GRID INFORMATION - EASIER, FASTER AND CLEARER: Quicker Response In a Changing Electricity Market

摘要

Energy flows on the Grid can be expected to become increasingly difficult to predict in the coming years, particularly as wind plays a larger role in energy generation. Participants in the market will need better information on the grid to most profitably operate their businesses. There is a large quantity of Grid information that is captured and maintained by Transpower for operational and commercial purposes. Much of this is currently made available to electricity market participants, but through various mechanisms and with varying degrees of timeliness. Some participants take advantage of it, some do not and may not be aware of it or find it too difficult or costly to access via systems developed in early years of the market. Transpower is keen to make Grid information available more widely, in a more timely manner and in more useful formats. This should benefit all participants, particularly as demand increases and the Grid gets more heavily loaded and becomes more complex. It will be available more quickly from time of update. It will be more accessible via web-based query tools and automated delivery tools like XML Push or Pull. It will be displayed in more quickly comprehensible form such as geographic representation of prices and constraints. There are operational and commercial advantages for both networks and energy companies to know what is going on with the grid in near real time and in the future. Examples include: What were loads at Grid exit/injection points in last half hour? In what volumes and directions was power flowing in circuits? What constraints have been applied or released in last few minutes? How is wholesale real time price distributed geographically? What is weather likely to do to demand on a GXP? What is weather likely to do to capacity on a circuit? Information like this helps networks to bid in the load reserve market as well as energy traders to bid in energy and generation reserve markets.