The Australian Energy Market Commission announced an extension to two rule change proposals that relate to having mechanisms to value and procure specific services that help keep the national electricity market secure as the system transitions.
The proposals are:
- Capacity Commitment mechanism for system security and reliability services (Delta Electricity: a proposal to introduce a day ahead mechanism and payment to provide access to operational reserve and other required security or reliability services.
- Synchronous services market (Hydro Tasmania: a proposal to create a market for synchronous services such as inertia, voltage control and fault level also known as system strength).
The draft determination for the Delta proposal will now be published by 24 June 2021 and for the Hydro Tasmania proposal by 30 September 2021.
The AEMC will also publish a policy directions paper on the Hydro Tasmania rule change proposal in June 2021 given the interactions between both of these rule changes.
System security is a priority issue for the Energy Security Board and the Commission.
Maintaining the electricity system within the required parameters for frequency, voltage, inertia and system strength becomes harder as the generation mix continues to evolve.
These rule changes form part of the ESB’s post 2025 market design, in particular the essential system services work program. These rule changes are considering ways to value and procure missing system services, in particular where there are no spot market arrangements to procure a particular service.
The Commission has been working with the ESB, Australian Energy Market Operator and the Australian Energy Regulator closely over the past few months to continue consideration of these issues. There has also been engagement with stakeholders through various deep dive sessions.
Through this process, a number of complex issues have been raised that need to be resolved before these draft determinations can be made. A key one is the inter-relationships between both rule changes. The revised timeframe allows this to be worked through, ultimately delivering coordinated and internally consistent reforms that are in the long-term interests of consumers.
This also allows for further coordination and alignment with the ESB’s post 2025 market design work program.
While no formal consultation will take place during this extension period, the Commission will continue to undertake informal consultation to progress this rule change. We welcome discussions with any interested stakeholders on any aspect of these rule changes and will be holding further sessions with industry on specific aspects collaborating closely with AEMO, AER and the ESB.
Media: Media and Content Manager, Kellie Bisset 0438 490 041