A distinction is made between the terms balancing services, balancing capacity, and balancing energy. Balancing services is the general term for balancing capacity and balancing energy. Balancing capacity describes the availability of capacity for system stabilization, and balancing energy is the actual amount of energy activated and utilized in the event of frequency deviations.
Due to fluctuations in generation and load, transmission system operators (TSOs) use balancing services to balance these discrepancies. There are three types of balancing services:
- FCR – Frequency Containment Reserve
- aFRR – automatic Frequency Restoration Reserve
- mFRR – manual Frequency Restoration Reserve
The three types of balancing services primarily differ in their activation speed and product length, which leads to different product-specific requirements. A more detailed description of the three types can be found under: What types of balancing services are there?
What types of balancing services are there?