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Section Q: Balancing Services Activities

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Section Q: Balancing Services Activities

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Introduction

Section Q of the BSC deals with the following:

    1. the submission of data items in respect of relevant BM Units in accordance with the Grid Code;

    2. the submission of Physical Notifications in accordance with the Grid Code, to enable Final Physical Notification Data to be submitted by the NETSO;

    3. arrangements for the submission by Lead Parties of Bid-Offer Pairs for relevant BM Units and for the acceptance of Bids and Offers by NETSO;

    4. the submission by NETSO of Acceptance Data for the purposes of Section T and Section V;

    5. the submission by NETSO of Balancing Services Adjustment Data;

    6. the submission by NETSO to the Balancing Mechanism Reporting Agent (BMRA) of other operational data items for the purposes of Section V;

    7. the submission by the NETSO of Transparency Regulation Data, Electricity Balancing Guideline Local Data and Inside Information Data to the BMRA for the purposes of Section V;

    8. the submission by the NETSO of Loss of Load Probability values and Demand Control Event data for the purposes of Section R, Section S, Section T and Section V;

    9. the submission of Replacement Reserve bids to the NETSO; and

    10. the submission of Replacement Reserve Auction Result Data by the NETSO for the purposes of Section T and Section V.

General

Where a Party communicates with NETSO (or vice versa) for the purposes of Section Q, this is undertaken in accordance with the provisions of the Grid Code (and not the BSC) and rules for determining whether or not a communication has been received are set down in the Grid Code.

NETSO is required to ensure that it has appropriate systems in place in order to communicate with Lead Parties, the BMRA and Elexon for the purposes of Section Q.

From the first time that a Lead Party submits Bid-Offer Pairs for a BM Unit, in the absence of any further submission from that Lead Party, default data will continue to be created for that BM Unit (as provided for in the Grid Code) until such time as the Lead Party takes steps to discontinue the application of the default rules.

NETSO is required to inform Elexon if it has given notice of an outage of its communication systems under the Grid Code, and if so, what period of notice was given and the start and end times of the outage.

If the same person acts as BMRA and the Settlement Administration Agent (SAA) (as was the case at Go-Live 27 March 2001), then where NETSO is required to send data to both the BMRA and the SAA, if it sends the data to one of them, it is treated as having sent it to both.

Data Submission by Lead Party

Lead Parties for BM Units participating in the Balancing Mechanism are required to ensure that Dynamic Data Set items for a relevant BM Unit are sent to NETSO in accordance with the Grid Code. The data in the Dynamic Data Set includes the following data: Run-Up and Run-Down Rates; Notice to Deviate from Zero; Notice to Deliver Offers and Bids; Minimum Zero and Non-Zero Times; Maximum Delivery Volume and associated Maximum Delivery Period, and Stable Export and Import Limits. This data may be changed by the Lead Party as is provided for in the Grid Code.

Where a Lead Party submits Replacement Reserve Bids in respect of a BM Unit(s), they shall ensure that Run Up Rate and Run Down Rate data is submitted to the NETSO in accordance with the Grid Code.

To the extent required in the Grid Code, Lead Parties are required to submit Maximum Export and Import Limits in relation to a relevant BM Unit to NETSO. Again this data may be changed in accordance with the Grid Code.

For Interconnector BM Units, both the Maximum Import Limit for any Production BM Unit and the Maximum Export Limit for any Consumption BM Unit are set to zero.

Final Physical Notification Data

In accordance with Grid Code BC1.4.21 , the Lead Party is required to submit Physical Notification data for its BM Unit(s) to the NETSO. The Final Physical Notification Data is the Physical Notification data prevailing at Gate Closure.

The data submitted to NETSO for each Settlement Period must be such that the Final Physical Notification Data comprises one or more pairs of "from" and "to" MW levels and associated times. As a minimum, there must be a "from" time and level at the start of the Settlement Period and a "to" time and level at the end of the Settlement Period. Exports are expressed as positive numbers and imports as negative numbers.

For Interconnector BM Units, the maximum of any of the MW values of Final Physical Notification is zero for any Consumption BM Unit, and the minimum value is zero for any Production BM Unit. The Final Physical Notification Values for the Production and the Consumption BM Units of an Interconnector User cannot both be non-zero at the same time (i.e. the Interconnector User cannot plan to both Import and Export at the same time on a particular Interconnector).

