CERC notifies the Draft of Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (Ancillary Services) Regulations, 2021

  • In exercise of powers conferred under Section 178 read with Clause (h) and (i) of sub-Section (1) of Section 79 of the Electricity Act, 2003, Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has issued the draft of CERC (Ancillary Services) Regulations, 2021 (Draft Regulations).
  • The objective to the Draft Regulations is to provide mechanisms for procurement, through administered as well as market-based mechanisms, deployment and payment of Ancillary Services for maintaining the grid frequency close to 50 Hz, and restoring the grid frequency within the allowable band as specified in the Grid Code and for relieving congestion in the transmission network, to ensure smooth operation of the power system, and safety and security of the grid
  • The Draft Regulations shall be applicable to regional entities, including entities having energy storage resources and demand side resources qualified to provide Ancillary Services and other entities as provided in these regulations.
  • Types of Ancillary Services:
    • Primary Reserve Ancillary Service (PRAS)
    • Secondary Reserve Ancillary Service (SRAS)
    • Tertiary Reserve Ancillary Service (TRAS)
    • Such other Ancillary Services as specified in the Grid Code
  • The mechanism of procurement, deployment and payment of SRAS and TRAS are specified in these Regulations and the mechanism of procurement, deployment and payment of PRAS and other Ancillary Services as specified in the Grid Code shall be as specified in the Grid Code or under these regulations to be specified separately, as the case may be.
  • Procurement of SRAS
    • SRAS shall be procured on regional basis by the Nodal Agency through the mechanism as specified in the Regulation, provided that the Commission, based on review of the operation of SRAS, may direct procurement of SRAS through market-based bidding mechanism to be specified separately.
    • An SRAS Provider willing to participate in SRAS shall be required to provide standing consent to the Nodal Agency for participation, which shall remain valid till it is modified or withdrawn, provided that standing consent cannot be modified or withdrawn without giving notice of at least forty-eight hours.
    • The SRAS Providers that are generating stations, shall be required to declare in such time interval as may be stipulated in the Detailed Procedure, the technical parameters as required by 8 the Nodal Agency, including but not limited to installed capacity, Technical Minimum, Ramp up and Ramp down capability.
    • The SRAS Providers other than the generating stations, shall be required to declare the technical requirements as may be stipulated in the Detailed Procedure.
    • The SRAS Providers that are generating stations, shall declare their variable charge upfront on monthly basis in the manner as stipulated in the Detailed Procedure.
    • The SRAS Provider other than the generating stations, shall be required to declare the compensation charges upfront on monthly basis in the manner as stipulated in the Detailed Procedure.
    • The Nodal Agency, based on the estimate of the SRAS requirement as per Regulation 6 of these regulations, shall ascertain availability of adequate reserves on day-ahead basis and on realtime basis before the gate closure of the Real Time Market.
    • In case of the generating stations whose tariff is determined by the Commission under Section 62 of the Act , the Nodal Agency shall identify the generating stations for providing SRAS
      • On day-ahead basis, based on the capacity available after the schedule has been communicated at 2300 hrs for the next day
      • On real-time basis before the gate closure for incremental SRAS requirement.
  • Payment for SRAS
    • SRAS Provider shall be paid from the Deviation and Ancillary Service Pool Account, at the rate of their variable charge or compensation charge, as declared by the SRAS Provider, as the case may be, for the SRAS-Up MW quantum despatched for every 15 minutes time block, calculated as per clause (12) of Regulation 10 of these regulations.
    • SRAS Provider shall pay back to the Deviation and Ancillary Service Pool Account , at the rate of their variable charge or compensation charge, as the case may be, for the SRAS-Down MW quantum despatched for every 15 minutes time block, calculated as per clause (12) of Regulation 10 of these regulations.
    • SRAS Provider shall be eligible for incentive based on performance as per Regulation 12 of these regulations.
    • Methodology of computation under clauses (1) to (3) of this Regulation shall be stipulated in the Detailed Procedure.
  • Procurement of TRAS
    • Buy Bid: The Nodal Agency shall communicate to the power exchange(s), the quantum of requirement of TRAS-Up and TRAS-Down on day-ahead basis before commencement of the Day Ahead Market and incremental requirement, if any, over and above the procurement in the Day Ahead Market, on real-time basis, before the commencement of the Real Time Market, provided that the quantum of requirement on day-ahead basis shall be communicated after considering the TRAS resources likely to be available on real-time basis.
    • Sell Bid: The TRAS Providers shall submit bids in the following manner:
      • Bids for TRAS-Up and TRAS-Down shall be submitted for each time block or for a minimum of two consecutive time blocks in the Day Ahead Market or in the Real Time Market
      • For TRAS-Up, Energy-Up bid in INR/MWh shall be submitted for the offer volume in MW
      • For TRAS-Down, Energy-Down bid in INR/MWh shall be submitted for the offer volume in MW
    • The capacity offered, as a sell bid in power exchange(s) for providing TRAS-Up or TRAS-Down from a resource in the same time-block, shall be separate and non-overlapping.
    • The power exchanges shall collect the bids for TRAS-Up and TRAS-Down and share the same with the Nodal agency for price discovery in terms of Regulation 17 of these regulations.
    • TRAS Provider cleared in the Day Ahead Market may place incremental bids in the Real Time Market. TRAS Provider not cleared in the Day Ahead Market or which has not participated 13 in the Day Ahead Market, may also place bids in the Real Time Market.
  • Payment for TRAS
    • TRAS-Up Provider shall receive MCP-Energy-Up, as discovered in the Day Ahead Market or the Real Time Market, as the case may be, for the quantum of energy instructed to be despatched by the Nodal Agency.
    • TRAS-Up Provider shall receive commitment charges at the rate of ten percent of the MCPEnergy-Up-DAM or the MCP-Energy-Up-RTM, as the case may be, subject to the ceiling of 20 paise/kWh for the quantum of TRAS-Up cleared in the Day Ahead Market or the Real Time Market as the case may be, but not instructed to be despatched by the Nodal Agency.
    • The TRAS-Down Provider shall pay back to the Deviation and Ancillary Service Pool Account at the rate of their Energy-Down bid in the Day Ahead Market or the Real Time Market, as the case may be, for the capacity instructed to be despatched by the Nodal Agency.

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