Ancillary services

Definition

Ancillary services are support services necessary to maintain the reliability and stability of the electric grid. These services include functions like frequency regulation, voltage control, spinning reserve, and load following that help balance supply and demand in real-time. By providing these essential supports, ancillary services play a crucial role in optimizing energy storage operations and ensuring efficient economic dispatch and unit commitment.

5 Must Know Facts For Your Next Test

1. Ancillary services are critical for ensuring that power systems can respond to sudden changes in electricity demand or generation, thus maintaining grid stability.
2. Regulatory bodies often require utilities to procure a certain amount of ancillary services to ensure reliability and prevent blackouts.
3. Energy storage systems can provide ancillary services by absorbing excess energy when supply exceeds demand and releasing it when demand exceeds supply.
4. The cost of ancillary services can significantly impact the overall economics of electricity markets, influencing how energy is priced and dispatched.
5. In many markets, ancillary services are procured through competitive bidding processes, allowing different providers to offer their capabilities.

Review Questions

• How do ancillary services contribute to the optimization of energy storage operations?
  • Ancillary services enhance the optimization of energy storage operations by allowing storage systems to provide essential grid support functions such as frequency regulation and load following. When energy storage systems can quickly respond to fluctuations in supply and demand, they help maintain grid stability while maximizing their own operational efficiency. This dual role makes them valuable assets in balancing the grid and improving overall reliability.
• Discuss the relationship between ancillary services and economic dispatch in electricity markets.
  • Ancillary services are closely linked to economic dispatch as they ensure that the generation units can meet not only the base load but also any fluctuations in demand. Economic dispatch aims to minimize costs while meeting these demands, which includes considering the need for ancillary services. Efficient provision of ancillary services can lower operational costs, optimize generation scheduling, and improve overall market efficiency.
• Evaluate the impact of regulatory requirements on the provision of ancillary services within modern electric grids.
  • Regulatory requirements significantly shape how ancillary services are provided in modern electric grids by establishing standards for reliability and performance. These regulations often mandate utilities to maintain specific levels of ancillary service availability, ensuring that sufficient resources are on standby for unexpected grid disturbances. This has led to increased investments in technologies like energy storage systems, which can offer versatile ancillary service capabilities, thereby fostering innovation while ensuring system reliability.

Related terms

Frequency Regulation: The process of maintaining the system frequency within a specified range by adjusting generation or load in response to fluctuations.

Spinning Reserve: Backup energy that can be quickly brought online to support the grid during unexpected outages or demand spikes.

Economic Dispatch: The method of determining the optimal output levels of generating units to meet load demands at the lowest cost while considering operational constraints.