SEPS successfully connected to the international MARI platform on December 3, 2024. After the successful connection, SEPS has completed accession into international platforms focused on the procurement of balancing energy following its earlier integration into the PICASSO platform.
The MARI platform provides connected transmission system operators with a common space for the procurement of balancing energy from frequency restoration reserves with manual activation (mFRR), previously referred to as tertiary regulation ancillaryservice. Accession to the MARI platform will enable SEPS to coordinate the exchange of balancing energy with other connected transmission system operators.
SEPS’s entry into the MARI platform is the result of long-term close cooperation with European transmission system operators. The platform’s goal is to enable transmission system operators to share balancing energy resources and achieve higher efficiency, transparency, and reliability in balancing supply and demand in real-time.
SEPS’s integration into the MARI platform, similarly as to the PICASSO platform, brings significant changes to the activation and pricing of standard mFRR balancing products. Offers from domestic balancing service providers are collected by individual transmission system operators and submitted to the MARI platform. The platform collects, evaluates, and sorts all received offers in a common merit order list. The platform also optimizes the activation of balancing electricity based on the needs of the transmission system operators, depending on the system imbalance of the respective balancing area. Priority is given to the offers with the lowest price within the common merit order list. Before the offers are chosen to be activated, the MARI platform considers the available transmission capacities between interconnected bidding zones.
Regarding the change in the pricing of mFRR service activation, the maximum allowed price for balancing energy offers in the form of the standard mFRR+ (positive) and mFRR- (negative) products has been adjusted in accordance with the regulation of the Regulatory Office for Network Industries (ÚRSO) No. 246/2023 Coll. Since the date of the connection the price has been determined according to the relevant pricing methodology of the MARI platform.
The connection of transmission system operators to the MARI platform is gradual. As more member transmission system operators connects to the MARI platform, the overall liquidity and cross-border exchange of mFRR balancing energy on the MARI platform are expected to increase, which should ultimately have a positive impact on the development of mFRR balancing energy prices. SEPS expects that the full benefits from participation in the platform will occur once all member transmission system operators are connected, particularly from Poland and Hungary, with which Slovakia’s transmission system is directly interconnected.
The final step related to SEPS’s integration into European platforms for cross-border balancing energy exchange will be SEPS’s connection to the Capacity Management Module (CMM) in 2025. This module complements the PICASSO and MARI platforms by ensuring more efficient management of cross-border transmission capacity allocation processes. The connection of SEPS to the CMM module imposes no additional requirements or obligations on mFRR providers within Slovakia.
What are PICASSO and MARI platforms?
PICASSO (Platform for the International Coordination of Automated frequency restoration and Stable System Operation) is an implementation project of the European platform for the exchange of regulatory energy from reserves for frequency restoration with automatic activation (aFRR). The PICASSO project was founded in August 2017, and SEPS joined it on June 26, 2018, becoming a full member. The official website of the PICASSO project, including information on the current status of the project, is available on the ENTSO-E website, where you can also find the current status of the connection and the connection plan of other TSOs accession roadmap.
MARI (Manually Activated Reserves Initiative) is an implementation project of a European platform for the exchange of regulation energy from manually activated frequency recovery reserves (mFRR). The MARI project was founded in April 2017, with SEPS joining it on June 26, 2018, becoming a full member. The official website of the MARI project, including information on the current status of the project, is available on the ENTSO-E website, where you can also find the current status of the connection and the connection plan of other TSOs accession roadmap.
The connection of SEPS to the platforms will enable the cross-border exchange of balancing energy from frequency restoration reserves with manual activation (mFRR) and with automatic activation (aFRR) between EU countries (participation is mandatory for all EU countries). Both of these platforms, within the market, will bring to providers of balancing services on the side of electricity production/consumption the opportunity to provide balancing energy through SEPS also for other countries in which there will be a requirement for the activation of balancing services. SEPS will also benefit from them, as the opening of the balancing energy market will bring higher liquidity within the common price scale of the platforms and the possibility to activate the most cost-effective balancing energy offer at the given moment. These European platforms will contribute to balancing efficiency in Europe and integrate the aFRR and mFRR balancing energy markets and thereby contribute to increased operational security.