Balancing Services Bid-Offer Submission

Where Final Physical Notification Data is established for a BM Unit, the Lead Party may submit one or more Bid-Offer Pairs in relation to a Settlement Period. These must be submitted by Gate Closure to NETSO. Each Bid-Offer Pair must comprise:

    1. a 'from' MW level at the start of the Settlement Period and a 'to' MW level at the end of the Settlement Period (which must be the same as the 'from' level); and

    2. an Offer Price and a Bid Price (which cannot be greater than the Offer Price) and a Bid-Offer Pair Number.

A maximum of 10 Bid-Offer Pairs may be submitted in total, 5 with positive (or zero) MW levels and positive Bid-Offer Pair Numbers (from +1 to +5), and 5 with negative (or zero) MW levels and negative Bid-Offer Pair Numbers (from -1 to –5).

The Offer Price and Bid Price of a particular Bid-Offer Pair cannot be less than the Offer Price and Bid Price (respectively) of a Bid-Offer Pair with a lower Bid-Offer Pair Number.

If no Bid-Offer Pairs are received by NETSO for a BM Unit, NETSO is required to establish the Bid- Offer Pair data for that BM Unit by copying Bid-Offer Pair data (if any) that was applying for that BM Unit at 11:00 hours on the preceding day for the equivalent Settlement Period. The Lead Party is deemed to have submitted any such Bid-Offer Pair(s) for the purposes of Section Q.

Where Gate Closure for a Settlement Period occurs during a period of Outage, NETSO is required to establish the Bid-Offer Pair data for each relevant BM Unit by applying the Bid-Offer Pair data for that BM Unit for that Settlement Period most recently received by NETSO prior to the start of the Outage.

Replacement Reserve Bid Data submission

The Lead Party of a relevant BM Unit may submit Replacement Reserve Bid Data to the NETSO in accordance with the Grid Code (which include the TERRE Data Validation and Consistency Rules). This data must be received by NETSO no later than Gate Closure for the relevant Replacement Reserve Auction Period.

Where Gate Closure for a Replacement Reserve Auction Period occurs during a period of Outage, NETSO shall establish the Replacement Reserve Bid Data for each relevant BM Unit by applying the Replacement Reserve Bid Data for that BM Unit for that Settlement Period most recently received by NETSO prior to the start of the Outage or, in the absence of any data, no Replacement Reserve Data shall be established by NETSO.

Balancing Mechanism Bid Offer Acceptance

Bid-Offer Acceptances

NETSO may accept Bids and Offers by issuing certain communications as specified under the Grid Code. An Acceptance is a communication. The following communications (only) are treated as Acceptances for the purposes of the BSC:

    1. communications issued in respect of a BM Unit in accordance with the Grid Code which contain the required data (as specified in Section Q), or which allow such data to be reasonably implied from the communication, and which:

(i) was confirmed by the Lead Party in accordance with the Grid Code; or

(ii) if not confirmed by the Lead Party in accordance with the Grid Code:

1. is consistent (to the nearest MW) with the Dynamic Data, Final Physical Notification Data and Maximum Import and Export Limits;

2. was not rejected by the Lead Party on safety grounds in accordance with the Grid Code, and

3. was not withdrawn by NETSO in accordance with the Grid Code;

    1. a communication issued as an Emergency Instruction (other than in relation to Black Start or the resynchronisation of a desynchronised island) in respect of a BM Unit in accordance with the Grid Code, which contains the required data (as specified in Section Q) and was not rejected by the Lead Party on safety grounds in accordance with the Grid Code.

NETSO is required to log the communications that constitute Acceptances under the BSC. It is also required to record confirmations, rejections and withdrawals of such communications.

The "Bid-Offer Acceptance Time" of an Acceptance is, in the case of a Bid-Offer Acceptance2 (as defined in the Grid Code) or an Emergency Instruction, the time at which the communication was issued by NETSO.

It is noted that nothing prevents NETSO from sending Acceptance Data to the SAA which has a MW value of a 'from' or 'to' time associated with an Acceptance which falls above the top of the MW range implied by positively numbered Bid-Offer Pairs or below the bottom of the MW range implied by negatively numbered Bid-Offer Pairs.

