Public consultation on the Proposal for Amendment to the T&C BSP FCR

Context

In the context of the balancing incentive on BSP Faster Settlement formulated by CREG in the Decision (B)658E/89, ELIA reviewed the settlement and invoicing processes for Balancing Service Providers to ensure faster payments for their service, positively impacting their required working capital, contributing to a faster feedback loop on the service and overall creates efficiencies in operating the processes. The advantage of faster payment to the BSPs will consequently help to remunerate their downstream grid users. Furthermore, by reducing payment timings, this improvement facilitates market access for new BSPs by lowering entry barriers and helps to increase competition among them. The historical approach for settlement several months after delivery merits an update. This revision enables the transition to more digitalization and contemporary functionalities like self-billing, where ELIA proposes to issue invoices and credit notes, in the name of and on behalf of the BSP.

The proposed changes have been discussed with stakeholders during 3 workshops, that took place on 05/12/2024, 13/02/2025 and 02/04/2025.

The changes in the settlement and invoicing process are common to the three balancing products: FCR, aFRR and mFRR, and require certain amendments to the terms and conditions. Therefore, ELIA is organizing simultaneously a public consultation on amendment proposals for each of the balancing products. Any comment or suggestion from the stakeholders on the common changes in the settlement and invoicing process will be considered for the three products if applicable.

Next to the amendments relative to settlement and invoicing process, this proposal for amendment to the T&C BSP FCR also contains:

• Amendments relative to the introduction of a mandatory declarative baseline. The study exploring the feasibility of offering various balancing products on DPpg has examined the simultaneous activation of FCR and the aFRR bids involving the same DPpg. The outcome of this study recommends implementing a declarative baseline for FCR to align it with the existing baseline methodology for aFRR. This adjustment is crucial for establishing an integrated activation control, enabling the simultaneous delivery of both FCR and aFRR.
  
  
• Amendments relative to Continuous monitoring. To enhance the harmonization of monitoring within the FCR Cooperation, the TSOs have collaboratively developed a continuous monitoring algorithm, which is proposed as a best practice for the monitoring of FCR delivery for TSOs.
  
  
• Amendments relative to Continuous Activation Control & incentives. The proposal for amendments includes a shift towards continuous activation control based on the KPIs calculated by the Corridor Approach. The ratio FCR Underdelivery / FCR Inner Limit compares the missing energy that a BSP has not provided with respect to the minimum acceptable FCR energy needed to avoid under delivery. This will be used as a KPI for activation control and the basis for the incentive linked to activation control.
  
  
• Amendments relative to Error Attribution during combo delivery of FCR and aFRR. In order to avoid the possibility of arbitrage through the declarative FCR Correction value, Elia must introduce a methodology to allocate the error between FCR and aFRR for a Delivery Point providing both services. The proposed concept is a best practice set by the FCR Cooperation. The concept is as follows, if a Delivery point is activated in both FCR and aFRR, FCR delivery is assumed as perfect, and the error is allocated to aFRR.
  
  
• Amendments relative to the Prequalification Test Phase 2. The second phase of the Prequalification test is adapted to be coherent with the introduction of the Continuous Activation Control design. 
  
  
• Amendments relative to the migration of real-time data exchange to RTCP/Flexhub & change in data granularity. Currently, the data granularity of the measurement data provided by the Measurement Device at the Delivery point is set to 2 seconds. Elia proposes to change the data granularity from 2 seconds to 4 seconds to improve alignment between balancing products. To optimize the process of prequalification and availability testing, the formulas will be slightly adapted to accommodate the new data granularity.
  
  
• Amendments relative to the introduction of the CDSO declaration. In alignment with the T&C BSP mFRR, a CDSO declaration is included in the T&C BSP FCR. It is precised that, in the Procedure for Delivery Point Acceptance, the BSP must provide a CDSO declaration for Delivery Points DPPG within a CDS.
  
  
• Amendments relative to the digital update of the Contact Details for the BSP. With the development of the EPIC digital customer portal, BSPs will be able to update their list of contacts through the EPIC portal, instead of by exchanging e-mails. In addition, ELIA proposes to update the list of roles to include in the contact details list.

A more extensive overview of the amendments and the context in which the amendments are proposed can be found in the explanatory note available on this website.

Consultation Period

Elia invites all stakeholders to submit any comments and suggestions they may have on the document submitted for consultation.

The consultation period runs from 28 May 2025 to 30 June 2025.

After the consultation period, Elia collects all comments and feedback from the market parties. Elia will analyse these comments and integrate them into a consultation report together with Elia’s responses. In addition to the consultation report, Elia will publish the reactions of the market parties (including names) on the website, unless it is explicitly stated that the contribution is to be considered confidential.