IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/enejou/v45y2024i1p201-229.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Levelised Cost of Frequency Control Ancillary Services in Australia’s National Electricity Market

Author

Listed:
  • Joel Gilmore
  • Tahlia Nolan
  • Paul Simshauser

Abstract

Over the period 2016–2021 Australia’s National Electricity Market (NEM) experienced an investment supercycle with 16,000MW of new utility-scale renewable plant commitments in a power system with a peak demand of 35,000MW, and the disorderly loss of 5,000MW of synchronous coal-fired plant. This placed strains on system security, most visibly in the distribution of the power systems’ frequency, requiring material changes to the NEM’s suite of Frequency Control Ancillary Service (FCAS) markets. Utility-scale batteries are ideally suited for FCAS duties, but there is no forward price curve for FCAS markets, nor is there any systematic framework for determining equilibrium prices that might otherwise be used for investment decision-making. In this article, we develop an approach for quantifying long run equilibrium costs and stochastic spot prices in the markets for Frequency Control Ancillary Services, with the intended application being to guide the suitability of utility-scale battery investments under conditions of uncertainty and missing forward FCAS markets.

Suggested Citation

  • Joel Gilmore & Tahlia Nolan & Paul Simshauser, 2024. "The Levelised Cost of Frequency Control Ancillary Services in Australia’s National Electricity Market," The Energy Journal, , vol. 45(1), pages 201-229, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:enejou:v:45:y:2024:i:1:p:201-229
    DOI: 10.5547/01956574.45.1.jgil
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.5547/01956574.45.1.jgil
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.5547/01956574.45.1.jgil?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Newbery, David, 2016. "Missing money and missing markets: Reliability, capacity auctions and interconnectors," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 401-410.
    2. Weron, Rafał, 2014. "Electricity price forecasting: A review of the state-of-the-art with a look into the future," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 1030-1081.
    3. Just, Sebastian & Weber, Christoph, 2008. "Pricing of reserves: Valuing system reserve capacity against spot prices in electricity markets," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(6), pages 3198-3221, November.
    4. Simshauser, Paul, 2020. "Merchant renewables and the valuation of peaking plant in energy-only markets," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    5. MacGill, Iain, 2010. "Electricity market design for facilitating the integration of wind energy: Experience and prospects with the Australian National Electricity Market," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(7), pages 3180-3191, July.
    6. Lion Hirth, Falko Ueckerdt, and Ottmar Edenhofer, 2016. "Why Wind Is Not Coal: On the Economics of Electricity Generation," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 3).
    7. Neuhoff, Karsten & Wolter, Sophia & Schwenen, Sebastian, 2016. "Power markets with Renewables: New perspectives for the European Target Model," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 37, pages 3-38.
    8. Richard Green & Iain Staffell, 2016. "Electricity in Europe: exiting fossil fuels?," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 32(2), pages 282-303.
    9. Hirth, Lion & Ziegenhagen, Inka, 2015. "Balancing power and variable renewables: Three links," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 1035-1051.
    10. Paul L. Joskow, 2011. "Comparing the Costs of Intermittent and Dispatchable Electricity Generating Technologies," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(3), pages 238-241, May.
    11. Sebastian Sterl & Inne Vanderkelen & Celray James Chawanda & Daniel Russo & Robert J. Brecha & Ann Griensven & Nicole P. M. Lipzig & Wim Thiery, 2020. "Smart renewable electricity portfolios in West Africa," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 3(9), pages 710-719, September.
    12. Simshauser, Paul, 2018. "On intermittent renewable generation & the stability of Australia's National Electricity Market," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 1-19.
    13. Zhu, Bangzhu & Han, Dong & Chevallier, Julien & Wei, Yi-Ming, 2017. "Dynamic multiscale interactions between European carbon and electricity markets during 2005–2016," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 309-322.
    14. Traber, Thure & Kemfert, Claudia, 2011. "Gone with the wind? -- Electricity market prices and incentives to invest in thermal power plants under increasing wind energy supply," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 249-256, March.
    15. Edenhofer, Ottmar & Hirth, Lion & Knopf, Brigitte & Pahle, Michael & Schlömer, Steffen & Schmid, Eva & Ueckerdt, Falko, 2013. "On the economics of renewable energy sources," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(S1), pages 12-23.
    16. Roth, Ian F. & Ambs, Lawrence L., 2004. "Incorporating externalities into a full cost approach to electric power generation life-cycle costing," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 29(12), pages 2125-2144.
    17. Paul Simshauser and Joel Gilmore, 2020. "On Entry Cost Dynamics in Australia's National Electricity Market," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 1).
    18. McConnell, Dylan & Forcey, Tim & Sandiford, Mike, 2015. "Estimating the value of electricity storage in an energy-only wholesale market," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 422-432.
    19. Engels, Jonas & Claessens, Bert & Deconinck, Geert, 2019. "Techno-economic analysis and optimal control of battery storage for frequency control services, applied to the German market," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 242(C), pages 1036-1049.
