Quick reserve
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 has approved phase one of the Quick Reserve (QR) Service and it will go live on the Enduring Auction Capability platform for bids on 19 November. The first auction will take place on 3 December. View the Terms and Conditions. To take part when the service goes live, 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 linked page. If you have any questions, contact us.
The indicative timeframe for the consultation is outlined below.
| Completed | Published | Mid-July | August | September-October | November |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Image
|
|||||
All documents relating to the Quick Reserve (phase 1) consultation are available here to download. This consultation will close on 29 July 2024. Please be aware that there is a separate Article 18 consultation live for Dynamic Response services which includes changes to the response procurement rules.
| Name | Published Sort ascending |
|---|---|
| Quick Reserve Procurement Rules - Clean | 30 Aug 2024 |
| Quick Reserve Service Terms - Clean | 30 Aug 2024 |
| Response Procurement Rules (QR changes) - Compare | 30 Aug 2024 |
| Quick Reserve - Form B | 30 Aug 2024 |
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.
Below you can find the documents relating to Quick Reserve.
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 and 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 |
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.
We are particularly keen to hear from non-BM providers regarding this second phase non-BM service ahead of our Article 18 consultation. The service design document is available below and we welcome feedback through this form https://forms.office.com/r/QfXYY1bDDK which is open until close of business Friday 1 November.
Further enquiries
Get in touch with the right team within Balancing Services, who are on hand to answer any questions you may have.