AGCS primarily procures physical balancing energy volumes via the Gas exchange. The gas exchange's within-day and day-ahead products are available for this purpose.
In addition to procuring balancing energy volumes via the gas exchange, market participants can also offer balancing energy volumes via the so-called Merit Order List. These offers are ranked by AGCS in terms of price, but no price information is transmitted to the MVGM. In principle, the MVGM must follow the call-off order, but may deviate from the order in the event of a bottleneck or, in special cases, call off in the opposite direction.
The MVGM, which technically monitors and controls the market area, calls up these balancing energy quantities as required. The Merit Order List is transmitted to the MVGM every hour. This gives market participants the opportunity to place offers on the merit order list around the clock.
AGCS, as the central clearing entity for all balancing energy volumes in the market area East – which covers all federal states except Tyrol and Vorarlberg – becomes the buyer or seller of these balancing energy volumes through the calls from the MVGM on the gas exchange or Merit Order List.
According to the Gas Industry Act, balancing energy quantities must be obtained primarily from the gas exchange. In this sense, the Merit Order List has a kind of a back-up function for the balancing energy regime. Due to its infrequent use, the Merit Order List is not offered on a regular basis. As a result, balancing service providers must be invited to offer quantities on the Merit Order List in the event of additional demand. The frequency of calls cannot be estimated.
Additional measures have been put in place to maintain security of supply, even in the event of bottlenecks.
Balancing energy offers for non-standardised balancing energy quantities at longer notice can also be provided via FAX. Since AGCS was established, FAX AE has been used twice (in 2009 and 2012).
Demand side response (available since April 2017) allows balance group representatives to offer consumer shutdowns in return for payment on a so-called flexibility Merit Order List compiled by the single clearing entity.
If you have storage capacity, flexibility or demand side response capacity in the market area East and would like to offer it, please contact us.
Balancing energy
Gas exchange
Balancing energy volumes can be raised via the following exchange products: within-day, day-ahead, next-hour. For balancing the market area, the within-day product is used almost exclusively.
For the purpose of procuring gas exchange volumes, the single clearing entity and the MVGM are registered on the gas exchange (European Energy Exchange EEX).
The MVGM is authorised by the single clearing entity to procure the gas quantities required for balancing from the gas exchange.
For this purpose, the MVGM participates in spot trading. The MVGM monitors offers on the gas exchange and accepts them or actively places offers itself. A lead time of 2 hours applies to the procurement of volumes for the within-day product.
There are no pricing guidelines for the procurement of balancing energy volumes from the gas exchange.
Balancing Energy
Merit Order List (MOL)
Bidding process
Market participants (providers) who meet the technical requirements specified by the MVGM can offer quantities of physical balancing energy.
A market participant who has suitable flexibility instruments at their disposal, such as storage volumes that can be deployed at short notice or volume-controllable consumers, can be set up as a balancing service provider in the market area. The provider must inform the single clearing entity at which points they will offer physical balancing energy.
The single clearing entity provides providers with an internet-based bidding platform for submitting bids. Bids can be placed at any time for the following hours up to 30 days in advance. From the time the market closes (4 p.m.), the bids are binding for the respective providers and can no longer be changed or withdrawn.
Price order
The offers are ranked separately by the single clearing entity according to supply and demand in accordance with the prices quoted (‘Merit Order List’). In the case of offers with the same price, the larger quantity takes precedence. In the case of offers with the same price and quantity, the time of submission of the offer is decisive.
If, due to bottlenecks in the grid, it is not possible to distribute the delivered natural gas in line with consumption and/or to handle other types of transport, the MVGM is entitled to take the following actions, provided that the situation cannot be resolved by normal means of system control and balancing energy management:
- Cancellation of the order in which offers are called from the merit order list (calling offers depending on the geographical injection point);
- Simultaneous calls for delivery offers and purchase offers with the option of utilising them at different locations.
In cases where the MVGM deviates from the call-off order, the MVGM is obliged to notify the single clearing entity about the provider that has been skipped and E-Control Austria about the reason for non-compliance with the call-off order within three working days.
