European balancing act

The impact of high wind penetration levels on balancing and frequency control approaches in Europe, are discussed. Many European countries treat wind power imbalances after the operating hour. Wind power producers are able to realize the cost incurred through increased use of wind reserves through the imbalance costs. Some countries have to pay more imbalance costs than they actually cause for the power systems, as technical costs incurred by them are indirectly allocated to them. The size of balancing area and the time scale for predicting errors are essential, to estimate the amount of variability in wind power. It is also noted that larger balancing areas reduce the variability of wind and improve its forecasting. Different European countries use different time scales for estimating wind energy imbalances and developing balancing frequency control strategies.