The SEM Committee has approved the first version of the Balancing Market Principles Statement (BMPS) prepared by EirGrid and SONI for publication.
The BMPS is a new publication for the I-SEM. It is prepared by the TSOs under in accordance with Condition 22B of SONI's TSO Licence Condition 10B of EirGrid's TSO licence. The objective of the BMPS is to provide a clear and comprehensible description of how the TSOs fulfill their obligations regarding the scheduling and dispatch of the system under the I-SEM arrangements.
In May 2016 the SEM Committee consulted on the Terms of Reference for the TSOs to follow when preparing the BMPS. After considering responses to that consultation the SEM Committee published its decision on the Terms of Reference in October 2016 (SEM-16-058). Since then the TSOs have been working to produce the first version of the BMPS. They produced a draft version of the BMPS that they consulted on earlier this year, and held an industry forum in April to discuss the structure of the document, and whether the level of detail included was appropriate. The TSO consultation on the draft BMPS closed on 19 May, with 13 responses being received.
In response to the consultation responses the TSOs have made substantive changes to the draft BMPS that was consulted on. In parallel with publishing the first BMPS, the TSOs are also publishing a separate paper addressing points raised by respondents, and explaining any consequential changes to the BMPS. In addition the RAs have considered the responses to the consultation, and whether the draft BMPS complies with the form of the document set out in the Terms of Reference. Discussions between the RAs and the TSOs have led to further changes to the draft BMPS, resulting in the version that is now being published.
The SEM Committee is satisfied that the BMPS is now in the form set out in the Terms of Reference, setting out the areas set out in the Terms of Reference, but is also conscious that this first BMPS has been produced in advance of Market Trialling and I-SEM Go-Live. Consequently, there are some areas of the scheduling and dispatch arrangements that are yet to be finalised, and the BMPS highlights these. Further, experience up to, and post, Go-Live may give rise to changes in the processes as presently described, and thus require further revisions to the BMPS. The TSOs plan to issue a new version of the BMPS prior to Go-Live. The SEM Committee also notes that there will be significant additional documentation provided by the TSOs on the scheduling and dispatch process the form of TSO Operational Procedures, which provide significant additional detail. The BMPS provides a gateway to these documents and the SEM Committee welcomes their publication, and the TSOs’ commitment to their ongoing publication.
The first version of the BMPS is published here, along with a review of responses to the April consultation. The SEM Committee wishes to thank the TSOs for their work in producing this first version of the BMPS, and participants for their constructive input to the consultation exercise which it considers an important in providing market transparency in the I-SEM.