the marketing?

FM: Of course, a marketing concept was first necessary for marketing. The cost of prequalification must be worthwhile for the customer, so we always had the goal of marketing as many volumes as possible and generating revenue in both the balancing power market and the balancing energy market. Different boundary conditions apply here than for prequalification. We have clearly defined these and drawn up a strict monitoring concept for this. As soon as this was in place, we went into marketing with the first small bids in order to test the setup under real conditions.

SN: By the way, the first call-off was a long time coming. We initially had several months of reliable supply. We had to wait until January 2024 for the first aFRR balancing energy call-offs – and then four in one day.

FM: The fact that these were successful was of course cause for celebration. We were then able to gradually ramp up marketing. Risk management was also required here, as there was no experience of handling such large volatile producers in the aFRR pool.

SN: Our experience has not only strengthened our confidence in the system, but has also aroused regulatory and market interest. It is always important to us to actively shape the integration of renewable energies constructively with the transmission system operators. One example was the 2024 Control Power Forum, where we had the opportunity to speak to our colleagues about the marketing of aFRR wind.

What is the daily operation like now?

FM: Marketing is now automated, as this is the only practicable way for supply-dependent units. If the wind allows, we can offer every product time slice in the balancing power and balancing energy market – on every day of the week and up to the full, pre-qualified capacity. In addition to the daily marketing processes, we also run a large number of automated analyses to ensure that the data allows for marketing. If problems arise and a park is unable to meet the provision, a rapid response is required. Thanks to our stable SRL pools with sufficient reserves, we can reliably compensate for bottlenecks.

SN: Our high-performance e2m pool structure primarily bundles decentralized generation plants – this is a central component for reliable and flexible marketing. What is important here is that the behavior of the pool and the call-off quality are in no way impaired by the wind farm. On the contrary – we have already successfully demonstrated its suitability for activation and provision to the transmission system operator. And thanks to targeted optimizations, the wind farm is now delivering very stable and really pleasing results, both in terms of provision and generation.

Where will the journey take us in 2025?

FM: Of course we want to expand marketing. At the same time, we need to further develop the product in line with market requirements. Operators of offshore wind farms face a variety of marketing challenges, such as the abolition of the EEG remuneration, obligations from PPAs and increasing hours with negative prices on the electricity exchange. Flexibility marketing must therefore always be in line with these. This is where we will start and provide our customers with the best possible support.

SN: We see 2025 as a year in which wind power will become even more important. Among other things, the boundary conditions for the technical connection have become clearer – especially because the PQ conditions are now much more practical. This could make the topic even more profitable.

We are prepared to integrate a growing number of parks into our pool structure on a scalable basis, allowing our customers to benefit from our marketing experience.