Acceptance Data

Acceptance Data for a BM Unit includes:

    1. one or more Acceptance Volume Pairs (each with a 'from and to' level and associated 'from and to' time, where the levels are expressed in whole MW, and the times are in whole minutes);

    2. the associated Bid-Offer Acceptance Number;

    3. the associated Bid-Offer Acceptance Time; and

    4. the RR Instruction flag, SO-Flag, STOR flag and Emergency flag as classified by the NETSO.

For Acceptances that are Emergency Instructions, a number of additional provisions are included. These provisions deem an Acceptance Volume Pair, running from the MW level and time of the first 'to' time in the communication (either explicit or implied) to the end of the last Settlement Period for which Gate Closure fell before the Bid-Offer Acceptance Time. Furthermore, NETSO and the Lead Party are, subject to certain restrictions, permitted to agree changes to the Acceptance Data for such Acceptances, provided that the agreed revised data is sent to the SAA by the end of the next Settlement Day after the one in which the Bid- Offer Acceptance time falls. The NETSO may also specify whether an Acceptance which is an Emergency Instruction should be treated as Emergency Flagged.

A Network Gas Emergency Acceptance, which is an instruction to reduce or discontinue the offtake of gas issued by a Gas Transporter for the purpose of Load Shedding during Stage 2 or higher of a Network Gas Supply Emergency, where the effect of such instruction is to limit the level of possible Export from one or more Generating Units within one or more BM Units, shall be treated as an Emergency Flagged Acceptance.

NETSO is required to submit Acceptance Data to the BMRA and SAA.

Suspension of balancing mechanism

Where any Contingency Provision requires the balancing mechanism to be suspended (for example, as outlined in Section G on Black Start), the following arrangements apply:

    1. no communications issued by NETSO are treated as Acceptances (and consequently no payments or charges are made in relation to them); and

    2. consequently NETSO does not submit Bid-Offer Data or Acceptance Data to the BMRA or SAA.

Suspension of the TERRE Market

Where any Contingency Provision requires the balancing mechanism to be suspended (for example, as outlined in Section G on Black Start), or if NETSO has notified Elexon that the TERRE Market is to Suspended due to Planned Maintenance Outages or unplanned computer system failures then the following arrangements apply:(a) no communications issued by NETSO are treated as either RR Auction Result Data or as “RR Flagged” Acceptance Data (and consequently no payments or charges are made in relation to them); and

    1. consequently NETSO does not submit Replacement Reserve Bid Data, Replacement Reserve Auction Result Data or "RR Instruction Flagged" Acceptance Data to the BMRA or SAA.

Historic balancing mechanism prices

Where any contingency provision requires historic price limits to apply in relation to the balancing mechanism (for example, see Section G on Civil Emergencies and Fuel Security Periods), the Lead Party of a relevant BM Unit is required to ensure that the Offer Prices and Bid Prices of Bid-Offer Pairs do not fall outside certain limits. The magnitudes of the Offer and Bid Prices submitted is restricted to the median of the values submitted for the BM Unit in the "historic period" (see below), or zero if there are no such values.

Relevant BM Units are those BM Units to which the Contingency Provisions apply, and the historic period is the period of 30 days expiring on the day that the Secretary of State gave the direction pursuant to which the historic pricing arrangements apply (or any other period determined in accordance with the relevant Contingency Provisions).

NETSO is required to calculate the limiting values of Offer Price and Bid Price applying for relevant BM Units in such periods. If they have been exceeded in the submission from the Lead Party, NETSO is required to substitute the submitted values with the limiting values and send the revised data to the SAA for use in Settlement. This must be undertaken by NETSO as soon as reasonably practicable, and in any event in sufficient time for the revised data to be used in the relevant Initial Settlement Run(s).

Replacement Reserve Auction Result Data

Section Q5.6 describes what constitutes Replacement Reserve Auction Result Data, which comprises Replacement Reserve Activation Data, GB Need Met Data and Interconnector Schedule Data.

Submission of data by the NETSO

Submission of data to the BMRA

NETSO is required to send a variety of data items (defined in the Grid Code) to the BMRA for reporting purposes. None of this data is used in Settlement and is provided for information purposes only.

