Energy and capacity market for balancing services
A more detailed description of the energy balancing market services and how to provide services to the system operator is provided in the services menu item under the topics of electricity balancing service.
Read more about balancing market services
The schedule for the operation of balancing services markets is as follows:
Frequently asked questions and answers about balancing services are summarised here:
Elering’s reserve markets Q&A (20 March 2025) (in estonian)
Energy and capacity market data for the Baltic balancing services is published on the
Capacity market
Capacity market (BBCM - Baltic Balancing Capacity Market)
The capacity market is a mechanism that ensures the availability of sufficient frequency maintenance reserve power to meet demand. Balancing service providers make offers to the capacity market, the content of which is a promise to ensure the availability of the FCR service at the agreed time or to make an offer of balancing energy to the balancing market (MARI or Picasso). The system operator obtains the availability of offers for frequency control reserve (FCR) and automatic frequency restoration reserve (aFRR) and manual frequency restoration reserve (mFRR) from balancing service providers on the frequency reserve capacity market every day for the next day. To optimise costs, the Baltic system operators have decided to jointly procure reserve capacity products and share them. For this purpose, the capacity market platform BBCM (Baltic Balancing Capacity Market) has been launched, on which capacity products are procured for the next day at auctions held every morning.
Description of the frequency reserve capacity market algorithm 3 January 2025 (4 January 2025
MARI
MARI (Manually Activated Reserves Initiative) is a pan-European balancing market created in cooperation with power system operators (TSOs). The goal of the MARI platform is to ensure the stability of the energy system by allowing market participants to trade mFRR (manual Frequency Restoration Reserves) products.
More information about the MARI platform: https://www.entsoe.eu/network_codes/eb/mari/
PICASSO
PICASSO (Platform for the International Coordination of Automated Frequency Restoration and Stable System Operation) is a pan-European balancing market created in cooperation with power system operators (TSOs). The PICASSO platform aims to ensure the stability of the energy system by allowing market participants to trade aFRR (automatic Frequency Restoration Reserves) products.
More information about the PICASSO platform: https://www.entsoe.eu/network_codes/eb/picasso/
NB! Bids of 25 MW or more can participate in the procurement!
Long-term procurement of frequency reserves
On 8 December 2023, Elering announced a public consultation on the concept document for the long-term procurement of frequency reserve capacities.
The original version has been improved based on feedback received from market participants. Below you can find the updated document and a summary table of feedback with Elering’s comments.
Taking into account the feedback received from the public consultation regarding the concept document, Elering prepared the procurement documentation and announced the public procurement “Long-term acquisition of frequency reserves” on 15 July 2024 (https://riigihanked.riik.ee/rhr-web/#/procurement/7540084/general-info ) with the initial tender deadline of 14 April 2025, which has been extended by three months to 14 July 2025 as of today. Due to the large number of questions submitted through the register, an online information day was organised on 4 October 2024, the recording of which can be found among the materials included in the procurement documentation.
Ensuring the Long-Term Adequacy of Balancing Capacity in Estonia
https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https%3A%2F%2Felering…
NB! Bids of 25 MW or more can participate in the procurement!