Manual Frequency Restoration Reserve Activation Clearing Model

The integration of the European markets has started with the successful coupling of spot markets (day-ahead and intra-day) and is expected to continue with the coupling of balancing markets. In this paper, the optimization model for the activation of manual frequency restoration reserve (mFRR) is presented. The model incorporates all order types agreed among the European transmission system operators (TSOs) to be included in the Manually Activated Reserves Initiative (MARI) project. Additionally, the model incorporates the buying curve (demand) of mFRR with the possible tolerance band defined by the TSOs, order clearing constraints and the cross-zonal capacity (CZC) constraints, forming a mixed integer linear programming model. The methodology employs two distinct steps: In the first step, an order conversion process is employed for the markets applying the central-scheduling scheme, and in the second step, the mFRR activation process is executed by solving the presented model. The whole process is tested using a case, including twenty-five European control areas. The attained clearing results indicate that price convergence is achieved among the involved control areas, along with a reduction in the overall balancing costs mainly due to the imbalance netting that is implicitly performed during the joint mFRR balancing energy (BE) clearing process and due to the cross-border exchange of mFRR BE.