Quick reserve
The EBR Article 18 industry consultation for Quick Reserve phase 2 is now live. For the full pack please visit the QR2 EBR article 18 consultation documents tab below.
Reserve is needed for frequency management when there is an imbalance between supply of energy and demand for energy.
System conditions are changing, and faster-acting services procured closer to real-time are required to restore frequency to within statutory limits within 60 seconds, recover frequency to within operational limits within 15 minutes, and to respond to transient supply demand imbalances that take pre-fault frequency close to operational limits.
Quick Reserve, separated into Negative Quick Reserve (NQR) and Positive Quick Reserve (PQR), is aimed primarily for reacting to pre-fault disturbances to restore the energy imbalance quickly and return the frequency close to 50.0 Hz.
Ofgem approved phase one of the Quick Reserve (QR) Service, and and it went live on the Enduring Auction Capability (EAC) platform on 19 November 2024, with the first auction taking place on 3 December 2024. View the Terms and Conditions. To take part, providers need to prequalify by creating their assets and units in the Single Markets Platform and complete pre-qualification for the service. Key guidance and demos for the SMP can be found on this page.
We are now developing the proposed service and procurement design for the enduring (Phase 2) Quick Reserve service, incorporating both BM (Balancing Mechanism) and non-BM (non-Balancing Mechanism) market participants, with the service design going out for consultation in January 2025.
If you have any questions, please contact us.
IT Integrations
Version 4 of the API is the same as version 3 (used in ASDP) apart for NESO rebranding changes around namespaces. Not all the fields will be used by OBP and those which are ignored are greyed out but remain in the API for compatibility with market participant’s existing systems. Metering will no longer be taken from the API but heartbeats are required for each unit every 5 minutes as a minimum. This is a minor change to previous APIs which captured the heartbeat at service level.
In addition to this API documentation we will be issuing additional guidance in the form of a Business Logic document. This will contain information for non-BM providers for both Contracted and Optional services.
The BLD document will be to provide details about the business rules and exceptions around the API which will be implemented by Quick Reserve service providers.
The BLD will cover:
Web Service Business Rules and Exceptions for the existing API flows
- Availability Service - Validation NESO will apply to information from providers.
- Availability Confirmation – Validation NESO expects providers to apply on the responses from NESO.
- Dispatch/Cease Service - Validation NESO expects providers to apply on the responses from NESO.
- Dispatch/Cease Confirmation Service - Validation NESO will apply to Dispatch/Cease information from providers.
- Heartbeat Service - Validation NESO will apply to information from providers.
- Heartbeat Negative Acknowledgement (NACK) - Validation NESO will apply to information from providers.
- Physical Notification - Validation NESO will apply to information from providers.
- Physical Notification Confirmation – Validation NESO expects providers to apply on the responses from NESO.
This BLD will be published in January 2025.
| Document Library | |
|---|---|
| OBP Service Provider - Web Services Specification 19th Dec 2024 | Download |
This document describes the operational metering architecture that NESO has in place to enable the connection of small BMU’s (≤100MW) to BM Systems and facilitate participation in the following:
- GB Balancing Mechanism
- Pathfinder projects
- Dynamic Containment projects
- Dynamic Moderation projects
- Dynamic Regulation projects
- Provision of other Balancing Services
Through this we hope to provide a high-level understanding on the generic requirements for Small BM Participants, but a more detailed specification will be provided as part of the existing processes for participating in the Balancing Mechanism or securing other Balancing Services from NESO.
| Document Library | |
|---|---|
| Operational Metering - 1 October 2024 | Download |
This document describes the proposed solution for NESO to accept and store Quick Reserve performance metering data from individual Service Providers (SPs).
The requirement for Performance Metering Data for BM and NBM units is expected with a second-by-second granularity, so that the meter value provided can be used for settlement purposes. The interface data and transmission requirements that service providers must meet are also outlined, describing the concept of operations for the interface, defining the message structure and protocols that govern the interchange of data, and identifying the communication paths from which NESO expects data to flow.
The intended audience of this document are external service providers and internal teams across NESO that are associated with development and operations of the systems connected to the interface.
The data design specification provides the following information:
• a general description of the interface
• data specifications including source, target and validation details, data formats and classification
• a description of the transport characteristics including transfer, data exchange, interface processing requirements, flow control and security
• assumptions and outstanding questions
| Document Library | |
|---|---|
| Performance Metering Data Specification - 15 January 2025 | Download |
The indicative timeframe for the consultation is outlined below.
| Completed | Published | February | Mar/April | April - June | June |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Following the Article 18 consultation for the initial Quick Reserve service (Phase 1) we are now developing the proposed service and procurement design for the enduring (Phase 2) Quick Reserve service, incorporating both BM (Balancing Mechanism) and non-BM (non-Balancing Mechanism) market participants.