The specific data items required to be sent are listed in Section Q. Generally, the type of data that NETSO is required to send includes zonal and national demand forecasts, zonal and national generation forecasts, zonal and national imbalances, Zonal and Total Output Usable, constraint boundary margins, Maximum Import and Export Limit data, Final Physical Notification Data, Bid-Offer Data, Acceptance Data, outturn demand, System Warning and Surplus Data.

Section Q also requires NETSO to send certain data items for information purposes only that are not defined in the Grid Code. These include the Out-turn Temperature at midday, the total forecast generation from Power Park Modules, the Total Instantaneous Out-Turn Generation by Fuel Type, the volume of energy instructed from non-BM Short Term Operating Reserve (STOR), the System Frequency and De-Rated Margin.

Timescales by which all data must be sent and where appropriate received are specified in Section Q. Timescales range from within 15 minutes of Gate Closure for Final Physical Notification Data and Bid-Offer Data, within 15 minutes of the communication being sent for Acceptance Data (apart from Emergency Instructions which should be communicated to the BMRA as soon as possible), within 15 minutes of the end of the relevant Settlement Period for outturn demand (Initial National Demand Out-Turn) to be by 5pm each Friday for the 2–52 week ahead Generating Plant Demand Margin and Surplus forecast values. In addition, yearly values for Zonal and Total Output Usable are received every 6 months.

Not later than 40 minutes before the start of each Replacement Reserve Auction Period, the NETSO should send BMRA the Replacement Reserve Bid Data for each BM Unit for which it has received or determined such data. Also, within 30 minutes of Gate Closure for each Replacement Reserve Auction Period, the NETSO should send BMRA the Replacement Reserve Auction Result Data for each BM Unit for which it has received or determined such data.

If the NETSO becomes aware that a Gas Transporter has issued Load Shedding instructions in relation to Stage 2 or higher of a Network Gas Supply Emergency, the NETSO shall, using reasonable endeavours, notify the BMRA that Load Shedding has been used without undue delay.

Submission of data to the ECVAA

Within 15 minutes of the end of each Settlement Period, NETSO is required to send the latest Final Physical Notification Data for each Interconnector BM Unit to the Energy Contract Volume Aggregation Agent (ECVAA).

Submission of data to the CDCA

Within five Business Days of a Demand Control Event the NETSO shall send to the CDCA detail of each directly connected BM Unit that was subject to Demand Disconnection.

Submission of data to the SVAA

The NETSO will send data relating to Non-BM STOR Instructions and Demand Side Balancing Reserve Instructions to the SVAA.

Submission of Balancing Mechanism data to the SAA

Within 15 minutes of the end of each Settlement Day, NETSO is required to send the following data to the SAA in relation to BM Units:

    1. Final Physical Notification Data (for each Settlement Period in the Settlement Day);

    2. changes to the Dynamic Data Set to apply in relation to the Settlement Day (and notification time);

    3. changes to Maximum Export Limit and Maximum Import Limit data applying in relation to the Settlement Day;

    4. Bid-Offer Data submitted or determined in relation to each Settlement Period; and

    5. Acceptance Data (other than Acceptances in relation to Emergency Instructions which should be sent as soon as reasonably possible following the relevant Settlement Day).

Submission of Replacement Reserve data to the SAA

Within 15 minutes of the end of each Settlement Day, NETSO is required to send the following data to the SAA in relation to BM Units:

    1. Final Physical Notification Data (for each Settlement Period in the Settlement Day);

    2. changes to the Dynamic Data Set to apply in relation to the Settlement Day (and notification time);

    3. changes to Maximum Export Limit and Maximum Import Limit data applying in relation to the Settlement Day;

    4. Replacement Reserve Bid Data in respect of each Quarter Hour period within each Replacement Reserve Auction Period within such Settlement Day; and

    5. Replacement Reserve Auction Result Data in respect of each Replacement Reserve Auction Period.

Balancing Services Adjustment Data

NETSO is required to send estimates of Balancing Services Adjustment Data in relation to each Settlement Period in a Settlement Day:

    • as soon as possible but no later than 1 hour after either a trade is agreed and recorded for Balancing Services Adjustment Actions(in relation to all Settlement Periods);

    • as soon as reasonably practicable after the Gate Closure for each Settlement Period; and

    • in relation to any Settlement Period in which a Non-BM STOR action was taken, no later than 15 minutes after the end of the relevant Settlement Period

This data comprises a number of Balancing Services Adjustment Actions and the Buy Price Price Adjustment and Sell Price Price Adjustment.