Hourly product
Each provider may submit offers with a minimum duration of one hour and a minimum size of 1 MWh/h. Offers must be made at fixed prices.
Obligation of the provider
Balancing service providers must ensure, from a technical perspective, that the energy they offer, with the specified volume, is actually injected or withdrawn from the grid at the injection and withdrawal points specified in the offer 30 minutes after the request by the MVGM.
Hourly auction
The single clearing entity keeps the market open for bids around the clock. This means that registered providers can submit bids at any time. The Merit Order List is transmitted to the MVGM every hour. The single clearing entity accepts no liability for any temporary suspension of the Merit Order List bids transmitted to the MVGM at hourly intervals.
Balancing energy
Market Maker (MOL)
Description Market Maker
In accordance with the market rules for gas, the single clearing entity is obliged to introduce capacity auctions (Market Maker) to cover the balancing energy requirements in the market area.
The need for market maker tenders may arise in the following situations:
- Insufficient offers on the gas exchange or Merit Order List:
If there are insufficient offers of balancing energy on the gas exchange or Merit Order List, additional offers can be raised via Market Maker tenders. The demand is determined by the MVGM. - Security of supply:
In order to ensure security of supply, the single clearing entity must carry out a public tendering procedure for the provision of gas quantities at the request of the Federal Minister for Climate Protection, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology.
The costs of maintaining these reserves are covered by federal funds. Specifications regarding the use of the gas volumes, the energy price and the allocation of costs according to the polluter-pays principle are to be laid down in a regulation by the Federal Minister for Climate Protection, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology in agreement with the Federal Minister of Finance.
Requirements for participation/registration process
A requirement for participation in the Market Maker tenders is the signing of a contract (‘balancing service provider contract’) between the single clearing entity and the provider. If the provider has already signed a BGR contract, this additional contractual relationship is not necessary. The BGR communicates its willingness to participate to the single clearing entity.
Ranking of Market Maker bids in the Merit Order List
The energy prices quoted in the Market Maker bid would be ranked in the Merit Order List. The energy price may be changed by the Market Maker, but may not exceed the maximum energy price or fall below the minimum energy price. The inclusion of the Market Maker in the Merit Order List is intended to ensure that the Market Maker offers are called if they are cheaper than the offers of regular bidders. This keeps the costs for the overall system low. However, there should be neither preferential treatment nor discrimination against Market Makers compared to regular bidders on the Merit Order List.
Submission of bids via special means of communication
In the event of IT failures in the context of Merit Order List processing, the single clearing entity will accept bids by fax or, depending on the situation, via other suitable means of communication.
Balancing energy
Fax AE (MOL)
In the event of IT failures in the context of Merit Order List processing, the single clearing entity will accept bids by fax. The request to submit bids by fax will be made either by the single clearing entity or the MVGM. These fax bids represent a special mechanism for maintaining security of supply in the market area.
The fax offers are sent by the providers to the MVGM and the single clearing entity. Longer lead times (150 minutes) apply to this procedure by fax. This is to enable physical balancing energy volumes to be provided via imports and consumer shutdowns.
Fax offers are added to the offers in the most recently transmitted Merit Order List.
Fax AE providers must also be registered as balancing service providers.
Balancing energy
Demand Side Response (Flex-MOL)
A balance group member who has successfully completed the registration process for balancing service providers in accordance with the requirements set out in the general terms and conditions of the single clearing entity may, with the consent of the balance group representative, bid on the Merit Order List. Unless there are serious reasons not to do so, the balance group representative must grant this consent.
End consumers with a contractually agreed maximum output of more than 10,000 kWh/h must register with the single clearing entity for the Merit Order List. The respective balance group representative must conclude an agreement with these balance group members for participation and processing on the Merit Order List. Indirect balance group members can also use their supplier for this purpose.
