Release of new technical requirements for Frequency Containment Reserves (FCR)
The Nordic TSOs have developed new technical requirements for the Frequency Containment Reserve for Normal Operation (FCR-N) and Frequency Containment Reserve for Disturbances (FCR-D). The purpose of the new requirements is to address the needs of the developing power system and to harmonize the requirements in the Nordics. Based on the new requirements the Nordic TSOs have prepared a new and updated material for the prequalification process.
On April 3rd the Nordic national regulatory authorities approved the TSOs’ amended proposals regarding FCR additional properties and dimensioning in accordance with the transmission system operation guideline (SOGL). The proposals describe the main parts of the new technical requirements.
The Nordic TSOs have developed material to support the prequalification process. You can see an overview of the material with a short description below.
- Technical requirements document – Detailed description of the technical requirements and the prequalification process.
- Prequalification tool – An application used to evaluate the prequalification tests. The tool is made available in a preview version and will receive further updates during the implementation process.
- User manual for the prequalification tool – Supporting document to the prequalification application.
- Tuning guideline – Supporting document related to the tuning of units.
As a notable change compared to the earlier draft version of the technical requirements, the published version includes finalized requirements for limited energy reservoirs. During the implementation process of the new requirements, the TSOs will continue to update the requirements document and supporting material as needed based on stakeholders’ feedback and experience gained from the prequalification tests.
The TSOs of Sweden, Finland and Denmark have agreed that the new technical requirements shall enter into force on September 1st, 2023. In Norway the requirements will enter into force in the beginning of 2024. Balancing service providers may prequalify towards the new requirements starting from August 1st 2023. Existing units and groups prequalified for FCR shall transition towards the new requirements at the latest when their current prequalifications expire. On the website Prequalification all documents needed for prequalification with the new technical requirements are available, the prequalification tool, user manual for the prequalification tool and the tuning guideline. In connection with this, a change is also made to the prequalification process as the grid connection requirements is no longer included as part of the prequalification and this section is no longer included in the application document. However, the grid connection procedure shall still be carried out separately.