Each Balancing Services Adjustment Action contains:

    • the unique sequential number for each Balancing Services Adjustment Action;

    • the Balancing Services Adjustment Volume;

    • the Balancing Services Adjustment Cost;

    • whether the NETSO has classified such Balancing Services Adjustment Action as "SO- Flagged";

    • the BSAD Party ID;

    • the BSAD Asset ID (if applicable);

    • whether the Balancing Service was procured by the NETSO through a tender; and

    • the type of Balancing Service Provided.

The BSC Systems calculate the Balancing Services Adjustment Price for each Settlement Period for each Balancing Services Adjustment Action by dividing the Balancing Services Adjustment Cost by the Balancing Services Adjustment Volume for each respective Settlement Period.

NETSO will publish an up to date register on its website in relation to Balancing Services Adjustment Actions. This will include the name of each person providing procured Balancing Services Adjustment Actions, its corresponding BSAD Party ID and the BSAD Asset ID.

NETSO is permitted to resubmit the data at any time prior to the Final Reconciliation Settlement Run.

Applicable Balancing Services Volume

NETSO is required to send Applicable Balancing Services Volume Data for each BM Unit, in relation to each Settlement Period in a Settlement Day to the SAA and the BMRA no later than the second Business Day after the Settlement Day to which the data pertains. The Applicable Balancing Services Volume Data represents, for each BM Unit, an aggregate net volume of active energy for the whole Settlement Period, expressed in MWh, and following the accepted sign conventions. For the avoidance of doubt, the Applicable Balancing Services Volume Data will not, for any BM Unit or Settlement Period, include any volume (of active energy) attributable to a Bid – Offer Acceptance.

For any BM Unit, Settlement Period and Settlement Day, NETSO may resubmit to the SAA the Applicable Balancing Services Volume Data at any time prior to the Final Reconciliation Settlement Run for the relevant Settlement Day, and the SAA will correct the data in the Settlement Run following such submission.

The Lead Party of a BM Unit can choose not to have Applicable Balancing Services Volume Data submitted in respect of any of its BM Units, and where this is the case, the Lead Party should notify the NETSO in writing that it does not wish any volumes of active energy to be submitted in respect of the specified BM Unit(s), with effect from a specified effective date (which should not be earlier than 5 days after NETSO receives the notice). Where NETSO receives such a notice, NETSO shall notify Elexon (in writing) and shall set Applicable Balancing Services Volume Data to zero for the specified BM Unit in respect of each Settlement Day from the requested effective date, until such time as the Lead Party notifies NETSO, in writing, that such notice is to be withdrawn.

Transparency Regulation Data and EBGL Local Data

The NETSO is required to submit data to the BMRA under the Transparency Regulation, the Guideline on Electricity Balancing and any other procedures specified by the ENTSO-E. Requirements for the data, formats, timeframes and procedures for addressing overlaps between the Transparency Regulation Data and the EBGL Data are specified in the Transparency Regulation. Timeframes for submission of data to the BMRA are target times, which the BMRA is expected to meet unless exceptional circumstances prevent it from doing so.

Loss of Load Probability Function

A Static Function Loss of Load Probability (LoLP) is in effect until 31 October2018. The NETSO will send LoLP to the BMRA three months before it is due to take effect. The Final LoLP value applicable to a Settlement Period is sent to the BMRA within 15 minutes of Gate Closure.

With effect from 1 November 2018 a Dynamic Function LoLP will apply. Values will be published ahead of Gate Closure with a Final LoLP determined at Gate Closure.

Demand Control Instructions

Demand Control Events are:

    1. a demand disconnection instructed by the NETSO;

    2. a voltage reduction instructed by the NETSO; and/or

    3. an automatic low frequency Demand Disconnection.

In respect of each Demand Control Event the NETSO will send the BMRA details of Demand Control Instructions within 15 minutes of the start of the event. The BMRA shall then send the notice on to the SVAA, SAA and CDCA.

Outages

Timescales for submission of data by NETSO are automatically extended in the event of an Outage on the relevant NETSO systems.

