RWE plans to market part of the production capacity from its Amrumbank West offshore wind farm in Germany in daily auctions for a system-stabilising secondary reserve to keep the grid frequency at 50 Hertz, preventing potential grid failures.
The transmission system operator TenneT recently granted the necessary pre-qualification for a capacity of 60 MW and, starting in the first quarter of 2025, RWE will market this secondary reserve through daily balancing energy auctions, allowing for the wind farm output to be reduced by up to 60 MW at the request of the grid operator.
While RWE has been marketing and providing balancing reserve for grid stabilisation from various types of assets such as pumped storage, gas-fired power plants and batteries, Amrumbank West is the first RWE offshore wind farm to provide these system services for grid stabilisation, the company said on 7 February.
Through RWE Supply & Trading, RWE plans to qualify additional wind and solar farms for the automatic frequency restoration reserve and will also provide this service for external clients, as the marketing of balancing power opens up additional sources of income for renewable energy plant operators, the Germany-based renewable energy developer said.
To participate in the daily auctions for a secondary reserve, a participant’s bid power must be able to be fully activated within five minutes. Market participants are remunerated by the transmission system operator for the provision of secondary reserve as well as for the actual supply, according to RWE.
The Amrumbank West offshore wind farm has been in operation since 2015.
The 302 MW wind farm is located approximately 37 kilometres west of the North Frisian island of Amrum and comprises 80 Siemens Gamesa wind turbines.