To participate in Quick Reserve your asset/unit will need to be registered in the Single Market Platform (SMP).
The Enduring Auction Capability (EAC) Market design Explainer can be downloaded.
| Name | Published Sort ascending |
|---|---|
| QR phase 1 guidance document - November 24 | 29 Nov 2024 |
| Quick reserve summary document - November 24 | 20 Nov 2024 |
| QR Mock Auction guidance | 9 Oct 2024 |
Below you can find the documents relating to Quick Reserve.
12 February 2025
We are pleased to confirm that we have launched the EBR Article 18 consultation for the new Quick Reserve Phase 2 for both BM (Balancing Mechanism) and non-BM (non-Balancing Mechanism) market participants’ service.
We encourage all interested parties to respond to the consultation prior to closing at 17:00 on Friday 14 March 2025. Please see the documentation in the 'QR Phase 2 Consultation' folder for more details.
We would like to thank industry stakeholders for your patience and continued support as we continue the delivery of our suite of new reserve reform products.
12 June 2024
We are pleased to confirm that we will launch the EBR Article 18 consultation for the new Quick Reserve Phase 1 (BM only) service during the week commencing 24 June 2024. This is later that we had previously communicated to industry due to the additional feedback received on the service and procurement design which we have taken time to carefully consider and discuss with providers before proceeding.
Delivery of Quick Reserve Phase 1 service is planned to launch with the first auction on or around 28 November 2024 based on a decision from the authority on or around 1 November 2024.
We will be holding an industry webinar during this initial consultation period and will be publishing details of this shortly, meanwhile we would like to thank industry stakeholders for your patience and continued support as we progress with delivery of our suite of new reserve reform products.
19 May 2023
ESO has come to the decision to delay the delivery of the new Reserve reform products, Slow and Quick Reserve – originally planned for October and November 2023. As a result, we will not be launching our EBR Article 18 consultation to industry as planned at the end of May.
This decision has been taken in light of the significant changes that would have been required in our existing, legacy balancing systems and processes, given the complexity of the new service designs. In the midst of a complex and rapidly evolving systems change environment, we believe it is more prudent to re-evaluate these changes to consider if implementation into our legacy systems is still appropriate, as opposed to direct implementation into our Open Balancing Platform (OBP).
Postponing the rollout of our new Reserve services grants us the opportunity to re-examine our proposed service designs, evaluate our IT options, and collaborate with you more effectively. This will ensure that the best solutions are delivered and that the necessary updates to our balancing systems are apt for enhancing our operational toolkit and are better aligned with the implementation of our future systems.
In the coming weeks we will be looking to understand the extent to which we review the proposed services designs and IT solutions. We will then communicate how and when we intend to engage with you in this process via the Future of Balancing Services distribution list.
20 April 2023
Last month, we held a webinar on 9 March where we updated industry on our delivery plan and provided a refresh of the services (please refer to the Document Library tab for the documentation and recordings).
This delivery plan indicated launching our EBR consultation towards the end of April with the dependencies being further exploration of system changes and the quantum of change acceptable to market providers as well as the ENCC. We have also noted the feedback on Crossovers from the market and we are still analysing the most optimal solution for the end consumer.
As we are still working through these dependencies and feedback, the EBR consultation will be moved provisionally to the end of May.
We intend to update and confirm our delivery plan for Quick Reserve and Slow Reserve in Future of Balancing Services newsletter.
Upcoming events
A series of weekly drop in sessions where the NESO team will run through and demonstrate some of the key requirements for registering and taking part in the Quick Reserve service prior to go live. Each session will include time for Q&A on all aspects of the service.
| Title | Date | Information | Slides |
|---|---|---|---|
| Session 1 | 26 Sep 2024 | Watch Session | |
| Session 2 | 03 Oct 2024 | Watch Session | |
| Session 3 | 10 Oct 2024 | Watch Session | |
| Session 4 | 17 Oct 2024 | Watch Session | |
| Session 5 | 24 Oct 2024 | Watch Session | Download Slides |
| Session 6 | 31 Oct 2024 | Watch Session | |
| Session 7 | 07 Nov 2024 | Watch Session |
Past events
Quick Reserve Webinar - 8 July 2024
Following the webinar held on 8 July 2024 we have shared the slides, Q&A and a recording of the webinar.
| Watch the webinar | Download the slides | Download the Q&A |
Industry workshop for Phase 1 Quick Reserve - 1 February 2024
Following the webinar held on 1 February 2024, we have shared the slides and a recording of the webinar.
| Watch the webinar | Download the slides |
Reserve Reform update webinar - 19 December 2023
Following the webinar held on 19 December 2023, we have shared the slides, Q&A and a recording of the webinar.
| Watch the webinar | Download the slides | Download the Q&A |
Further enquiries
Get in touch with the right team within Balancing Services, who are on hand to answer any questions you may have.