The introduction of the 30-minute rule on March 25th 2024, was one of the latest updates the ESO made to improve the utilization of batteries in the Balancing Mechanism. The change from the 15-minute rule means that batteries should be able to be dispatched for longer than before.
But how far has this happened in reality?
The ESO has introduced various updates to improve battery utilization in the Balancing Mechanism. This includes bulk dispatch in January 2024, an extra control room engineer in February, and, more recently, the 30-minute rule update in March.
So far in 2024, the average daily dispatched volume from batteries has increased by 0.9 GWh/day.
It has been just over eight weeks since the update to the 30-minute rule. The average dispatched volume from batteries increased from 1.1 GWh per day in the eight weeks before the change to 1.4 GWh per day in the eight weeks after. But how much of this increase can be attributed to the 30-minute rule?
Batteries see three times as many actions lasting over 15 minutes
From 11th March 2024, battery providers were able to begin transitioning to the 30-minute rule. During the transition period from 11th March - 24th March 2024, batteries saw a 12% increase in dispatches longer than 15 minutes.
When comparing the eight weeks before the introduction of the 30-minute rule (29th January 2024 - 24th March 2024) to the eight weeks after (25th March 2024 - 19th May 2024), batteries received three times as many dispatches lasting more than 15 minutes.
This meant the proportion of all battery actions lasting more than 15 minutes increased from 5% to 14%. Bulk dispatch in the OBP allows for more batteries to be used more often for smaller dispatches. As a result, shorter dispatches dominated the types of actions batteries were receiving.
Despite the increase in the number of actions lasting over 15 minutes, these still represent a small proportion of all actions. However, as these actions last longer, batteries should have dispatched more energy in each action.
Batteries saw a net increase in dispatches lasting over 15 minutes following the change to the 30-minute rule
The total dispatched volume increased by 32.8 GWh between the eight weeks before the change and the eight weeks after. The increase in the number of dispatches lasting more than 15 minutes meant the total volume from these actions increased by 35.4 GWh from 14.8 GWh to 50.2 GWh.