ECCO Leading the change in Reliability Assessment Studies
ECCO International has developed and implemented a sophisticated advanced Reliability Assessment simulator that deploys a detailed transmission model coupled with MIP/LP optimizers and sequential Monte-Carlo simulations to perform reliability studies especially in the presence of high penetration of RES resources in the grid. ECCO is currently working with a major single-state ISO to perform NERC Mandated LOLP Studies incorporating the entire network and accounting for the increased amount of intermittent resource supply. This study is ground-breaking since it will not only account for the uncertainties of total energy supply and demand but it also account for “deliverability” associated with the transmission constraints which exist in a power system.
ECCO partners with the National Bank of Greece and Guggenheim Partners.
ECCO, along with the National Bank of Greece and Guggenheim Partners, has been awarded a contract for financial and technical services for the project “ELIOS” from the Hellenic Republic. The project “ELIOS” will develop over the course of many years 10,000 MW of photovoltaic energy in Greece for exports to Germany and other European countries. The income from the project is to be allocated to reduce government debt. The scope of work includes:
- Strategic review of the EU RES landscape and the regulatory framework associated with RES deployment
- Review of the current status of the national and international transmission grids
- Assessment of the required investments to develop a cross-European energy transmission infrastructure.
- Assessment of the required changes of the wholesale energy market in Greece for the integration of substantial RES penetration in the transmission grid.
- Assessment of the operational and grid changes required for the integration of substantial RES penetration in the transmission grid.
- Assessment of the control coordination mechanisms required to enable RES transfers to other countries
- Assessment of the statistical transfer option as an alternative to physical transfers
- Identification of potential monetization schemes for HR
- Financial advisory services to the HR related to the structuring, development and implementation of the ELIOS project
- Financial advisory services to the HR related to the Transaction structuring and execution.
ECCO retained by MAVIR, the Hungarian Transmission System Operator Company Ltd
In 2011 ECCO was retained to provide consulting and software services for developing a co-optimized market for Energy and Ancillary Services for the country of Hungary. This work included the development of the general rules of the new energy market architecture, the development and support of presentation material of the new market architecture and the support required to secure the successful completion of the market redesign project.
In 2012 ECCO will perform a comparative study to evaluate the costs/benefits for transitioning from a self-scheduling energy market where energy and ancillary services are procured separately and the market clears with no visibility of system and resource constraints to a co-optimized and integrated energy and ancillary services market. Finally, it will develop the RFP documents for the procurement of the Market Management Software (MMS) to support a co-optimized and integrated energy and ancillary services market.
ECCO retained by PSE, the Polish Transmission System Operator Company
In 2011 ECCO was retained by PSE to develop market coupling mechanisms for harmonizing the new proposed, LMP-based energy market architecture with the other energy markets of the EU member states. This is the third Phase of the project for transitioning PSE’s existing market structure from a zonal based market model to a nodal LMP-based energy market with a bid-based Unit Commitment clearing mechanism where scarce transmission resources are fully embedded in the market clearing and consequently are fully priced at the market solution.
In the first two phases, ECCO completed the design of the proposed LMP-based energy market, the first of its kind in the Eurozone, in previous years. The basic elements of the new proposed market structure include the a) the Day-Ahead Market (DAM), b) the Hour Ahead market (HAM), c) The Real-Time Market (RTM), d) the Financial Transmission Rights Market (FTR), e) the Cross-Border Trading market and f) the Capacity market. The Market Power Mitigation and Reliability Requirement Determination (MPM) and the Reliability Unit Commitment (RUC) functions are also part of the proposed market architecture. An integral part of this market is a Full Network Model that is used to represent the Polish transmission grid.
In 2012 ECCO will develop the RFP documents for the procurement of the Market Management Software (MMS) to support the proposed LMP-based energy market.
ECCO retained by PPC, the Public Power Corporation of Greece
ECCO has been retained by PPC over the last several years for execute various important studies and develop strategic plans related to the liberalization of the Greek energy market. Specifically, ECCO developed the energy market design, rules and protocols, and the Code for the Non-Interconnected Greek Islands. It also conducted a large scale study for integrating Renewable Energy Resources (RES) into the grid and evaluating the integration costs in the Non-Interconnected Islands of Crete, Rhodos, Ikaria and Lesvos as a function of the penetration level. The study included various types of Ancillary Services, Unit Commitment costs and the reliability of the grid.
In 2010 and 2011 ECCO developed a comprehensive plan for opening up the Greek wholesale energy market pursuant to policies of TROIKA (EU/ECB/IMF). The plan included physical sales of lignite plants and other equivalent economic and contractual measures including Energy Swaps, Contracts for Differences and VPP Auctions for auctioning off Virtual Power Plant (VPP) capacity. The plan also included the design of the simultaneous ascending-clock auction with discreet rounds, dynamic bids, discreet rounds, activity rules, information disclosure, etc. It also included the creation of the Independent Transmission Operator (ITO) and Independent Distribution Operator, both subsidiaries of PPC.
ECCO also performed a detailed simulation of the Greek energy market with a time horizon up to 2019 by deploying ECCO’s proprietary and advanced simulation software platform for determining the economic value of each power plant for developing a strategy for PPC for the divestiture of its power plants.
ECCO also executed the study of the mechanism for the breakup of the HTSO into two functions, the Market Operator (MO) and the System Operator (SO). It developed the new Codes of these two new organizations. The new Codes are currently available for public consultations. The SO will be absorbed in 2012 by the ITO subsidiary of PPC, and the MO will become an independent Company.
Finally in 2011 ECCO developed the Operating Agreement that includes the detailed terms and provisions of the commercial and operating relationship between the MO and the ITO.
