Control energy is crucial for the stability of the electricity grid, as it is used to balance out fluctuations between generation and consumption. In the European energy market, particularly in Austria, balancing energy plays a central role.
Control energy, also known as balancing energy, is an essential instrument for stabilizing the electricity grid. Its task is to balance out fluctuations between electricity generation and consumption in order to keep the grid frequency at a stable level of 50 Hz. Fluctuations in the grid frequency can lead to disruptions or even a grid failure, which is why balancing energy plays a critical role in the energy market.
In Europe, especially in countries such as Austria, balancing energy is a central component of grid stability. The Austrian electricity grid, which is heavily integrated into the European grid, must be kept in balance at all times. If, for example, the grid frequency drops due to a sudden increase in electricity consumption or an unexpected reduction in generation, balancing energy is immediately provided to correct this imbalance.
There are three different types of balancing energy that are used in practice: Primary balancing power, secondary balancing power and tertiary balancing power (also known as minute reserve). Each of these categories differs in terms of response time and duration of provision.
- Primary control power is activated within seconds and is used to compensate for very short-term fluctuations. This type of balancing power is provided jointly by all power plants in the European grid in order to ensure grid stability.
- Secondary balancing power is activated within a few minutes of a fault occurring and is used to stabilize the grid in the long term. In Austria, secondary control power is provided by larger, flexible power plants that can adjust their output.
- Tertiary controlpower or minute reserve is the last stage of control energy and is used to rebalance the grid after longer disruptions. It is provided by reserve power plants that can step in within 15 minutes.
Control energy is provided and activated by the transmission system operators (TSOs), in Austria primarily by Austrian Power Grid AG (APG). They continuously monitor the grid frequency and coordinate the supply of balancing energy when fluctuations occur. Thanks to close European cooperation within the ENTSO-E network, Austria can also benefit from the balancing energy of other countries if its own demand is insufficient.
Another relevant aspect is the integration of renewable energies into the electricity grid. With the increasing share of wind and solar energy, whose production is weather-dependent and difficult to predict, the need for balancing energy is increasing. At times when generation from renewable sources fluctuates greatly, conventional power plants have to step in to ensure grid stability. These power plants are able to quickly increase or decrease their output in order to keep the grid in balance.
In Austria, balancing energy plays not only a technical but also an economic role. The providers of balancing energy, mostly large power plant operators, offer their capacities on special markets. These markets for balancing energy are strictly regulated and guarantee the operators remuneration for holding and providing balancing energy.
Looking to the future, the importance of balancing energy will continue to increase, particularly in connection with the ongoing energy transition and the planned phase-out of fossil fuels. Innovative storage technologies such as battery storage or pumped storage power plants could play a greater role in the coming years in order to provide balancing energy in an even more efficient and environmentally friendly way.
In summary, it can be said that balancing energy is an indispensable part of the energy market. It provides the necessary flexibility to compensate for fluctuations in the electricity grid and thus enables a reliable supply of electricity - even in times of increasing renewable energies.