Manifest Errors

Meaning of Manifest Error

There is a Manifest Error in a Bid-Offer Pair or an Acceptance (only) where:

    1. there was a Manifest Error on the part of the Lead Party in the Offer Price and/or Bid Price of a Bid- Offer Pair and that Bid-Offer Pair was accepted by NETSO; or

    2. there was a Manifest Error on the part of NETSO in accepting one or more Bid-Offer Pairs.

Errors are considered manifest only where there is self-evidently an error.

An "Error Bid-Offer Pair" is a Bid-Offer Pair under (a) above, or one which was accepted erroneously as in (b) above.

Claiming Manifest Errors

If a Party believes that it has made a Manifest Error in a Bid-Offer Pair, the Party may (subject to paying a fee of £5,000) as soon as possible (and in any event no later than 4 hours after the Bid-Offer Acceptance Time), make a claim by giving notice to NETSO.

If NETSO believes that it has made a Manifest Error in an Acceptance, it may (again subject to paying a fee of £5,000) make a claim by giving notice to Elexon (promptly copied to the Lead Party of the BM Unit). This notice shall identify each Error Bid/Offer Pair and the relevant Acceptance.

The Panel may vary the fee amount after consultation with Parties and after giving a minimum of 30 days’ notice to Parties. Fees recovered in relation to Manifest Error claims are not reimbursed in any circumstances and taken into account in determining Elexon Charges (i.e. the fees are used to partly fund the Elexon’s costs).

Flagging Manifest Errors

If a Party gives notice of a claim to NETSO, NETSO must forward the notice to Elexon within 15 minutes of receipt.

When NETSO makes a claim to Elexon (or when it forwards a claim from a Party to Elexon) it must ensure that a Manifest Error notice is posted on the BMRS, identifying the relevant BM Unit, Settlement Period(s) and the Bid Price or Offer Price to which the claim relates.

Determination of Manifest Errors

The Panel is required to consider claims of Manifest Error, although it may appoint a Panel Committee to do this. The Trading Disputes Committee (TDC) may be (and has been) appointed for this purpose.

Where a claim is made, the Panel Secretary is required to place the matter on the Panel agenda and to request the Party claiming the error to provide evidence and information to support its claim. The Panel Secretary is also required to request NETSO or the Lead Party (whichever is not claiming the error) to provide comments in relation to the claim. NETSO may also be requested to provide such information that the Panel Secretary considers may be required in order to assist in the considerations of the Panel.

The Panel is required to determine whether in its opinion there was a Manifest Error, and if so, what adjustments are to be made (see below). This determination should, wherever practicable, be undertaken in time for the adjustments to be made for the Initial Settlement Run. If the Lead Party claims an error compensation amount (see below), this amount (if any) is also determined by the Panel. The Panel's determinations are final and binding and are notified to all Trading

Parties and NETSO by the Panel Secretary. Elexon is required to give instructions to the SAA and Funds Administration Agent (FAA) to give effect to any necessary adjustments and payments.

Adjustments to Bid or Offer Price

Where the Panel determines that there was a Manifest Error, both the Bid Price and Offer Price of each Error Bid-Offer Pair are adjusted for all Settlement Purposes, as described below:

The Panel is required to determine, in its opinion and in consultation with NETSO, the following:

    1. what other Bid-Offer Pairs were available and not already accepted by NETSO at the Bid-Offer Acceptance Time;

    2. which of these would (in the circumstances, and taking into account how NETSO generally selects acceptances), have been selected by NETSO if it had not accepted the Error Bid-Offer Pair; and

    3. the Bid Price or Offer Price of the Bid-Offer Pair(s) identified above as those that NETSO would otherwise have accepted.

Both the Bid Price and the Offer Price are set to be equal to the replacement Bid Price or Offer Price determined in (c) above.

NETSO is required to provide all information reasonably requested by the Panel in order to enable the Panel to make such determinations.

Error compensation amounts

Where the Panel determines there has been a Manifest Error, the Lead Party may (within 5 Business Days after the Panel's determination of the adjustment to be made to the Offer Price and the Bid Price of the Error Bid-Offer Pair) submit a claim for an error compensation amount.

