We have closed the first local flexibility auction in the energy market in Portugal, having attracted the interest of 21 service providers for all eight opportunities made available. 93% of registered assets took part, a total of 43 qualified assets, with bids totaling 36MW, distributed among 36 consumer facilities with direct participation, two facilities via an aggregator, three producers and two storage facilities.
There were 623 bids in the different service windows available, surpassing the results achieved in the UK and French markets in the first auctions held in their geographies.
In the eight pilot zones, there are three types of products, Dynamic, Secure and Restore, which are characterized by different levels of predictability of extraordinary needs on the part of the electricity network and which correspond to different types of benefits. Dynamic cases are more predictable and correspond to the use of flexibility during periods of grid maintenance work. In Secure, this forecast is made by estimate and the service used is for managing congestion at certain points in the network. As for Restore, there is no predictability and these are services used to support the re-establishment of the network in the face of sporadic events resulting from network failures.
We propose to accept 85% of the capacity offered, with all competitive offers responding most favorably to the needs of the network. By the end of 2023, contracts with flexibility service providers must be validated, regulatory pilot proposals formalized, qualification tests carried out with flexibility service providers and contracts signed. The use of flexibility contracts is expected to start in January 2024.
