Smart Balancing of Electrical Power in Germany: Fuzzy Logic Model to Simulate Market Response

Abstract

Recent EU legislation enforces the integration of European balancing markets, with harmonized products and international platforms for the procurement and activation of reserves; nonetheless, different power balancing strategies remain. The Netherlands and Belgium encourage market participants to support balancing the control block by publishing real-time information. This article refers to such concepts as smart balancing, and a market simulation tool was developed to assess the relevant market parameters for effective smart balancing. This shall contribute to the true integration of real-time balancing energy markets. The scope of the assessment of relevant market parameters was Germany, and the results showed that a pricing scheme had less impact on the results, as currently is understood by European TSOs and regulators. Moreover, the accuracy and frequency of real-time publication indicate the effectiveness of smart balancing and the associated reduction of the activation of balancing energy and associated costs. Consequently, this article proposed a road map for Germany to introduce an adapted smart balancing approach, starting with a simple traffic light.