Balance of Power: Designing operational practices for balancing electricity markets with growing penetrations of renewable energy
type: CreativeWork
description: Massive deployments of solar and wind generation mean that power systems worldwide are beginning to experience high penetrations of variable renewable energy. Given the challenges and opportunities posed by these resources to the effective and efficient balancing of supply and demand in power systems, policy-makers are revisiting the design of power system operational practices such as grid codes, system operator processes and, in jurisdictions with wholesale competition, electricity markets. In this thesis, I explore how policy-makers should approach designing operational practices for balancing electricity markets. Because the design process is complex, contested and contextual, I employ an empirical approach that leverages experience from the Australian National Electricity Market (NEM). Frequency control services are critical to ensuring that imbalances are quickly addressed. In this thesis, I first explore the features needed in arrangements for procuring frequency control services during energy transition. Through a comprehensive international review and an assessment of the NEM, I offer four insights on designing frequency control arrangements as power systems transition. Increased balancing flexibility will be required during energy transition. Market arrangements should be assessed to determine whether they can deliver sufficient flexibility. As a contribution to this assessment, I investigate how balancing flexibility capabilities in scheduling timeframes are changing during energy transition using historical and projected resource mixes for two regions of the NEM. Based on the findings, I recommend that policy-makers examine how existing arrangements can be augmented to elicit upwards flexibility provision, and that duration specifications and sustained footroom procurement be considered for reserve products. Market participants must be willing and able to offer balancing flexibility into wholesale spot markets. As such, I explore how market knowledge pro…
abstract: Massive deployments of solar and wind generation mean that power systems worldwide are beginning to experience high penetrations of variable renewable energy. Given the challenges and opportunities posed by these resources to the effective and efficient balancing of supply and demand in power systems, policy-makers are revisiting the design of power system operational practices such as grid codes, system operator processes and, in jurisdictions with wholesale competition, electricity markets. In this thesis, I explore how policy-makers should approach designing operational practices for balancing electricity markets. Because the design process is complex, contested and contextual, I employ an empirical approach that leverages experience from the Australian National Electricity Market (NEM). Frequency control services are critical to ensuring that imbalances are quickly addressed. In this thesis, I first explore the features needed in arrangements for procuring frequency control services during energy transition. Through a comprehensive international review and an assessment of the NEM, I offer four insights on designing frequency control arrangements as power systems transition. Increased balancing flexibility will be required during energy transition. Market arrangements should be assessed to determine whether they can deliver sufficient flexibility. As a contribution to this assessment, I investigate how balancing flexibility capabilities in scheduling timeframes are changing during energy transition using historical and projected resource mixes for two regions of the NEM. Based on the findings, I recommend that policy-makers examine how existing arrangements can be augmented to elicit upwards flexibility provision, and that duration specifications and sustained footroom procurement be considered for reserve products. Market participants must be willing and able to offer balancing flexibility into wholesale spot markets. As such, I explore how market knowledge pro…
author: Prakash, Abhijith ; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2945-4757
language: en
keywords: Power system operations, Balancing services, Frequency control, Operating reserves, Electricity market design, National Electricity Market, Power system flexibility, Variable renewable energy, Energy storage, Energy arbitrage, anzsrc-for: 400803 Electrical energy generation (incl. renewables, excl. photovoltaics)
license: https://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
date published: 2024
date modified: 2026-07-24T05:33:31Z
provider: University of New South Wales
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: UNSW, Sydney

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.4/103258

PropertyValue
property ID: DOI
value: 10.26190/unsworks/30574