Remote Controllability of Wind and Solar Plants
Remote control of the feed-in power and retrieval of the actual feed-in power
Marketing at best conditions due to market-driven deregulation
According to ยง10b of the EEG 2021, remote controllability is mandatory for all plants that are in subsidised direct marketing (market premium model). Accordingly, plant operators must equip their plants with a technical device via which the direct marketer or a third party can retrieve the respective actual feed-in and via which the feed-in power can be controlled remotely in steps or, if the technical possibility exists, continuously.
Provided that the remote controllability of the plant has been proven, plant operators generally receive the agreed remuneration from the direct marketer and the market premium from the grid operator on a monthly basis (two-stream model).
The remote controllability of the network operator is therefore independent of the remote controllability of the direct marketer and it should be ensured that the remote access of the direct marketer does not operate over the same connection interface as that of the network operator.
Remote access by the direct marketer
Why is mandatory remote controllability important?
In addition to receiving the market premium, mandatory remote controllability is important for maintaining grid stability and responding in real time to market mechanisms such as the 4- or 6-hour rule.
Remote controllability enables the direct marketer to retrieve the actual feed-in at any time and to reduce it if necessary and also to ramp up the output again. These so-called market-driven curtailments serve to avoid negative electricity prices and to market the electricity at the best conditions
How does remote controllability of wind and solar plants work?
Who is responsible for establishing remote controllability and what does it cost?
The establishment of the remote control capability is the responsibility of the plant operator. He must commission a service provider of his choice to establish a remote control connection, i.e. equip the wind- or solar-park with the necessary hardware. In addition to a stable Internet connection, this requires suitable hardware for plant control and remote access, such as data loggers with a direct marketing interface. The costs vary depending on the service provider and the hardware already available. Here you will find a <a class="arrow">list of compatible and common interface service providers</a>
How is the remote control connection made to us as a direct marketer?
In order to establish the remote control connection to us, the plant operator must instruct his chosen interface service provider to approach our service provider (energy & meteo systems). Once the connection is established, a remote control test will be performed to verify that the park is transmitting actual real-time data and to test remote access. After successful testing of the remote control capability, a remote control certificate (test certificate or test protocol) is generated. This certifies to the system operator and also to the distribution system operator that the park has the mandatory remote control capability.
Proof of remote controllability for (continued) payment of the market premium remuneration
As proof of the establishment and production of remote controllability, the direct marketer must submit the proof to the grid operator in order for the system operator to (continue to) receive the market premium.
- Declaration of remote controllability
- Remote control test certificate
- Installation certificate of the remote control technology
(1) The declaration of remote controllability can be found in the appendix of our direct marketing contract. However, certain grid operators require the signing of their own declarations of remote controllability. If your park is located in the grid area of one of these grid operators, we will also send you the corresponding template.
(2) The remote control certificate will be issued as soon as your interface service provider has connected the park to us and the connection has been established.
(3) You will receive the installation certificate for the remote control technology from your interface service provider when your park is commissioned.
Deadlines for establishing remote controllability / proof of remote controllability
The EEG also sets deadlines for establishing remote controllability. In direct marketing, a distinction is made between a new commissioning and an existing park.
New commissioning
Since the EEG 2021, remote controllability must be ensured from the time of commissioning in the case of a new commissioning and must be proven by an installation document from the interface service provider.
Stock park (change of direct marketer)
In the case of an existing park, the remote controllability must be given at the beginning of the direct marketing and must be verifiable by a remote control test on the part of the direct marketer.
If remote controllability is not established in time, there is a risk that the value to be invested will be reduced in accordance with Section 52 (1) Sentence 1 Number 2a EEG 2021.
So address the remote controllability of your park early so that there are no bottlenecks in the timely implementation of your interface service provider and also us as a direct marketer.
Feel free to use our exemplary installation document as a template for creating your documents.
<a class="button" href="https://energysales.vattenfall.de/publikationen/downloads#fernsteuerbar" >Downloads</a>
The most important points at a glance
- The implementation of remote controllability should be tackled at an early stage.
- For new plants, this must already be available at the time of commissioning, for existing plants at the latest at the start of direct marketing.
- In addition to a sufficient Internet connection, appropriate hardware is required.
- The installation document is issued by the remote control service provider.
- After installation, various tests must be carried out to check the functionality.
- This results in a remote control proof, which serves as a certificate of the successfully installed and tested remote control unit of the plant.
- Now we can market your plant at best conditions and you will receive the market premium from the grid operator
Checklists
Download our checklists for new commissioning or for existing parks to be sure that all steps have been completed. You can also download our general master data checklist with further information here.
<a class="button" href="https://energysales.vattenfall.de/publikationen/downloads#fernsteuerbar" >To the downloads</a>
Did you already know?
A stepwise reduction means that a park is reduced in previously defined steps, e.g. 100 % / 60 % / 30 % / 0 %. In this way, the power is reduced to the respective stages, usually at intervals of several minutes, until the setpoint is reached. This serves to protect the plant components.
The market premium model ensures the plant operator a revenue at least equal to the fixed feed-in tariff. It consists of the market value, which is paid out by the direct marketer, and the market premium, which is paid out by the distribution grid operator. The market premium compensates for the difference between the current market value and the plant-specific subsidy amount.
An unavailability or non-utilization is a planned or unplanned shutdown of one or more facilities due to maintenance, repair, or malfunction.
If you have an operations management software e.g. from Rotorsoft or a similar service provider that supports the <a class="arrow">BWE Interface</a> and you want to report the unclaimable via an API, we are happy to store your API address (login name) in our master data.
