Dynamic Containment

Dynamic Containment (DC) is designed to operate post-fault, i.e. for deployment after a significant frequency deviation in order to meet our most immediate need for faster-acting frequency response.

Currently, the electricity system is experiencing lower inertia and larger, more numerous losses than ever before. Faster acting frequency response products are needed because system frequency is moving away from 50Hz more rapidly as a consequence of imbalances.

Over the next few years, the ESO aims to deliver a new suite of faster-acting frequency response services to support our operations as the electricity system is decarbonised and to ensure that these new services enable a level playing field for all technologies. Dynamic Containment is the first of our new end-state services that we will be releasing to mitigate this risk.

Questions

If you have any questions regarding Dynamic Containment, in the first instance please take a look at our FAQ document (the document will appear in your downloads folder).

Alternatively, please contact the team for any queries at: [email protected]

New providers

If you are a new provider, please review the DC Participation Guidance Document in the 'How to participate' tab, in the 'Legal documents' section for details on how to join the service. If you have any questions, please contact the team at: [email protected]

The two other services in Response Reform

Visit the Dynamic Moderation page

Visit the Dynamic Regulation page

Latest News

19/5/21 - The slides for the DC procurement changes webinar on 20 May 2021 can be accessed here.

5/5/21 - Following the Response Reform webinar, we will be hosting a further webinar to go into more detail on the proposed changes on how we procure DC on 20 May at 10am. For more information, select here.

5/5/21 - We have published the recording, slides and FAQs from the Response Reform webinar. The content can be found here.

27/4/21 - We have launched an EBGL Article 18 Consultation for changes to how Dynamic Containment (DC) will be procured. The consultation opens from today until 5pm on 27 May 2021. The suite of consultation documents can be accessed here.

23/4/21 - We are pleased to share that from this summer we intend to procure Dynamic Containment (DC) at a more granular level, by EFA blocks, on a pay-as-clear auction platform. Making improvements to how we procure DC generates the need for a statutory consultation under Article 18 of the Energy Balancing Regulation. Consultation on these terms is planned to open by the end of April. For more information, see the newsletter here.

23/3/21 - As part of Markets week, we have published the Frequency Response Reform podcast outlining the next steps for DC. To have a listen, select here.

17/3/21 - We have provided an update on the volume cap, performance monitoring and transitional arrangements in the latest newsletter which can be viewed here.

18/2/21 - We launched the EBGL Article 18 Consultation for DC which concluded on 21 January 2021. Ofgem have now approved our updates to the Service Terms and supporting documentation. You can view the new documentation in the 'how to participate' tab. For more information, click here. For an overview of the changes, please click here.

27/1/21 - Today we went live with BM stacking alongside DC delivery. For more information, click here.

18/1/21 - We have updated the Soft Launch Development document which can be accessed here.

22/12/20 - We have published our first edition of the DC Performance Monitoring Connectivity FAQ document to address the frequently asked questions with regards to data connectivity and submissions. The document can be found here.

17/12/20 - Today we have launched the EBGL Article 18 Consultation for DC and STOR. The consultation is open until 5pm on 21 January 2021. The full suite of consultation documents can be accessed via this link. We have also published a DC consultation overview document that can be found here.

1/10/20 - Today is the launch of Dynamic Containment with the first delivery from 23:00 tonight (Thursday 1 October) to 23:00 Friday 2 October. For more info, select here.

Soft launch of DC

Following the announcement in April on the delay to the delivery of Dynamic Containment (DC), the operational need for DC remained so we decided to take a similar delivery approach to the weekly auction trial, in learning by doing through a phased delivery. We started with a soft launch of DC in October, followed by the full delivery of the service in 2021. For more information, select here.

Dynamic Containment overview

Dynamic Containment (DC) is a fast-acting post-fault service to contain frequency within the statutory range of +/-0.5Hz in the event of a sudden demand or generation loss. The service delivers very quickly and proportionally to frequency but is only active when frequency moves outside of operational limits (+/- 0.2Hz).

What volumes are we going to procure?

Eventually, but not immediately, we expect to procure up to 1GW of this product in both directions. Our procurement will grow with the available market and our own system readiness, expecting ~500MW initially.

Is there a unit cap?

The unit cap is 100MW. We are eventually looking to have a diverse locational spread, so we are trying to encourage the right market behaviour for when locational mapping comes in.

Is there a volume cap?

Currently, the volume cap is expected to be around 500MW. We expect this to increase to around 1000MW in the future. This is to promote competition and increase liquidity in the frequency response market, reducing our overall balancing costs and increasing value for the consumer.

Can I stack DC with existing response and reserve?

DC can currently be stacked with the Balancing Mechanism (BM). We intend to allow stacking with new response and reserve products introduced in the future where possible. Generally, we would like to maximise the stacking opportunities, but it is not allowed for the same MW/MWh to be sold twice.

Is DC going to replace any response products?

Eventually yes. As we continue with the roll-out of our other new services, we will gradually procure less of the monthly-tendered FFR service, and our intention is to phase out the monthly tenders for FFR by Q4 2021/22.

How will DC interact with other new products?

DC has been designed to meet our operational needs in coordination with two other frequency response products: Dynamic Moderation (DM) and Dynamic Regulation (DR).