    20. William W. Hogan, 2013. "Electricity Scarcity Pricing Through Operating Reserves," Economics of Energy & Environmental Policy, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 2).
    21. Bublitz, Andreas & Keles, Dogan & Zimmermann, Florian & Fraunholz, Christoph & Fichtner, Wolf, 2019. "A survey on electricity market design: Insights from theory and real-world implementations of capacity remuneration mechanisms," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 1059-1078.
    22. Aaron Praktiknjo and Georg Erdmann, 2016. "Renewable Electricity and Backup Capacities: An (Un-) Resolvable Problem?," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Bollino-M).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Psarros, Georgios N. & Papathanassiou, Stavros A., 2023. "Generation scheduling in island systems with variable renewable energy sources: A literature review," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 205(C), pages 1105-1124.
    2. Rangarajan, Arvind & Foley, Sean & Trück, Stefan, 2023. "Assessing the impact of battery storage on Australian electricity markets," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Simshauser, Paul, 2019. "Missing money, missing policy and Resource Adequacy in Australia's National Electricity Market," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 1-1.
    2. Simshauser, Paul, 2018. "Garbage can theory and Australia's National Electricity Market: Decarbonisation in a hostile policy environment," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 697-713.
    3. Simshauser, Paul & Gilmore, Joel, 2022. "Climate change policy discontinuity & Australia's 2016-2021 renewable investment supercycle," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    4. Simshauser, Paul, 2018. "On intermittent renewable generation & the stability of Australia's National Electricity Market," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 1-19.
    5. Simshauser, P., 2019. "On the impact of government-initiated CfD’s in Australia’s National Electricity Market," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 1901, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    6. Simshauser, P. & Gilmore, J., 2020. "Is the NEM broken? Policy discontinuity and the 2017-2020 investment megacycle," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 2048, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    7. Simshauser, Paul, 2020. "Merchant renewables and the valuation of peaking plant in energy-only markets," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    8. Simshauser, Paul, 2022. "Rooftop solar PV and the peak load problem in the NEM's Queensland region," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    9. Paul Simshauser, 2019. "On the Stability of Energy-Only Markets with Government-Initiated Contracts-for-Differences," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(13), pages 1-24, July.
    10. Simshauser, P., 2021. "Rooftop Solar PV and the Peak Load Problem in the NEM’s Queensland Region," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 2180, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    11. Flottmann, Jonty H. & Akimov, Alexandr & Simshauser, Paul, 2022. "Firming merchant renewable generators in Australia’s National Electricity Market," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 262-276.
    12. Simshauser, Paul, 2021. "Vertical integration, peaking plant commitments and the role of credit quality in energy-only markets," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    13. Paul Simshauser & Farhad Billimoria & Craig Rogers, 2021. "Optimising VRE plant capacity in Renewable Energy Zones," Working Papers EPRG2121, Energy Policy Research Group, Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge.
    14. Simshauser, P., 2020. "Merchant utilities and boundaries of the firm: vertical integration in energy-only markets," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 2039, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    15. Simshauser, Paul, 2021. "Renewable Energy Zones in Australia's National Electricity Market," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    16. Simshauser, Paul & Billimoria, Farhad & Rogers, Craig, 2022. "Optimising VRE capacity in Renewable Energy Zones," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    17. Simshauser, Paul & Newbery, David, 2024. "Non-firm vs priority access: On the long run average and marginal costs of renewables in Australia," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    18. Simshauser, P., 2021. "Renewable Energy Zones in Australia’s National Electricity Market," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 2119, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    19. Keppler, Jan Horst & Quemin, Simon & Saguan, Marcelo, 2022. "Why the sustainable provision of low-carbon electricity needs hybrid markets," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    20. Paul Simshauser & Joel Gilmore, 2018. "On entry cost dynamics in Australia's National Electricity Market," Working Papers EPRG 1841, Energy Policy Research Group, Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Frequency control ancillary services; Electricity markets; Battery storage;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D25 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Intertemporal Firm Choice: Investment, Capacity, and Financing
    • D80 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - General
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • L51 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Economics of Regulation
    • Q41 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Demand and Supply; Prices

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:enejou:v:45:y:2024:i:1:p:201-229. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.