In making such a claim, the Lead Party must provide a statement to the Panel of the changes in Imports and/or Exports of the BM Unit resulting from action taken by the Lead Party for the purposes of complying with the relevant Acceptance (i.e. the Acceptance associated with the error), and also the net MWh change arising over the Settlement Period (i.e. the Party's view of the error compensation volume). The Lead Party must also submit information in relation to the associated avoidable costs (in accordance with Section G). NETSO and each Distribution Company are also required to provide information where reasonably requested by the Panel to do so in order for the Panel to determine its view of the error compensation volume.

The Panel is required to determine in its opinion what the changes in Imports and/or Exports were and the net MWh change for the Settlement Period. The net MWh value determined by the Panel is the error compensation volume.

The error compensation amount is the difference between the Avoidable Party Costs of the Lead Party in relation to the changes in Imports and/or Exports (as determined by the Panel) and the product of the error compensation volume and the replacement Bid and Offer Price determined earlier.

The Lead Party is entitled to be paid the error compensation amount with Base Rate interest calculated from the time of the Initial Payment Date. In the case of a Manifest Error by NETSO, NETSO is liable for the error compensation amount (including interest). In the case of an error by the Lead Party, each Party is liable to pay its proportion of the error compensation amount (including interest) determined on the basis of the Daily Party Reallocation Proportions (see Section G). These payments and charges are Ad-hoc Trading Charges for the purposes of Section N.

Compensation for Outages

General

An outage compensation period is any period of Outage where NETSO gave less than 12 hour’s notice (pursuant to the Grid Code) of the commencement of the Outage, or irrespective of the notice given, any part of an outage falling more than 2 hours after the start of the Outage. For the purposes of this section, a "relevant" Settlement Period is one for which Gate Closure fell within the outage compensation period.

Only those Outages that affect the ability to communicate Physical Notifications are taken into account. The Panel is required to determine (after consultation with NETSO) any dispute in relation to the time of commencement or duration of any Outage.

Claim for compensation following an unplanned outage

If a Lead Party considers that it has suffered an unavoidable, material loss as a consequence of not being able to communicate Physical Notifications to NETSO during an outage compensation period, it may, within 10 Business Days after the end of the outage compensation period, submit a claim for compensation.

The Panel will not consider the claim unless the Party's claim demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Panel that the loss is unavoidable, material and arose as a consequence of the Lead Party not being able to communicate Physical Notifications.

In submitting its claim, the Lead Party must provide a statement and explanation of the basis on which it has suffered a loss which must be unavoidable, material and must have arisen as a consequence of the Lead Party not being able to communicate Physical Notifications. The Party is required to provide any additional information as reasonably requested by the Panel for the Panel to make its determination. For the purposes of calculating Avoidable Costs in its submission, the Party is required to comply with the requirements of Section G. NETSO and Distribution Companies are also required to provide information reasonably requested by the Panel.

Where the Panel decides to consider the Party's claim, it is required to determine the amount of the loss that was suffered by the Party that could not reasonably have been avoided as a result of the inability to submit Physical Notifications during the outage compensation period.

The Panel must have regard to the following in determining the amount of any loss (and the Lead Party must take them into account in submitting a claim):

    1. whether (and to what extent) the financial position of the Trading Party was worse than it would have been had it been able to submit Physical Notifications; and

    2. whether (and to what extent) the party acted reasonably and prudently in making commitments which resulted in the notification of Energy Contract Volumes and otherwise in its operations under the Grid Code and the BSC.

In making its determination the Panel is required to disregard costs and losses other than those consistent with the above.

Compensation Entitlements

Where a Party submits a claim for compensation, it is entitled receive the amount determined by the Panel in relation to the claim, plus interest at Base Rate from the time of the Initial Payment Date for the relevant Settlement Day. NETSO is liable to pay this amount (i.e. NETSO funds the compensation payments). The entitlements and liabilities are treated as Ad-hoc Trading Charges.

Need more information?

For more information please contact the BSC Service Desk at bscservicedesk@cgi.com or call 0370 010 6950.

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1 Physical Notification data is required in respect of BM Units: above a certain size (BM Units with a Demand Capacity equal to or greater than: 50MW in England and Wales, 30MW in South Scotland, and 10MW in North Scotland), directly connected to the Transmission System, or that voluntarily participate in the balancing mechanism.

2 Note that Bid-Offer Acceptances in the Grid Code form only a subset of those communications that may be treated as an Acceptance for the purposes of the BSC.