DNO now offers aFRR to its customers in addition to mFRR, unlocking new potential
In the summer of 2023, TenneT prequalified DNO for delivering secondary reserve power (aFRR) via combined heat and power equipment from greenhouses to participate in balancing the network. Such equipment can be aggregated into larger pools, thereby offering significant potential flexibility to support grid balancing and congestion management.
Through aFRR, TenneT utilizes flexible demand and supply of electricity to keep the grid frequency stable by continuously balancing generation and consumption. Providers that are able to dynamically increase or decrease the demand or supply of electricity are reimbursed for delivering such flexibility. This provides new opportunities for DNO to serve their current (and potential) customers to create additional value by intelligently operating the combined heat and power units. Initially the focus was on offering tertiary reserve power (mFRR). After the successful prequalification and connection in cooperation with Equigy’s and TenneT’steam, DNO started to deliver secondary reserve power (aFRR) to TenneT.
‘This new ‘connection’ with TenneT went very well right from the start,’ says Evert Jan Hakvoort. For greenhouse and horticultural customers, this expansion means they can be better served, there is more speed to deliver the right power and this creates a more lucrative business model for them.
For DNO, it means that they see their business potential within the current customer base grow directly as more and more customers recognize the additional potential value of participating in aFRR. We are currently still rapidly expanding among our existing customers. ‘We are also still working on an algorithm where we can move towards even more efficiency for our customers so that each customer receives the most advantageous provision for their situation.’ said Evert Jan Hakvoort.
DNO and its customers contribute to balancing the Dutch electricity network while making their own business model more efficient. An energy transition win-win.
About DNO Energie
DNO provides soft- and hardware that enables its clients to optimize their energy cost. Their software provides the client with all the tools required to operate in today’s energy market, including, but not limited to secondary reserve power (aFRR), tertiary reserve power (mFRR), congestion management, EPEX, passive balancing, CO2 reporting and invoice verification and monitoring. DNO is a key player within the horticultural industry, with hundreds of customers connected to their platform. The horticultural sector is highly flexible in its consumption and production of electricity and with roughly 10% of the Dutch electricity produced, they are the cornerstone of keeping the grid stable, while integrating intermittent renewables. There are a wide range of flexible assets connected to the platform, such as WKK (CHP), greenhouse lighting, heat pumps, batteries, photovoltaics, e-boilers, wind energy and many more.
DNO provides clients a saas application, an internet-based tool to balance the daily energy demand and supply.
Using growers’ specific input, DNO was able to develop tailor made software for their clients.
Through the years DNO developed a high level of cooperation with their partners.
In May 2018 DNO introduced tertiary reserve power (mFRR). This started a dynamic period for DNO and their clients. It resulted in many successful activations through the years, up and down. This flexibility was highly needed to stabilize the Grid.
In 2023, TenneT prequalified DNO for delivering secondary reserve power (aFRR) via combined heat and power equipment from greenhouses to participate in balancing the grid and thus receive additional remuneration. Such equipment can be aggregated into larger pools, thereby offering significant potential flexibility to support grid balancing and congestion management.
The future will certainly bring a lot of challenges. The energy transition will continue for many years to come.
About Equigy
EQUIGY plays a key role in the acceleration of the energy transition and the integration of the energy system. With the European crowd balancing platform, EQUIGY creates a trusted data exchange to enable aggregators to participate with smaller flexibility devices, such as home batteries and electric vehicles, in electricity balancing markets, turning consumers into prosumers With six leading European Transmission System Operators (TSOs): TenneT NL, TenneT GER , Terna , Swissgrid, APG and TransnetBW, EQUIGY aims to set cross-industry standards throughout Europe, to support a future-proof, reliable and cost-effective power system that is independent of fossil fuel-based flexibility sources.
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