Tenders for aFRR in the APG Control Area

This page contains the most important information for potential providers of aFRR. More precise and legally binding information can be found in the contract documents in the download section.

Conditions for Participation

See Conditions for participation in tenders for control energy.

The documents required for participation in the tenders for aFRR can be found in the download section on the right-hand side.

Tendered Products

aFRR is procured in six 4-hour blocks per day for delivery and purchase:

Tendered Volume

aFRR balancing capacity required in the APG control area currently amounts to +/-200 MW procured in daily capacity tenders. In exceptional circumstances, the required volume of aFRR can be changed by the control area manager.

Minimum and Maximum Bid

The minimum for the first bid per tendered product is 1 MW. The minimum bid for each additional offer is 5 MW. Bids in excess of the minimum bid can be submitted in full 1 MW increments and must not exceed the pre-qualified capacity.

Tendering Platform

The tenders take place exclusively via the electronic tendering platform of APG.

Capacity Tenders

When do the tenders take place?

The required aFRR in Austria is tendered on a daily basis (calendar days, from Monday to Sunday). The most important deadlines for a tender are summarized in the following table:

The following figure also shows the sequence for an entire delivery week:

The suppliers will be informed in due time should it be necessary to postpone or change the bidding period in exceptional circumstances.

Award procedure

At the end of the bidding period the offered aFRR capacity bids are ranked according to the following criteria:

1. lowest capacity price

2. if the prices for capacity are the same, the award of the contract will be based on an algorithm for reproducible randomization

Market participants, whose bids are selected, receive the quoted aFRR capacity price, i.e. a "pay as bid" approach is used. The energy prices submitted in the capacity tender will be carried over to the energy tender and may be adjusted (downwards and upwards) until the end of the energy tender period.

Possible future changes in the award procedure will be announced with a lead time of at least 14 days.

Unsuccessful Tenders

In the event of an unsuccessful tender, e.g. in case not enough capacity is offered, the valid bids will be accepted and a second tender will be opened for the shortfall. If there is still a shortfall after the second tender, a further invitation to tender will be opened in a "last call". In this case, APG calls on potential suppliers to offer available power via e-mail or, if possible, via telephone. In the event that the "last call" still does not suffice to cover the shortfall, APG has the right to oblige suppliers to provide the aFRR (obligation to supply). Detailed information regarding this procedure can be found in the Tendering Conditions for aFRR (German only).

Energy Tenders

When do the tenders take place?

The required aFRR balancing energy is put out to tender intraday (from Monday to Sunday). Bids can be submitted and adjusted from the successful completion of the capacity tender until one hour before the delivery period of the respective product. The most important deadlines of the tender are summarised in the following table:

The following figure also shows the sequence for one delivery day:

The market participants will be informed in due time should it be necessary to postpone or change the bidding period in exceptional circumstances.

Award procedure

1. lowest energy price for positive aFRR or highest energy price for negative aFRR;

2. if the prices for energy are the same, the award of the contract will be based on an algorithm for reproducible randomization
   

Market participants, whose bids are selected, receive the quoted aFRR energy price, i.e. a "pay as bid" approach is used. Once a bid has been accepted, the provider is obliged to keep the accepted quantity available for activation at any time.

Possible future changes in the award procedure will be announced with a lead time of at least 14 days.

Backup procedure

If the process of energy tendering cannot be fully completed for technical reasons, all bids submitted up to that point will lose their validity. Backup energy prices are calculated for the creation of the merit order list.

The calculation of the backup energy prices for delivery day D are carried out for each provider and product based on the energy bids the provider submitted for the 14 delivery days before the Gate Closure Time of the capacity tender (D-1). The calculation steps for delivery day D are as follows:

• Sorting the bids of each provider per product

  • The energy bids for delivery days D-15 to D-2 are sorted according to the energy price (ascending for positive aFRR, descending for negative aFRR) and, in case of equal prices, ascending according to the size of the energy bid.

  • The capacity bids for delivery day D are sorted in ascending order by capacity price and, in the case of equality, by energy price (ascending for positive aFRR, descending for negative aFRR) and time stamp (ascending).




• Calculation of an average 1-MW-MOL

  • The average price for the first MW, the second MW, etc. is calculated based on the energy prices submitted.

  • This MOL must then be sorted again (ascending for positive aFRR, descending for negative aFRR).




• Calculation of the backup energy price MOL

  • The backup energy prices are calculated based on the 1-MW-MOL and the quantities of the bids submitted in the capacity tenders for the relevant delivery day D.

  • The backup energy price of a bid is calculated as the average value of the prices from the 1-MW-MOL corresponding to the quantities of the submitted balancing capacity bids.

Two special cases can occur regarding the calculation:

• The supplier has not submitted any valid energy prices for one or more products within the last 14 calendar days before the delivery date. As a substitute, the 1-MW-MOL for this provider is calculated as the average of the 1-MW-MOLs of all other providers.

• The quantity offered for a product in the respective capacity tender exceeds that of the last 14 delivery days and thus also the length of the 1-MW-MOL. In this case, the last backup energy price is applied for all subsequent MWs.