As part of the registration process, the balance group member must prove that it has suitable flexibility potential, such as usable storage volumes, gas volumes at entry or exit points in the market area, or end consumers with a contractually agreed output of more than 10,000 kWh/h, whose metering point is measured online and whose data is transmitted online to the MVGM. The balancing service provider must inform the single clearing entity at which entry points it will offer balancing energy.
The offering of balancing energy in accordance with paragraph 1 is possible after the provider has been set up at the single clearing entity and the balancing energy offering point has been set up at the MVGM.
Offers for consumption reductions are submitted by eligible providers on a so-called FLEX-MOL.
Offers for contiguous hourly products per balancing service provider, with a lead time to be selected by the balancing energy provider and a minimum size of one MWh/h, can be submitted to the FLEX-MOL.
The MVGM has the right to call up at least one MWh/h from the offer and in increments of one MWh/h up to the full scope of the volume offered. The MVGM's right to call up offers in increments up to the full scope of the offered volume may be excluded by the balancing service provider.
As part of a registration process with the single clearing entity, the balancing service provider registers metering points (individually or in a pool) in order to offer consumption reduction via these metering points.
A requirement for the registration of metering points is registration as a balancing service provider with the single clearing entity.
The metering points for which consumption reduction is offered are subject to a prequalification process by the MVGM.
Several metering points can be registered in the form of a pool. A separate virtual metering point is registered for the pool, for which bids can be submitted.
Balancing energy
Emergency supply for connected member states
REGULATION (EU) 2017/1938 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of October 25, 2017 (“SoS-VO”) aims to ensure that directly connected Member States take solidarity measures to guarantee gas supplies to customers protected by solidarity in the Member State where a solidarity case has occurred.
The single clearing entity (AGCS) and the MVGM (AGGM) are responsible for balancing energy management in Austria.
The contractual and technical concept described in the following documents serves to provide physical balancing energy quantities to member states directly connected to Austria (“connected member state”) in the event of solidarity pursuant to Article 13(3) of the SoS-VO (“solidarity event”). The provision of physical balancing energy shall be limited to the period for which the competent Austrian authority accepts incoming solidarity requests from the connected member state in accordance with Article 13 SoS-VO (“solidarity requests”).
The market-based balancing energy mechanisms MOL and FlexMOL, which apply to balancing the Austrian supply area, can also be used to provide physical balancing energy to the connected member states in the event of solidarity.
These include:
- Quantities from MOL standard products,
- Quantities from MOL flexibility products.
The support is provided by a company designated by the affiliated member state, which is announced by the Austrian authority to the single clearing entity.
This company must be registered with AGCS as a BGR with a special balance group for the purchase of physical balancing energy quantities and must conclude a supplementary agreement (emergency supply) to the BGR contract with the single clearing entity for this purpose.
The content of the contract refers in particular to the following parts of the AB-BS:
General Terms and Conditions of the single clearing entity:
7. Special conditions for the relationship between the single clearing entity and BGR with a special balancing group (emergency supply)
A special balance group is set up for the BGR. Only after the contract has been signed and registration with the single clearing entity (AGCS) has been completed, physical balancing energy quantities offered in the market area can be called up for the connected member state in the event of solidarity.
These physical balancing energy quantities are transferred to the special BG at the VHP. The BGR is responsible for having the appropriate capacities for transport to the connected member state.
Solidarity requests in accordance with Article 13 of the SoS-VO requirements for physical balancing energy quantities (solidarity quantities) are transmitted to the MVGM. The MVGM checks the commercial and technical feasibility and transmits offers to the BGR, which the BGR accepts or rejects. The calls/deliveries for/to the connected member state are made according to ability and capacity.
Before physical balancing energy quantities are called up, cash collateral must be provided by the BGR in favor of AGCS. Physical balancing energy quantities can only be called up by the MVGM within the scope of the available collateral for the affiliated member state.
Offers are called up directly for the connected member state and can therefore be clearly assigned to it. The costs of the physical balancing energy plus fees, clearing charges, and taxes are invoiced.
Invoicing to the BGR takes place either daily or promptly.
